Singunan Righteous Army Commander Immyeong Album, Goheung

This is a chapcheop, a letter of appointment issued under royal authority by Admiral Yi Sun-sin to a lower-ranking official amid the urgent wartime conditions of the Japanese invasions of Korea. It was drawn up in the thirtieth year of King Seonjo (1597), when naval strength had been severely weakened, in order to formally grant command authority to righteous-army commanders along the coast and so support the smooth conduct of military operations. The recipient of this document was Sin Gunan (1544-1598), a righteous-army commander from Heungyang. During the Jeongyu War he raised a righteous army in his home district and fought Japanese forces by sea and land, and in December of that year he received this document from Admiral Yi Sun-sin naming him a righteous-army commander. He went on to continue his campaign across seven coastal counties, achieving considerable success, before dying in battle in the thirty-first year of King Seonjo (1598). The document states, first, that command authority over the various coastal offices and local righteous armies was granted to the Naval Commander-in-Chief; second, that it commends the report Sin Gunan had submitted on the results of his righteous-army activities; third, that in appointing him righteous-army commander it urges him to fight with still greater resolve while strictly enforcing military discipline; and fourth, that in December 1597, at Goha Island, Sin Gunan of Heungyang was appointed righteous-army commander. Written and issued personally by Admiral Yi Sun-sin while serving as Naval Commander-in-Chief, this is the only such righteous-army appointment document known to survive. It confirms that the righteous-army movement along the coast made a considerable contribution to strengthening naval power during the Japanese invasions, and it is an important source for the study of the righteous-army movement and of naval warfare during that war.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goheung, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산