Yi Deok-su Burial Ground, Cheongju

This is the burial ground of Yi Deok-su (pen name Iyudang; 1577–1645), a civil official of the mid-Joseon period. Yi Deok-su's clan seat was Hansan, his courtesy name was Sa-ro and his pen name Iyudang. He studied under Kim Jang-saeng, and after passing the special civil service examination (byeolsi mun-gwa) in the third class in 1608, the 41st year of King Seonjo, he held junior posts such as Geomyeol, Jeojak and Baksa. In 1612, the fourth year of King Gwanghaegun, he was implicated in the fabricated treason case of Kim Jik-jae and exiled to Isan, later transferred to Changpyeong, before being released in 1621. Following the Injo Restoration of 1623 he became Jeonbu, and in 1632, the tenth year of King Injo, while serving as Left Deputy Royal Secretary, he opposed the posthumous elevation of King Injo's father and was banished to Yeonsan. Released in 1636, he became Royal Secretary, then served successively as Third Minister of the Ministries of Personnel, Rites and War, and rose to Director of the Office of the Censor-General. That same year, when the Byeongja War (the second Manchu invasion) broke out, he went among the Qing forces to observe enemy movements before returning, and was subsequently made Governor of Gangwon Province. After his death he was posthumously granted the title of Left State Councillor and was enshrined at Gukgyesa Shrine in Cheongju. The Yi Deok-su Burial Ground in Cheongju centres on Yi Deok-su's own grave, with eight further graves of his ancestors and descendants arranged above and below it. In front of his grave stand a spirit-resting stone, stone statues of civil officials, guardian pillars and a grave stele, and below these stands Yi Deok-su's memorial stele (sindobi). The stele was erected in 1663, the fourth year of King Hyeonjong; its text was composed by Left State Councillor Kim Sang-heon, written out by Song Jun-gil, who held the posts of Third State Councillor and Rector of Seonggyungwan, the National Confucian Academy, and its header inscription in seal script was written by Minister of Rites Kim Su-hang. The overall layout and the condition of the stone furnishings are good, so that the original form of a late-Joseon burial ground is well preserved. The memorial stele is also an important source for the historical facts of the Hansan Yi clan's settlement in the region, and for understanding its subsequent relations with Confucian scholars of the North Chungcheong area.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물