Ijeyeol Epitaph Tablet

This is an epitaph tablet (jiseok) excavated from the tomb of Yi Je-yeol (李齊說, 1635-1712), a figure from the reign of King Sukjong of Joseon. The Yi Je-yeol epitaph tablet was discovered in 1987 while the family was clearing the grave site at Nakji-ri, Cheongyang-gun. It is also known as the 'Sungjeong Gap-o-year Ijeyeol Epitaph Tablet', after the reign-era date inscribed on it. Yi Je-yeol served as chambong, a junior official, of the Saongwon, the office in charge of royal meals, and as hyeollyeong, or magistrate, of Singye County. Records concerning him appear in the Guse Jeyeolgong Yugorok ('Record of Writings Left by the Ninth-generation Lord Jeyeol'), a chapter within the Jeonju-ssi Sudogun-pa Munheonrok ('Documentary Records of the Sudogun Branch of the Jeonju Yi Clan') published by his descendants in 1994, and in the entry for the Imja day of the eighth month of the thirty-second year of King Sukjong's reign in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. The Yi Je-yeol epitaph tablet consists of seven plates in all. Each measures 12.9-13.9 cm wide, 19-22 cm long, and about 1 cm thick. Each plate appears to have been shaped in a single session, but because moisture evaporated at different rates between plates during drying and firing, the plates vary slightly in size. They were inscribed in underglaze cobalt blue on finely refined white porcelain clay, and coated with a clear glaze over the entire surface except the base. The tablets show ice-crackle (bingnyeol) in the glaze, but retain a good lustre, and the fusion of glaze to body is excellent, demonstrating the advanced porcelain-making techniques of the 17th-18th centuries. Each plate carries eleven lines of twenty-one characters, except for the seventh and final plate, which has ten lines. The script is a semi-cursive (haengseo) hand, with characters about 8-9 mm high. The writing on plates one through six is a pale blue, while that on plate seven is a darker blue. Plate seven is also comparatively smaller, and differs from the others in the colour of the porcelain and the pattern of the ice-crackle glaze, suggesting it was not fired together with the other six. The Yi Je-yeol epitaph tablet is an important resource for the study of 17th-18th-century porcelain-making techniques. It is also a valuable historical source, since its inscription records that numerous meetings were held in connection with the restoration of King Danjong's honour, shedding light on the political circumstances of the time.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산