Yi Gong-gi Hoseong Meritorious Subject Royal Edict and Portrait

Yi Gong-gi served as a royal physician during the reign of King Seonjo (r. 1567-1608) of Joseon. For his merit in escorting King Seonjo during the Japanese invasions of Korea (the Imjin War), he was ranked a third-class Hoseong Meritorious Subject, and it is believed that he settled in Jecheon after receiving land there as part of his stipend. His descendants, the Hansan Yi clan, still form a clan village in Dohwa-ri, Songhak-myeon, Jecheon, and his portrait was enshrined at the Hangyegun portrait shrine in Dohwa-ri before being donated to Jecheon City together with the edict. The edict is the meritorious-subject edict granted to Han-gyegun Yi Gong-gi in the tenth month of 1604, the 37th year of King Seonjo. It is made of silk backed with thick layers of paper, mounted in scroll form, measuring 19 cm across and 39 cm long. Those honoured for great merit in quelling the Imjin War were divided into two categories: Hoseong and Seonmu. Those who escorted King Seonjo from Seoul to Uiju during the war were designated Hoseong Meritorious Subjects, while the generals who fought the Japanese troops and the envoys who travelled to Ming China to request reinforcements and grain were designated Seonmu Meritorious Subjects. The edict records in turn examples of Yi Gong-gi's merit, the rewards and privileges granted to meritorious subjects, the list of meritorious subjects, and factual certification, though the opening section was lost to fire. Measuring 195 cm across and 39 cm long, it lists the names of all 86 men whom King Seonjo honoured as Hoseong Meritorious Subjects - two of the first class, 31 of the second class and 53 of the third class. It is said that the text was composed by Sin Ji-je, then a royal secretary, and written out by the master calligrapher Han Ho. The portrait shows Yi Gong-gi seated in a chair, in a seven-tenths left-facing profile, full-length, wearing a black silk official hat (osamo) and a round-collared official robe (dallyeong), his hands clasped before him. The hat is fairly tall and rendered entirely in black with no shading. The two wings of the hat are outlined in thick black lines and filled with a cloud pattern. The face is painted in a pale flesh tone, with the outline and features drawn in a line slightly darker than the skin. As befits the earlier date of the robe, the collar is not cut open, and the standing collar of the undergarment worn beneath it rises up close to the ears. On the chest is attached a rank badge of clouds and a wild goose, worn by senior second- and junior second-rank civil officials of Joseon, and he wears a crane-finial gold belt, worn by junior second-rank officials - suggesting that at the time this portrait was painted Yi Gong-gi held junior second rank. The left shoulder is rounded while the right slopes down, emphasising the pose created by the seven-tenths profile. Through the opening of the robe a red cheollik robe and green lining are visible. The armrests of the chair extend out to either side, and above the armrest on the right of the picture a triangular gusset panel - inserted beneath the armpit of the upper garment - is visible, a feature characteristic of portraits of the first half of the 17th century. In 1604, the 37th year of King Seonjo, a royal command was issued for portraits to be made of the three groups of meritorious subjects - Hoseong, Seonmu and Cheongnan - and this portrait is presumed to have been painted at that time. The Yi Gong-gi Hoseong Meritorious Subject Royal Edict, granted in the tenth month of 1604, records in turn examples of merit, the rewards and privileges granted to meritorious subjects, the list of meritorious subjects and factual certification, and is made of silk backed with thick layers of paper, mounted in scroll form. The Portrait of Yi Gong-gi is a full-length seated portrait in seven-tenths left profile, wearing a black silk hat and round-collared robe with hands clasped, and its overall format and technique show the typical features of meritorious-subject portraits of the first half of the 17th century, making it important material for research into the production, style and costume history of mid-Joseon portraiture.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jecheon, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산