Gwangju City Designates Doeun Teacher's House and Haegwangjip Woodblocks as 'Tangible Cultural Properties'

Doeun Teacher's House

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 20th that it has designated the Doeun Seonsaengjip and the Haegwangjip Woodblocks of Unam Seowon as city-designated tangible cultural assets.

The Gwangju Cultural Heritage Committee reviewed the results of investigations by related scholars and experts, as well as the cultural heritage designation notice period of more than 30 days, and decided to designate Doeun Seonsaengjip as City-Designated Tangible Cultural Asset No. 30 and the Haegwangjip Woodblocks of Gwangju Unam Seowon as No. 31.

Doeun Seonsaengjip is a collection of writings containing the literature and thoughts of the late Goryeo scholar Doeun Lee Sung-in (1347?1397), consisting of one woodblock-printed book with 3 volumes of poetry collections and 2 volumes of prose collections.

It was edited by Byeon Gye-ryang (卞季良) and published in 1406 (the 6th year of King Taejong) by royal order, with a preface written by Kwon Geun (權近).

The city judged that it has sufficient value to be designated as a city-designated cultural asset due to its historical and academic significance as the first collection of writings published by royal order during the Joseon Dynasty.

Similar editions of Doeun Seonsaengjip, designated as City-Designated Tangible Cultural Asset No. 30, have been designated as Treasure No. 1465 and Treasure No. 2027, and the city plans to apply for national designation by the Cultural Heritage Administration.

Haegwangjip Mokpan

The Haegwangjip Woodblocks of Gwangju Unam Seowon are woodblocks used for publishing the collected works of Haegwang Song Je-min (1549?1602), consisting of a complete set of 54 sheets combining the first edition (46 sheets) from 1783 (the 7th year of King Jeongjo) and the second edition (8 sheets) from 1933.

Haegwang Song Je-min devoted himself to scholarship under Lee Ji-ham’s command, and when the Imjin War broke out, he raised a militia with Yang San-ryong and Yang San-suk, serving as a militia officer in Jeolla Province under Kim Cheon-il’s command, and the following year joined Kim Deok-ryeong’s militia again.

When Kim Deok-ryeong died in prison, Song Je-min mourned all day long and wrote the Wasingisa (臥薪記事). He also submitted the Cheokwa Manyeonso (斥倭萬言疏), proposing various measures to repel the Japanese invaders. Afterwards, he retired to cultivate disciples and farm.

Unam Seowon, which enshrines Song Je-min, was established in 1708 (the 34th year of King Sukjong) as Unamsa (雲岩祠) in Unam-dong, Buk-gu, at the request of local Confucian scholars, but was later abolished in 1868 (the 5th year of King Gojong) due to Heungseon Daewongun’s order to close seowons, and has now been newly relocated to Hwaam-dong, Buk-gu.

Song Je-min’s son, Hwaam Song Ta (1567?1597), studied under Go Gyeong-myeong and was captured by Japanese forces during the Jeongyu War. While being transported to Japan, he gathered Korean prisoners and defeated the Japanese troops, dying a martyr’s death.

Thus, Song Je-min and Haegwangjip hold important historical value for studying figures of the Joseon Dynasty and militia activities, and they contain printing and publishing culture from the late Joseon period to the modern era, making them worthy of designation as city-designated cultural assets.

Gwangju City manages a total of 156 cultural assets, including 31 city-designated tangible cultural assets, 20 intangible cultural assets, 24 monuments, 9 folk cultural assets, 30 cultural heritage materials, as well as 25 nationally designated cultural assets and 17 nationally registered cultural assets, including the two newly designated tangible cultural assets.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.