Uhyanggyean

The Uhyanggye of Andong-bu was originally organised by Yi Jeung, son of Yi Won (1368–1430), who had served as Left State Councillor under King Taejong of Joseon. After retiring to Andong, Yi Jeung formed the Uhyanggye, a gye (a traditional mutual-aid and friendship society), together with twelve learned and virtuous scholars of Andong — three of the Andong Kwon clan, four of the Heunghae Bae clan, four of the Yeongyang Nam clan and one of the Angang No clan — and the thirteen members each received a gyecheop, a booklet recording the society. Each gyecheop contained a register listing the thirteen members' offices, names, clan seats, and their fathers' offices and names, together with the original booklet and a eulogistic poem in seven-character verse composed in 1478, the ninth year of King Seongjong, by the noted literary figure Seo Geo-jeong (1420–1488). Later, Yi Jeung's son Yi Goeng organised the Jinsolhoe together with fifteen others, including his younger brother, his brother-in-law and the sons-in-law of other members, and Yi Goeng's son by a concubine, Yi Cheuk, recorded the formation of the Jinsolhoe in the bieumgi (a memorial inscription carved on the back of a stele) for his father. The Uhyanggye and the Jinsolhoe were each made into a gyechuk (scroll) and divided among the members; one of the original scrolls, held in the house of Kwon Jeong-u, is the Uhyanggyechuk (Treasure No. 896-1). The Uhyanggyean was compiled by transcribing and later re-editing that original scroll. Its contents run, in order: 1. the original Uhyanggyechuk; 2. the Jinsolhoe; 3. the Jungsu Uhyanggye Hoemun, a circular letter on the reorganisation of the Uhyanggye; 4. the register of the Sehogye with its jwamok (list of members); 5. a sicheop (poetry album); and 6. the register of the Suhogye with its sicheop. Together these set out, in sequence, the 425-year process by which the Uhyanggye, first formed in 1478, was carried on and expanded through the Jinsolhoe, the Sehogye and the Suhogye, down to the reorganisation of the society carried out at Gwangheungsa Temple on 17 April 1903, the seventh year of the Gwangmu era of Emperor Gojong — together with the circumstances of each society's founding, its list of members, and its eulogistic poetry. This Uhyanggyean brings together not only the original Uhyanggyechuk but also the Jinsolhoe and its successors, the Sehogye and the Suhogye, showing how, over more than four hundred years, the descendants of the original thirteen members repeatedly reorganised and expanded the society in honour of their ancestors' wishes, carefully compiling the members' eulogistic poetry at every gathering. It offers a clear picture of how the society formed in 1478 was carried forward and developed over time.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산