Yi Seon-bong Burial Ground

Yi Seon-bong (1578–1660) was a grandson of Grand Prince Musan, the twelfth son of King Seongjong of Joseon. For his service to the state he was granted the title Prince Sunpyeong, and his wife was raised to the rank of Lady Hyeonbuin. He retired to Dongmyeon, Bupyeong (present-day Dongyang-dong), where he settled, and his son Yi Pil-hyeom, born in Dongyang-dong, entered government service and rose to the post of magistrate of Hanseong (present-day Seoul). When the Manchu invasion of 1636 broke out and the family took refuge on Ganghwado Island, Qing troops landed on the island and massacred commoners indiscriminately. Rather than be captured and disgraced by the enemy, Lady Hyeonbuin, of the Eom clan, chose to take her own life. Her daughter-in-law, Lady Gu, wife of Yi Pil-hyeom, then wrote her last testament on the skirt of a young servant girl and likewise took her own life, following her mother-in-law in death. When this became known, a chastity memorial gate honouring the conduct of the mother- and daughter-in-law was bestowed on them in 1638, the sixteenth year of King Injo. The gate itself is said to have survived until around forty years ago, but no trace of it remains today. The burial ground, at Dangsan, contains the graves of Yi Seon-bong, who held the rank of Seungheondaebu and the title Prince Sunpyeong; his wife Lady Hyeonbuin of the Yeongwol Eom clan; and Lady Gu. A gravestone, civil official statues, and stone pillars erected at the time are arranged across the site. The gravestone stands on a brown base with a brown stele body, 1.23 m tall and 49 cm wide. Since Lady Gu's body was never recovered, her grave is said to contain only the shoes she left behind and the skirt bearing her written testament, buried in her place.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeyang-gu, Incheon

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물