Yi Geon-chang Tomb

This is the tomb of Yeongjae Yi Geon-chang (1852–1898), a civil official and great literary master of the late Joseon period. The grave is a single mound, without special ornamentation or stone furnishings. From childhood, Yi Geon-chang studied under Yi Si-won, who carried on the scholarly lineage of the Ganghwa school, learning loyalty and righteousness together with literature grounded in Yangming studies (Wang Yangming's school of Neo-Confucianism). He is said to have been called a child prodigy, composing literary writing as early as the age of five. In 1866, the fourth year of Emperor Gojong, he passed the civil service examination at the young age of fifteen, and in 1874, the eleventh year of Emperor Gojong, he was chosen as a seojanggwan, an official who accompanied envoys and kept their records, a post in which he won great renown. He was then sent in 1875, the twelfth year of Emperor Gojong, to the western regions of Chungcheong-do, Jeolla-do, Gyeongsang-do and Hwanghae-do as an amhaeng-eosa, a secret royal inspector who examined local officials and the people's livelihood incognito. He also held a post in the Yemungwan (Office of Royal Decrees) before rising to anmusa, overseeing the region north of Gyeongseong in Hamgyeong-do. After the Gabo Reform of 1894 he resigned every official post and retired to his hometown of Ganghwa, where he died at the young age of forty-seven. Yi Geon-chang was a staunch advocate of rejecting both Western and Japanese influence, and his writing was so outstanding that he was named among the "Nine Great Masters of Goryeo and Korea," a canon selected by Kim Taek-yeong, a great writer of the late Joseon period. His works include the Myeongmidangjip and the Dangui Tongnyak.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Ganghwa, Incheon

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물