Jo Sik Nammyeongmunjip Woodblocks

These are printing woodblocks made to widely publish the collected writings of the Joseon-period Confucian scholar Nammyeong Jo Sik (1501–1572). Jo Sik devoted his whole life to scholarship but never sat the state examinations. In 1567, even when summoned by the king, he did not go to take office; he merely had an audience with the king to set out his views on governing in times of disorder and on completing his studies, then returned once more to his hometown. In his daily life he maintained strict self-discipline throughout, never compromising with anything that was not righteous. He was a figure whose school of thought stood as a counterpart to that of his contemporary Toegye Yi Hwang, and when the Japanese invasions of 1592 broke out he personally took the lead in joining the righteous army, coming forward himself to fight whenever the nation faced a crisis. After his death he was posthumously granted the offices of Daesaheon (Inspector-General) and then State Councillor, and his spirit tablet was enshrined at several seowon (Confucian academies). His posthumous title was "Munjeong." His collected writings were first published at Haeinsa Temple in 1604, the thirty-seventh year of King Seonjo, by his disciple Jeong In-hong, but the printing blocks were destroyed by fire, and they were republished in 1622, the fourteenth year of King Gwanghaegun, with the help of the provincial governor Yu Yeong-sun. Further works, including the Sanhaesaoyeonwollok, a chronological biography, and a record of his words and deeds, were subsequently published as well. In 1894, the thirty-first year of Emperor Gojong, these collected works were again supplemented, revised and newly published, and in 1897, the first year of the Gwangmu era, his chronological biography was revised and reissued as the Nammyeong Seonsaeng Pyeonnyeon. This material is valuable for the study of Jo Sik's thought and life.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Sancheong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산