Song Si-yeol Chogu Ilryeong of Uam Hermitage

Chogu refers to clothing made from the fur of a marten, an animal of the weasel family. This particular garment is an outer jacket once worn by King Hyojong of Joseon, which he bestowed on his tutor Song Si-yeol (pen name Uam). With fine yellow fur that looks warm to the touch, the coat measures 184 cm across with the arms outstretched, and the length of the back seam is 95 cm. On the inside, Song Si-yeol wrote in his own hand a detailed account of the garment's history. It originally had a silk lining, but it is said that when Song Si-yeol died, feeling he could not take into the next world the entire garment given to him by his king, only the lining was removed to be worn with him in burial, leaving just the fur behind. King Hyojong was the second son of King Injo; in 1626, the fourth year of King Injo, he was invested as Grand Prince Bongnim, and it was at this time that Song Si-yeol was appointed his tutor, forming a deep bond between them. During the Manchu invasion of 1636, when Grand Prince Bongnim was taken hostage to Qing China together with Crown Prince Sohyeon, Song Si-yeol declined all office and retired to the countryside; only when Hyojong ascended the throne and summoned him with an official post did he return to government, and he was chosen as a central figure in Hyojong's plan for a northern expedition against Qing. Later, when the faction of Kim Ja-jeom informed Qing China of Joseon's plans for the expedition, Song Si-yeol was forced from office, and Hyojong passed away in 1659, ten years after his accession, without having realised his ambition. During his lifetime Hyojong had given this garment to Song Si-yeol so that he might withstand the bitter cold of Qing China during the planned expedition, and it is said that Song Si-yeol would sometimes hold the garment and weep aloud as he recalled the king's intention. Its value lies less in being a garment bestowed by a king than in its symbolism of the firm bond of loyalty between sovereign and subject. The record written in Song Si-yeol's own hand on the inside of the garment is also a rare feature.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산