Han Ran Grave and Spirit-path Stele, Cheongju

This is the grave and spirit-path stele of Han Ran, founding progenitor of the Cheongju Han clan and a meritorious subject at the founding of Goryeo. Han Ran's original grave was destroyed in 1659, the tenth year of King Hyojong, by a person known as Nobong, and it is said that his descendants restored the burial mound in 1690, the sixteenth year of King Sukjong. The grave that survives today has been much altered from its original form, but the gravestone and offering table remain, along with well-preserved stone civil-official figures (mun-in-seok) and a dragon-horse stone (yongmaseok) dating from the Hyojong era, so that something of the appearance of Han Ran's early-Goryeo tomb precinct still remains. Just below the grave stands Han Ran's spirit-path stele, erected in 1768, the forty-fourth year of King Yeongjo. Its inscription was composed by his descendant Han Ik-mo, Left State Councillor, and written out by Han Gwang-hoe, Minister of Justice; the du-jeon — the seal-script lettering written around the head of the stele body — was written by Han Deok-pil, who held the post of Jwayun. The stele records Han Ran's achievements and the history of the Cheongju Han clan down to the late Joseon period. Han Ran was the founding ancestor of the Cheongju Han clan. During the Later Three Kingdoms period, when King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo passed through Cheongju on his campaign to subjugate Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje, Han Ran is said to have supplied provisions to the Goryeo army and thereby become a meritorious subject at the founding of Goryeo. The Cheongju Han clan was one of the powerful local clans of Cheongju in the late Silla and early Goryeo period, its surname being a tosong, a clan name native to that region. Not far from the grave and spirit-path stele of Han Ran, in Yongam-dong, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, stands the Cheongju Han Clan Founder's Altar Stele, designated as a Chungcheongbuk-do heritage item. The presence of Han Ran's grave and spirit-path stele together with this founder's altar stele suggests that this area was likely the original power base of the Cheongju Han clan in the early Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물