Gangjin Namgangsajujagalpil Woodblocks (set)

These woodblocks are kept in Eopilgak, the Hall of Royal Calligraphy, within Namgangsa, about 200 metres from Gangjin Hyanggyo, the local Confucian school. Namgangsa was originally built in 1803, the third year of King Sunjo, by local Confucian scholars to commemorate Song Si-yeol (pen name Uam, 1607–1689). While being exiled to Jeju in connection with the Gisa Hwanguk, a political purge of 1689, Song Si-yeol was prevented by a storm from setting out from Seongjapo in Gangjin (present-day Nampo), and stayed for a time at the nearby Baengnyeonsa Temple, where he lectured to local scholars. This led to the building of a portrait shrine at Baengnyeonsa — the forerunner of Namgangsa — which in turn became the background to the founding of today's Namgang Seowon. The woodblocks now preserved are recarvings of some of the original blocks that had drifted ashore at Seongjapo. They number 43 in all: 6 blocks of the Daeujeon, 26 of the Gyeongjaejam (Zhu Xi's admonitory text on reverential self-discipline), and 11 others. Of the 6 Daeujeon blocks, 4 are the original old blocks and 2 were recarved by copying in 1904; they measure 55.5 cm by 29.5 cm, 5 cm thick, with characters 8.5–14.5 cm high. Of the 26 Gyeongjaejam blocks, 10 are original and 16 were recarved by copying in 1904; they measure 20 cm by 94 cm, 20 cm thick, with characters 14.5–20 cm high. The remaining 11 blocks survive in a condition that makes their content impossible to identify.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gangjin, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산