Son So Inheritance Record

This is a detailed property inheritance document recording how, in 1510, the fifth year of King Jungjong of Joseon, Son So distributed his property among his children — five sons, including Son Jung-don, and two daughters. The contents cover farmland, slaves, and other property, with the estate divided equally regardless of whether the child was a son or a daughter. In Korea, inheritance generally took place only after both parents had died, and practice gradually shifted from equal division among all children toward favouring the eldest son, with unequal shares for the others; this document, by contrast, is a typical inheritance record in which the children receive an even share of the property. At the end of the bunjaegi (property division record) are the handwritten sugyeol — marks equivalent to a signature today — of the witnesses present, including Yi Eon-jeok. This inheritance document is a typical record of equal property division and is valuable material for research into the history of family and kinship systems, marriage practices, and socio-economic history. Together with this bunjaegi, the Son family also holds many other old documents, including two further bunjaegi from the sixteenth century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산