Sejong City Designates Joseon Dynasty Gazetteer 'Yeonseongji' and Other Tangible Cultural Properties

by Jeong Ilwoong

Published 20 Apr.2023 09:18(KST)

Sejong City has designated the Joseon Dynasty local gazetteer ‘Yeonseongji’ and Nam I-ung’s official documents as city tangible cultural assets.

Front cover photo of Yeonseongji. Provided by Sejong City

According to the city on the 20th, Yeonseongji is a local gazetteer of Yeongi-hyeon from the Joseon Dynasty (an administrative casebook for the eup-level area), created and compiled in the late Joseon period. It is valued as evidence showing how local gazetteers from provincial military counties were organized and compiled by the central government.

The production year is estimated to be 1824, based on records in the Yeongi-ji published in 1934 and 1967, which state that the eupji was published in 1824 (the 24th year of King Sunjo’s reign).

Additionally, its content is more detailed than that of the ‘Yeojidoseo’ and ‘Yeongi Eupji,’ and it is significant that it was recorded in a manner similar to the eupji held by the National Palace Museum (Gogung 2798, produced in 1834).

In particular, the maps and contents included in Yeonseongji allow estimation of the shape and scale of now-lost structures such as the guesthouse (Gaksa), Yeonhuilu pavilion, and various government office buildings. The city explains that this can be used as material to infer the history and culture of the Sejong area in the late Joseon period.

Along with Yeonseongji, the official document of Nam I-ung designated as a tangible cultural asset is a secret imperial edict (Milbuyuseo) issued by King Injo in 1629 when Nam I-ung was appointed as Gongcheongdo Gwanchalsa (Governor of Gongcheong Province).

This document was recently purchased by the city and was additionally designated as a tangible cultural asset together with 17 other official documents previously designated as tangible cultural assets.

Nam Iwoong's will. Provided by Sejong City

The collection of Nam I-ung artifacts includes 18 items: one edict (Yuseo) related to Nam I-ung and 17 official documents (Gyoji).

Among these, the 17 official documents were issued between 1611 and 1645 and are considered important materials for examining the political history, diplomatic history, and regional history of the mid-Joseon period.

Nam I-ung (1575?1648) is a figure closely related to historical events of the 17th century such as the Injo Restoration, Yi Gwal’s Rebellion, and the Byeongja Horan (Second Manchu invasion). He is regarded as a representative literati of the Sejong area in mid-Joseon.

Lee Eun-su, head of the city’s Cultural Heritage Division, said, “We will do our best to continuously discover, collect, designate, and preserve materials related to local figures and history to establish our region’s historical identity and utilize it as a cultural heritage tourism resource.”