Gwak Ye Grave, Cheongju

This is the grave of Gwak Ye, pen name Yeondam (1232–1286), a civil official of the late Goryeo period. The Gwak Ye Grave, Cheongju was originally located in Daeyul-ri, Buk-i-myeon, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju, but was moved to its present site in 1975 after the original area was designated a national development zone. Gwak Ye's clan seat was Cheongju; his courtesy name was Seongap, and his pen name was Yeondam. In 1255, the 42nd year of King Gojong of Goryeo, he placed first in the state civil service examination and went on to hold posts including clerk of the Crown Prince's Secretariat, Chancellor of the Gukjagam (the state Confucian academy), and Inspector-General. During the reign of King Wonjong of Goryeo he was sent as an envoy to Japan to reprimand Japanese raiders and to demand the return of Goryeo people who had been abducted. Under King Chungnyeol he died on his way back from Yuan China, where he had gone as part of a delegation celebrating the Yuan emperor's birthday. He is said to have been upright and unpretentious in character, remaining unchanged even after reaching high office. Skilled in composition and calligraphy, he developed a distinctive style of writing and was renowned in his time as a great calligrapher. Some of Gwak Ye's works survive in the Dongmunseon, an anthology of Korean literature. The burial mound at Gwak Ye's grave measures 390 by 150 cm. In front of it stand an offering table and two gravestones, flanked on either side by stone statues of civil officials. The inscription on the gravestone was composed by Choe Ik-hyeon, pen name Myeonam. Near the grave stands Sangdangsa, a shrine dedicated to Gwak Ye, along with a sindobi (a memorial stele set up at the approach to a grave) for Gwak Ye, erected in 1884, the 21st year of King Gojong's reign. The sindobi has a square base topped with a cover stone in the form of a hipped-and-gabled roof. The stele stands 230 cm tall overall, with the body of the stele measuring 176 cm in height. Its inscription was composed by Kim Bok-han and written in calligraphy by O Yeong-geun.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물