Sejong City Announces Preliminary Designation of 'Nam Yi-ung Artifacts' as Tangible Cultural Heritage

by Jeong Ilwoong

Published 11 Jan.2021 08:12(KST)

Nam Yi-ung Jinmugongsin Gyoseo. Provided by Sejong City

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City announced on the 11th that it has given prior notice of designation of the entire collection of ‘Nam I-ung Relics’ as tangible cultural assets.

The entire collection of Nam I-ung relics refers to 10 items including the Jinmugongsin Royal Decree and its case, Sapae Royal Edict, Goshin Royal Edict, Bulyun Bidap, and Byeongin Waterway Travel Poem.

Nam I-ung (1575?1648) was a representative scholar of the mid-Joseon period, and his portrait collection was designated as a city tangible cultural asset (No. 25) at the end of last year.

Among the Nam I-ung relics given prior notice of designation, the Jinmugongsin Royal Decree is a royal decree issued in 1624 to 32 people who were appointed as Jinmugongsin for their merit in suppressing Yi Gwal’s Rebellion, and is evaluated as an important resource for studying Yi Gwal’s Rebellion and figures of that time.

Also, the Sapae Royal Edict confirms the fact that after Yi Gwal’s Rebellion, the king granted slaves and other privileges to meritorious subjects through royal edicts called Sapae (賜牌), and the Goshin Royal Edict is a concrete document that verifies the record in the Annals of King Injo stating that in the 26th year of Injo’s reign, Nam I-ung was appointed as Left State Councillor and Sejabu (世子傅), responsible for educating the Crown Prince.

The Bulyun Bidap (不允批答) is a reply to a petition called Jeongsa (呈辭), which requests resignation, leave of absence, or vacation due to illness, and it confirms that the king did not permit Nam I-ung’s resignation.

In particular, even in the case of illness, King Injo trusted Nam I-ung so much that he ordered him to attend to state affairs even while lying down.

According to the Annals of King Injo, Nam I-ung submitted Jeongsa (呈辭) 28 times due to illness, and King Injo granted permission.

Especially, the Bulyun Bidap is large and well-preserved to an extent rarely seen, and is evaluated as having high historical value.

The Byeongin Waterway Travel Poem is a document from 1626 (the 4th year of King Injo’s reign) that shows the land route and place names passed through when traveling to China by waterway, and includes a farewell poem written by friends, revealing Nam I-ung’s social relationships.

Lee Hyun-gu, head of the Tourism and Cultural Heritage Division of the city, said, “The Nam I-ung relics have designation value as important materials that can confirm historical facts of the early 17th century,” and added, “The city will continue to make efforts to discover, designate, and preserve cultural heritage held by individuals or clans.”