Iyunsaeng Buin Gang Ssi Memorial Gate

A jeongnak is a memorial gate that the state erected at the entrance to a village to honour a loyal subject, a filial son or a virtuous woman. This one was erected in honour of the loyal subject Iyunsaeng (1604–1637) and his wife, a virtuous woman, Buin Gang Ssi. Iyunsaeng was a descendant of the Bupyeong Yi clan, long settled in Incheon, and, being skilled in archery and horsemanship, was appointed to the military post of Chungmuwi Busagwa. When the Manchu invasion of 1636 broke out, Iyunsaeng raised a militia and entered Wondo (present-day Naksseom), where he cut off the route linking Ganghwado Island and Namhansanseong Fortress; the following day, the twenty-fourth of the first month, he repelled Qing troops who were engaged in plunder. But on the twenty-fifth a large Qing force invaded again; he fought on in defence with all his strength, and when his arrows ran out and the Qing troops, sensing this, stormed the island together, he fought to the last and met a heroic death along with his militiamen. On hearing news of his death, his wife, Buin Gang Ssi, at once threw herself into the sea to preserve her fidelity. In the twelfth year of King Cheoljong (1861), on the thirteenth day of the fourth month, a memorial gate was granted; Iyunsaeng was posthumously appointed to the post of Seungji (a royal secretary), and his wife was posthumously granted the title Sukbuin. The memorial gate now stands in Yonghyeon-dong, with two plaques hanging side by side: one reading "Loyal Subject, posthumously appointed Tongjeongdaebu, Left Deputy of the Royal Secretariat and Chamchan-gwan of the Gyeongyeon, Iyunsaeng — this gate bestowed in the sinyu year of King Cheoljong's reign," and the other, "Virtuous Woman, posthumously granted Sukbuin, Gang Ssi of Geumcheon — this gate bestowed in the sinyu year of King Cheoljong's reign."

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Michuhol-gu, Incheon

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물