Anti-Western Stele, Cheongju

The Anti-Western Stele (cheokhwabi) is a stone monument erected by Heungseon Daewongun, who had led the country to victory in the French invasion of 1866 (the third year of Emperor Gojong) and the American invasion of 1871 (the eighth year of Emperor Gojong). From April 1871 he had such steles set up at major crossroads throughout Seoul and the rest of the country in order to make the people aware of the need for vigilance against Western powers. The Cheongju Anti-Western Stele was erected at the same time. The Cheongju stele originally lay in front of a house on a street in Seokgyo-dong, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, where it had been used as a drain cover. It was discovered on 29 February 1976 and moved to its present location. The stele body stands on a two-tier base, but the upper part of the body has broken off. The surviving portion measures 47 × 108 × 20.5 cm and is made of somewhat coarse granite; it is badly weathered and in poor condition. All Anti-Western Steles were taken down in 1882, the nineteenth year of Emperor Gojong, during the Imo Mutiny, when Qing troops intervened and abducted Heungseon Daewongun to China, and the Japanese minister, taking advantage of the interval while Emperor Gojong pursued a policy of opening the country, demanded their removal. The Cheongju stele was dismantled at this time as well; conditions at the time appear to have been difficult, for the upper part broke off and has not yet been found. On the surviving inscription, the first character of the first line, "yang" (洋, "Western"), the first character of the second line, "jeuk" (則, "then"), and the first character of the third line, "gye" (戒, "to warn"), have all broken away. The inscription on the Cheongju stele originally ran to three lines. The first and second lines read: "When Western barbarians invade, not to fight is to make peace, and to argue for peace is to sell the country" (洋夷侵犯 非戰, 則和 主和賣國). The third line, in smaller characters than the main text, reads: "We warn our descendants for ten thousand generations. Composed in the byeongin year [1866] and erected in the sinmi year [1871]" (戒我萬年子孫 丙寅作 辛未立).

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물