Jipogimgu Burial Ground and Surroundings

Kim Ku (金丘, 1211–1278) was a figure of the Goryeo dynasty whose ancestral seat was Buan; his courtesy name was Chasan and his pen name was Jipo. Kim Ku died in 1278, at the age of 68, and the court bestowed on him the posthumous title Munjeong in recognition of his scholarship and achievements. He passed the jinsa examination at the age of twelve, and ten years later, in 1233, the nineteenth year of King Gojong, at the age of twenty-two, he passed the higher civil service examination and entered official life, rising from Noksa (Registrar) of Jeongwonbu to Panguan (Magistrate) of Jeju and Hakssa (Academician) of the Hallim Academy. He also held the posts of Suchan-gwan, Jeongdang Munhak, Chamji Jeongsa, Jigonggeo and Jungseo Sirang Pyeongjangsa. He travelled to Yuan as a Seojanggwan (Documents Officer), and when Mongol forces of Yuan invaded, he repelled them with outstanding strategy and a brilliantly composed memorial written in ornate parallel prose (byeollyeomun); his literary skill was such that Wang Ak, the foremost writer of Yuan, was astonished by it. He was a leading scholar and statesman of his age and is recorded as an important figure in Volume 19 of the Biographies section of the Goryeosa [History of Goryeo]. Among the writings he left are the Bukjeongnok, composed during his journey to Yuan, and poems preserved in King Chungnyeol's Yongnujip; he excelled in particular at parallel prose, and his collected works survive as the Jipojip. Records state that in 1534, the twenty-ninth year of King Jungjong, he was enshrined at Dodongseowon Confucian Academy in Buan. Kim Ku's tomb lies on a flat section of the ridge running south-west from the summit of a hill north-east of Unsan village, about 2 km south-east of the centre of Byeonsan Township, Buan County. East of the burial ground stands Gyeongjijae, the ancestral shrine hall of the Buan Kim clan, and south-west of Gyeongjijae is the stele pavilion housing Kim Ku's sindobi, a memorial stele erected on the spirit path leading to a tomb. At the entrance to Unsan village, a little over 1 km south of the burial ground, stands a marker stone reading 'Buryeong Gimmunjeonggong Myodong' [Village of the Tomb of Lord Munjeong Kim of Buryeong], announcing the approach to the burial ground. Parts of the south and east sides of the burial ground are faced with stone retaining walls topped with an iron railing, and steps lead up to the burial ground on the east side. Below the mound are an offering table and, to either side, memorial steles, with an altar to the south-west. At the front, stone sheep, civil official statues and ornamental pillars (mangju-seok) are arranged in facing pairs. The tomb, set at the centre of a rectangular burial ground, has a mound about 7 m in diameter; around its base runs a ring of protective slab stones (hoseok) 20–30 cm in size, and a railing has been installed along the front. Around the tomb stand, at the front, a stone statue, an incense-table stone, a stele, stone sheep, civil official statues, a stone lantern and ornamental pillars, and at the rear an altar bearing the spirit tablet of the god of the earth. The pair of civil official statues face each other from east and west and are carved in almost identical form, from stone blocks close to square in section, giving them a somewhat flat quality. They appear to wear gold crowns, and their shoulders rise to just below the ears in an unnatural form that leaves no neck visible. The eyes and nose are comparatively large and the lips are rendered thick. The hands are shown clasped at the chest holding a hol (ceremonial tablet), though the carving is not distinct, and the wide sleeves of the court robe fall to below the knees. The pair of ornamental pillars likewise face each other from east and west, each carved from a single stone running from the top ornament down to the base: a rounded, near jewel-shaped head sits at the top, below which is a support carved to suggest an upturned lotus with no further patterned decoration, and beneath that a two-tiered octagonal shaft together with an octagonal base stone. The altar stone to the god of the earth and the incense-table support stone before it are judged to be stonework of the same period as the civil official statues; at the altar north of the tomb, an offering table and incense-table support stone survive, the offering table bearing the inscription 'Toji Sinwi' [Spirit Tablet of the God of the Earth].

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buan, Jeonbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물