Anjeong Ra Clan Three Ages Chunghyomun Gate, Cheongju

This comprises the Chungsinmun, a gate honouring a loyal subject, built to commemorate the loyalty of Ra Sa-jong (sobriquet Toesuheon, 1440–1491), and the Samhyomun, a gate honouring three filial descendants, built to commemorate the filial devotion of his son Ra Un-geol (1456–1493) and grandsons Ra Bin (1473–1495) and Ra Rin (1475–1495). Ra Sa-jong died in battle in 1491, the twenty-second year of King Seongjong, while defending against the Jurchen; and because Ra Un-geol and the brothers Ra Bin and Ra Rin were unable to avenge their father's death, they took their own lives on the day the three-year mourning period ended. In 1638, the sixteenth year of King Injo, a commendation was granted for Ra Sa-jong's loyalty, and in 1717, the forty-third year of King Sukjong, commendations for the filial conduct of Ra Un-geol and his two sons were granted, together with a posthumous official rank and the posthumous title Chungjeong for Ra Sa-jong. Ra Sa-jong's clan seat was Anjeong, his courtesy name was Gwang-won, and his sobriquet was Toesuheon. In 1486, the seventeenth year of King Seongjong, he became magistrate of Gyeongheung and was eventually killed in battle defending against a Jurchen invasion; the state posthumously conferred on him the office of Minister of War and granted him a posthumous title. His son Ra Un-geol joined the army as a commoner soldier, vowing to avenge his father, but because he could not offer the enemy's head before his father's memorial tablet, he took his own life at the end of the three-year mourning period, and was later posthumously conferred the office of Minister of Taxation. Ra Un-geol's sons, the brothers Ra Bin and Ra Rin, likewise set out on a campaign against the Jurchen but failed to achieve their aim, and took their own lives at the end of their father's three-year mourning period, so that all three generations share the same death anniversary. The Anjeong Ra Clan Three Ages Chunghyomun Gate, Cheongju, stands within the grounds of Hongyangsa Shrine, the ancestral shrine of the Anjeong Ra clan. Inside the outer gate stands the Hongyangsa shrine hall, and in the front courtyard stand the Hongyangsa Myojeongbi stele and the Stele of the Three Ages of Loyalty and Filial Piety of the Anjeong Ra Clan. To the west stands a lecture hall, and to the east, side by side, stand the gates themselves. The Chungsinmun, commended in 1638, is a one-kan-square building with a hipped-and-gabled roof. The Samhyomun, commended in 1717, is a one-kan-square building with a gabled roof; both were repaired in 1972. Inside the Samhyomun hang commemorative plaques for Ra Un-geol above and for his two sons below. The Anjeong Ra Clan Three Ages Chunghyomun Gate, Cheongju, was built to honour the loyal subject Ra Sa-jong, who died a martyr's death during the reign of King Seongjong in the early Joseon period, together with his son Ra Un-geol and grandsons Ra Bin and Ra Rin: after Ra Sa-jong died defending against the Jurchen, his son and grandsons all likewise took their own lives, leaving a rare precedent of loyalty and filial piety in their generation. As commendation gates faithful to the standard style for loyal subjects and filial sons, they are a rare example of loyalty and filial piety spanning three generations.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물