Gang Hui-maeng Shrine and Spirit-path Stele

This is the tomb of Gang Hui-maeng (姜希孟, 1424–1483), an outstanding scholar of the reign of King Seongjong in the early Joseon period and Korea's first agricultural scholar. After placing first in the state examination in 1447 (the twenty-ninth year of King Sejong) at the age of twenty-four, he held a succession of offices. In 1463 (the ninth year of King Sejo) he travelled to Ming China as deputy commissioner of the Jungchuwon, and, favoured by King Sejo, became a tutor to the crown prince. On King Yejong's accession in 1468 he was enfeoffed as Prince Jinsan, and in 1482 (the thirteenth year of King Seongjong) he rose to the post of Left State Councillor. His literary prose was considered the finest of his age, and he also excelled in writing and painting; modest and meticulous in character, he discharged his duties capably. Together with Sin Suk-ju and others he took part in compiling the Annals of King Sejo and the Annals of King Yejong, and he also contributed to the Gyeongguk daejeon, the Dongmunseon, the Dongguk yeoji seungnam, and the Gukjo oryeui. His writings include the Geumyang japnok, the Sasukjaejip, and the Jondamhaeyi. He was also particularly skilled at painting pine, bamboo, and landscapes; the Dokjodo ('Lone Angler'), now held in Japan, is known as his work. The tomb stands at the centre of the burial ground of the Jinju Gang clan; it is a joint burial with his wife, Lady An. Before the mound stand a gravestone, an offering table, and an incense-stone, flanked by distinctively carved civil-official statues. At the lower left of the burial ground stands a spirit-path stele — a stele erected beside a road near a tomb to commemorate the lifetime achievements of a king or high official — raised in 1488 (the nineteenth year of King Seongjong); its inscription was composed by the Grand Academician Seo Geo-jeong, while the header in seal script, reading 'Spirit-path Stele of Lord Munryang,' along with the lettering, was written by Bak Jeung-yeong, a scholar of the Hongmungwan.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Siheung, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물