Documents held at Vessel Stand Seung Head Family

These documents belong to the family of Gobong Gi Dae-seung (1527–1572) and comprise three property-division documents, three books, six deeds of sale (myeongmun), three examination answer sheets (sigwon), one petition to the throne (sangsomun), one household register document (hogudanja), and one official document exchanged between government offices (gwanmun). Gi Dae-seung led Neo-Confucian scholarship in the Honam region and, together with Toegye Yi Hwang, is regarded as one of the twin pillars of Korean Neo-Confucianism. He is well known for the eight-year exchange of letters he carried on with Yi Hwang concerning the Four-Seven debate (sadan chiljeong, on the Four Beginnings and the Seven Emotions), and he made a major contribution to developing Neo-Confucianism in the Joseon period into an independent field of scholarship. Of these items, the property-division documents record the inheritance passed to his children. The three books are copies of the Dosan-gi that Gi Dae-seung personally transcribed in ink in 1572, the fifth year of King Seonjo. The examination papers are answer sheets from the state civil service examination. The petition, submitted by Gi Eon-gwan while serving as Sagan (Third Censor) of the Saganwon (Office of the Censor-General), records his request, at the age of seventy-five, to be relieved of office. The household register document belongs to Jinseol, a descendant four generations after Gobong. The six deeds of sale record transactions in paddy and dry fields, houses and slaves, and provide material for illuminating the state of society between the reigns of King Yeongjo and King Cheoljong. The official document exchanged between government offices records the exemption from corvée labour granted to the person guarding Gi Dae-seung's grave. These materials are valued not only for the history of the Gi Dae-seung family but also as important sources for the study of Joseon social history.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gwangsan-gu, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산