Dongnae Nammun Gate Stele

This stele commemorates the loyalty and valour of those who died as martyrs during the Japanese invasions of 1592–98 (the Imjin War). It was erected at Nongjusan, outside the south gate of Dongnae-eupseong (Dongnae Town Fortress), the site of a fierce battle at the time, and is also known as the Dongnae Chungnyeolbi (Stele of Loyalty and Valour of Dongnae). The stele today consists of a badly damaged body set on its base stone, with the capstone that once topped it now placed separately beside it. Its inscription records the desperate fighting against the Japanese forces: the outbreak of the Imjin War on the 13th day of the 4th month of 1592, the 25th year of King Seonjo; the death in battle the following day of Jeong Bal, commander of Busanjin garrison, who fought bravely; the cowardly flight of the provincial military commander Yi Gak; the resolute death of Song Sang-hyeon, magistrate of Dongnae, and the martyrdom of his aide Song Bong-su, of Kim Hui-su, of the local clerk Song Baek, of the government instructor No Gae-bang, and of the Confucian scholars Mun Deok-gyeom and Yang Tong-han; and the moral integrity of Jo Yeong-gyu, magistrate of Yangsan. It records the loyal deaths of the military officers, officials and commoners of Dongnae against the Japanese forces, and sets out the circumstances leading to the erection of the stele. The stele was first erected in 1670, the 11th year of King Hyeonjong, moved to the front yard of a separate shrine (byeolsa) in 1709, the 35th year of King Sukjong, and then moved inside the south gate in 1736, the 12th year of King Yeongjo, when the shrine was abolished. In 1976 it was relocated to the Busan Metropolitan Museum for preservation because of road-widening works in the city. The inscription was composed in 1668, the 9th year of King Hyeonjong, by Song Si-yeol, and written out by Song Gil-jun, while the title of the stele was written by Yi Jeong-yeong.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Nam-gu, Busan

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물