Calligraphy by An Jung-geun

This work, titled 'A man without foresight cannot accomplish a great undertaking' (人無遠慮難成大業), is one of a group of calligraphic works (yumuk) brushed by An Jung-geun (1879–1910) while imprisoned in Lüshun (Ryojun) Prison, in the period between his shooting of Itō Hirobumi — the man chiefly responsible for Japan's invasion of Joseon — at Harbin Station in Manchuria on 26 October 1909, and his death there on 26 March 1910. The works in this group designation were written in February and March 1910; to the left of the text he wrote 'Written in the second (or third) month of gyeongsul, in Lüshun Prison, by An Jung-geun, a man of the Korean nation' (庚戌二(三)月, 於旅順獄中, 大韓國人安重根書), followed by the print of his palm. Much of the content is instructive, drawing on passages from the Analects and the Records of the Grand Historian, and also expresses his innermost feelings, remarks on the changing times, warnings directed at Japan, and, in some cases, the pen-name of the person for whom a piece was written. Most of the works were given to Japanese prosecutors, prison guards and others connected with his imprisonment. Among them, one piece was given to a man who had served in the Russo-Japanese War and afterwards worked at Lüshun Prison; when his family returned to Japan following liberation on 15 August 1945, it passed to his nephew, who donated it to Dankook University on 20 February 1989. Another piece was donated to the Society for the Veneration of Patriot An Jung-geun in October 2002 by the grandson of a man who had served as a prison officer at Lüshun during An's imprisonment. Two further pieces bear the inscription 'presented to Prosecutor Yasuoka' at the top, having been written for the prosecutor involved in his case. The title of this piece, 'A man without foresight cannot accomplish a great undertaking' (人無遠慮 難成大業), means that if a person does not think ahead to the distant future, he cannot achieve a great task.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Dongjak-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물