Artefacts excavated from Bak Gwang-u Tomb, Cheongju

The artefacts excavated from the tomb of Bak Gwang-u are a group of objects recovered when his grave was moved from Suri-myeon, Paju-gun, Gyeonggi-do, to Sudae-ri, Nami-myeon, Cheongju. Bak Gwang-u (pen name Piljae, 1495–1545) was a civil official of the reign of King Myeongjong of Joseon. His clan seat was Sangju, his courtesy name was Gugi, and his pen names were Piljae and Jamsodang. A native of Cheongju, he was the son of Bak Rin, who held the saengwon degree. He passed the saengwon examination in 1519, the fourteenth year of King Jungjong, and in 1525 passed the triennial civil service examination, placing second in its highest rank. He held posts including Jibui and Sagan, and after his death was posthumously conferred the post of Minister of Personnel. A member of the literati faction of the mid-Joseon period, he was known for his practice of propriety and his integrity; he fell victim to the Eulsa Sahwa purge of 1545, and was later enshrined at Songcheon Seowon. The excavated artefacts comprise three items in all: a coffin, bronze bells, and a small white porcelain jar. The coffin, made of juniper wood, has an inner and outer casing, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. It survives in almost complete condition, with no decay. The floor of the inner coffin is lined with a board cut to size, burned through with seven holes to form a chilseongpan, a board representing the Big Dipper constellation used in burial rites. The inner coffin measures 69.6 by 250.5 cm, and the outer coffin 99.5 by 280 cm. The bronze bells were found beneath the feet of the body. There are five in all, undecorated on the outside, each measuring 2.6 by 2.3 cm. The small white porcelain jar has a short neck and mouth rim, a feature characteristic of the burial myeonggi that were popular in the early Joseon period; it has a lid with a lotus-bud-shaped knob, though whether the two pieces are an original pair is not certain. As a group of grave goods from the tomb of Bak Gwang-u of the reign of King Myeongjong, these artefacts are valuable material for research into the burial customs of the period.

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Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산