Gangjin Gimhae Kim Clan Ga Funeral Bier

This bier was made to carry the body of Kim Yong-hyeon to his burial site; it is said that his son, who at the time held an estate yielding 2,000 seom of grain, bought the timber in Seoul and imported satin and thread from China to have it made. Handed down and used within the family for three generations, it was donated in 1971 by Kim Yong-hyeon's great-grandson, Kim Hyeon-jang, to the Gwangju City Museum, where it has been preserved ever since. It measures 312 cm in length, 132 cm in width and 220 cm in height, and takes the form of a two-storey wooden tiled house. On a carrying frame built to be borne by thirty-six bearers sits the two-storey, tiled-house-shaped body; a broad cloth is draped over the very top to block the sun, beneath which blue silk lanterns are hung. The balustraded first storey contains a coffin chamber covered in red satin, over which tassels are draped. Between the first and second storeys is a further balustrade carved with cloud motifs, hung with panels carved with phoenix and dragon designs that add to its opulence. The walls of the second storey consist of doors on all four sides, carved with chrysanthemum designs above and latticed door-frame patterns below, with tassels hanging over the doors. At the front and back there is one panel each carved with a dragon's head — a blue dragon on one side and a yellow dragon on the other — so that the bier could be used for either a man or a woman. It was made over three years beginning in 1920; some say three bier-makers were brought from Seoul to build it, while others attribute it to Yang Jae-ik, a man from Naju, but this is not certain. It is one of the heritage items produced after cultural restrictions on commoners lifted from the enlightenment period onward, and it offers a glimpse of one aspect of the wealthy class's splendid and extravagant funeral culture. Surviving accompanying items include the yoyeo, a small palanquin for carrying the spirit tablet inscribed with the deceased's soul and name; the unsap, a fan-shaped board painted with cloud patterns placed at the front and back of the bier during the funeral procession; and the bulsap, a board painted with a pattern of two back-to-back '弓' shapes, likewise placed at front and back during the procession.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buk-gu, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산