Beopseong Cultural Promotion Institute to Hold Beopseongpo Cultural Heritage Academic Conference on the 19th

The Beopseong Cultural Promotion Institute announced on the 13th that it will hold the ‘Beopseongpo Cultural Heritage Academic Conference’ at the Beopseong Community Center on the 19th.

The conference will begin on the first day, the 19th, with a special performance by Kim Ok-ran, a Gayageum Byeongchang master, followed by the main event where prominent domestic scholars such as Park Jong-hwan, former director of the Naju National Museum, and Lee Jae-woon, honorary professor at Jeonju University, will gather to examine the status of Beopseong Jochang, Jewoljeong, and government office architecture.

On the 20th, the conference will conclude with a tour of Beopseongjinseong Fortress and a maritime grain transport route tour along the Beopseongpo sea gate, a sea route for grain transport during the Joseon Dynasty.

The presentations on the first day will proceed in the following order: Park Jong-hwan, former director of the Naju National Museum, will start with ‘Preservation and Utilization Plans for Cultural Heritage’; Kim Deok-jin, professor at Gwangju National University of Education, will present on ‘The Promotion of Beopseongjin to Independent Fortress and Its Direction’; Shin Woong-joo, professor at Chosun University, will discuss ‘A Study on the Restoration of Jewoljeong at Beopseongjin’; Sung Dae-cheol, head of the Architectural Cultural Heritage Research Institute at the Jeonnam Cultural Heritage Research Institute, will speak on ‘The Location and Layout of Yeonggwang Beopseongjin Government Office Architecture’; Park Myung-hee, professor at Chonnam National University, will present ‘Beopseongpo as Depicted in Joseon Dynasty Han Poetry’; and Moon Kwang-gyun from the Chungnam History and Culture Research Institute will discuss ‘The Operational Reality of Beopseongchang as Seen through Late Joseon Period Documents.’ Each presentation will be followed by a discussion.

Kim Kyung-soo, director of the Beopseong Cultural Promotion Institute, explained, “Last year, many academics and university students attended and were able to reflect on the historical significance of Beopseongpo Jochang and Jinseong, sharing a consensus on its value as a historically precious heritage. This academic conference will also gather opinions on various ways to fully convey the value of Beopseongpo’s cultural heritage to future generations of the region through in-depth discussions on restoration and utilization plans.”

■ Beopseongjinseong Fortress

Beopseongjinseong Fortress is Jeollanam-do Monument No. 205 (designated on November 27, 220) and is located on the southern slope of a hill facing the sea to the south, forming an irregular rectangular shape.

Currently, the eastern, northern, and western fortress walls remain well preserved, and some sections of the southern wall were exposed in their original form last year, allowing a glimpse of the fortress’s grandeur. On the fortress walls, the names of the counties mobilized for construction from the Beopseongchang’s military counties, the lengths (in cheok) of the walls built, and in the case of Haenam County, the construction period along with the names of supervisors and site managers are inscribed.

① Guesthouse ② East Ancestral Shrine ③ East Hall ④ Office of Records ⑤ Main Office ⑥ Gate Tower ⑦ Customs Warehouse ⑧ South Storehouse ⑨ 12 District Grain Storehouse ⑩ Jewoljeong Pavilion ⑪ Military Supplies Storehouse ⑫ Upper East Gate ⑬ Lower East Gate ⑭ South Gate ⑮ West Gate
「Source」 Beopseongjin Map (1872) Collection of Kyujanggak, Seoul National University

■ Jewoljeong (Wollangdae)

This pavilion was located next to the grain warehouses of the twelve counties of Jeolla Province. During the Joseon Dynasty, from the reign of King Jeongjo, Beopseong-myeon was separated from Yeonggwang-gun and governed independently by the Beopseongjin Cheomsa for 106 years as an autonomous administrative district.

Accordingly, the Beopseong Cheomsa exercised the three administrative powers alongside the Yeonggwang County Governor, and at Dongjojeong below the guesthouse, measured and inspected the grain collected from the twelve counties of Jeolla Province, including Yeonggwang-gun, loading it onto the grain transport ships docked below Jewoljeong for shipment to Seoul.

With an unobstructed view from a high hill overlooking the sea, this pavilion was renowned as one of Honam’s famous pavilions, and during the grain loading period, the Beopseong Cheomsa supervised the loading operations from this pavilion.

1512 (7th year of King Jungjong)

Built over 370 years ago in the 7th year of King Hyojong’s reign (1656), this pavilion’s soaring eaves and elegant scenery dominated the entire landscape of Beopseongpo, and local residents regarded it as the ‘white eyebrow’ (the finest feature) of Beopseongpo.

The pavilion bore a plaque with poetry by Jeong Du-gyeong (1597?1673) of Dongmyeong, and the pavilion’s name was written by Changam Lee Sam-man (1779?1845), a renowned calligrapher of the time alongside Chusa Kim Jeong-hui. Unfortunately, the pavilion was destroyed by fire in 1974, and only its site remains today.

Yeonggwang = Lee Jeon-seong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr

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