Hwa Mountain Spirit Painting Stele

A spirit-road stele is a stele recording the lifetime achievements of a king or high official, erected to the southeast of his tomb. This stele honours Hwasan Gwon Ju (1457-1505), a civil official of the early Joseon period. Hwasan was born in 1457, the third year of King Sejo, and passed the state examination at the age of twenty-four to enter official life. In 1489, the twentieth year of King Seongjong, while serving as a jeongnang (section chief) of the Ministry of Works, he was sent to the Liaodong region as a jiljeonggwan, an envoy dispatched to verify matters of protocol and record. From December 1493, the twenty-fourth year of King Seongjong, until the eighth month of the following year, he travelled to Tsushima Island as a gyeongchagwan, a royal inspector sent on special assignment. In 1497, the third year of Yeonsangun's reign, he rose to the post of Chief Royal Secretary, and in 1499 he took part in compiling the Veritable Records of King Seongjong. When the Gapja Purge broke out in 1504, the tenth year of Yeonsangun, he was dismissed from office because he had, years earlier, carried the royal order of poison to Lady Yun, the deposed queen consort and Yeonsangun's birth mother. He was further pursued over this same matter, and in 1505, the eleventh year of Yeonsangun, he himself was made to drink poison and died. He was also skilled in Chinese and took on important work in diplomacy with Ming China, and he is said to have been frugal and dignified in character, giving his utmost to whatever duty he was given. The stele's body stands on a low, broad square pedestal with a capstone set on top; it was erected in 1711, the thirty-seventh year of King Sukjong. The inscription was composed by Yi Hyeon-il, who had served as Minister of Personnel, and carved in the calligraphy of Yi Yu. In 1981 a new stele pavilion was built to protect it.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료