Daewongun Anti-Western Stele

Cheokhwabi (anti-foreign steles) were steles that Heungseon Daewongun, who pursued a policy of national isolation, ordered erected along major roads in Seoul and throughout the country. His resolve had hardened through the French invasion of 1866 and the American invasion of 1871, and the steles were meant to instil in the people the conviction that Western powers must be rejected and their aggression guarded against. This stele, standing in the Hongseong area, consists of a stele body set into a broad, flat natural rock. Its inscription carries a sternly worded warning: "When Western barbarians invade, not to fight is to make peace, and to advocate peace is to sell the country." It was erected simultaneously across the country in 1871, the eighth year of Emperor Gojong, but after the Imo Mutiny of 1882, when Daewongun was abducted to the Russian legation, most such steles were removed or damaged by the Japanese. This is one of three cheokhwabi surviving in South Chungcheong Province, and it vividly conveys both the turbulent circumstances of the late Korean Empire period and the resolve behind the policy of national isolation.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hongseong, Chungnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료