Master Yeonggyu Tomb

This is the tomb of Master Yeonggyu, a monk-soldier commander, located a short distance past the entrance road to Gapsa Temple on Gyeryongsan Mountain, on the right-hand side beyond the Gyeryong-myeon office in Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do. Master Yeonggyu belonged to the Miryang Park clan and used the pen name Giheo; he was a disciple of Master Seosan Hyujeong. He practised Buddhist discipline and trained in the martial arts at Cheongnyeonam Hermitage of Gapsa Temple on Gyeryongsan Mountain, and it is said that no one could match his skill. When the Japanese invasion of Korea broke out in 1592, the 25th year of King Seonjo, he was unable to contain his outrage, wept bitterly for three days, and is said to have made himself the leader of a monk army. He recruited a thousand monk-soldiers and, together with the righteous-army leader Jo Heon, distinguished himself in repelling Japanese forces at the Battle of Cheongju Fortress and the Battle of Geumsan. King Seonjo, who had fled as far as Uiju, heard news of the victory and bestowed an official rank and clothing on Master Yeonggyu, but he died at the Battle of Geumsan before the gifts arrived. His rising as a monk-soldier after the outbreak of the Imjin War was the first such instance, and it became the spark that set off monk-army uprisings across the whole country. It is said that Master Yeonggyu, though badly wounded, made his way to the vicinity of his present tomb before he died. The tomb, cut into a mountainside slope at an elevation of 150m, has recently had its mound, retaining walls and steps repaired. The gravestone was erected by his descendants in 1810, the 10th year of King Sunjo.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gongju, Chungnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물