황혁(黃赫, 1551∼1612)은 선조대와 광해군대에 활약한 문신으로, 호는 독석(獨石)이다. 그의 생애는 임진왜란 전후의 조선시대 정황을 함축적으로 보여준다. 황혁은 황희(黃喜)의 후손이며, 아버지는 시문으로 이름난 지천(芝川) 황정욱(黃廷彧)이다. 황혁은 기대승(奇大升)의 문인이었으며 아버지 황정욱과 함께 문명(文名)이 높아서 부자가 송나라의 소순ㆍ소식 부자에 비견되었다. 황혁 가문은 이씨 왕가와 두 차례의 혼인으로 연계되었다. 황혁은 성종의 막내딸 정숙옹주의 손녀를 아내로 맞았고, 황혁의 사위는 선조의 6째 왕자 순화군(順和君)이다. 황정욱ㆍ황혁 부자는 문장이 뛰어나고, 왕실과의 혼맥으로 가문의 영달을 누렸지만, 전란과 당쟁으로 인해 역사적 고비에 처하여서는 화액을 당하고 멸문의 지경에 이르렀다. 황혁은 16세기 말의 전란과 17세기 초의 정변을 겪으면서 세 번의 큰 화액을 겪었다. 첫째, 임진왜란 전해인 1591년에 동인이 건저문제(建儲問題)로 정철을 조정에서 축출할 때, 황혁도 정철 일당으로 지목되어 파직 당했다. 둘째, 임진왜란 중에 함경도에서 왜군에 피랍되어 왜군의 강요로 선조에게 항복권유문을 쓴 일로 파직 당했다. 셋째, 이이첨이 일으킨 김직재 무옥(誣獄) 사건에 연루되어 결국 죽음을 당했다. 김직재 무옥은 대북파가 소북파를 제거하기 위한 정치음모로 발생한 사건인데, 이로 인해 소북파 인사뿐만 아니라 황혁 등 소북파에 속하지 않은 인사들도 많이 연루되어 화를 당했다. 인조반정 이후 황혁은 복관되고, 좌찬성에 추증되었다.
Hwang Hyuk(黃赫, 1551∼1612) was a civil servant, his pen name is Doksoek(獨石). He was living in the period of king Seonjo`s reign and the period of king Seonjo`s reign. His life reflects the political situation of the Joseon period before and after the Japanese Invasion of Korea. Huang Hyuk is a descendant of Huang Hee(黃喜), and his father is Hwang Jung-wook(黃廷彧) known as Poetry. Hwang Hyuk was a disciple of KidaeSeung(奇大升), and his frame was high with his father, Huang Jung-wok, so he was prepared for the Su Xun(蘇洵) and Su Shi(蘇軾), father and son, of the Song Dynasty. The Hwang Hyuk family was linked by marriage to the royal family. Huang Hyuk has married the granddaughter of King Seongjong's youngest daughter, Princess Jung Sook, and Huang Hyuk's Son-in-law is the sixth prince of Seonjo. Hwang Jung-wookㆍHwang Hyuk, father and son, were a good writers, and enjoyed the family glory by marriages relationship with the royal family. However, it was the beginning of the source of trouble in a historical crisis. Huang Hyuk went through three great hardships as he went through the war of the Japanese Invasion of Korea and the upheaval of the political change in early 17th century. First, in 1591, when Jeong Cheol was ousted from government by the problem of Investiture of Gwanghae as a crown prince, Hwang Hyuk was also dismissed after being named a member of Jeong Cheol's clan. Second, during the Japanese invasion of Korea, he was kidnapped by the Japanese army, and dismissed for describing a document requesting surrender to King Seonjo. Third, Hwang Hyuk was caught in the Kim Jik-jae false acquisition affair, which had raised by the political conspiracy of Lee Yi-Cheom(李爾瞻)’, and was eventually killed. This affair was occurd by the Big Northerners’s political conspiracy to remove Small Northerners, was caused many innocent people who are not part of Small Northerners was struck by a disaster. After Injobanjeong(InJo-Coup; 仁祖反正), Hwang Hyuk was restored his government post.