Jindo Island Jeongyujaeransunjeol Burial Ground

This burial ground contains 232 graves of those who died fighting for the country during the Jeongyu War, the second Japanese invasion of Korea (1597–1598), including Jo Eung-ryang (曺應亮), a member of a local gentry family (sajok) of Jindo County and a Seonmu Wonjong meritorious subject, a title awarded for service during the Japanese invasions. Jindo had already suffered heavy losses during the earlier Imjin War invasion, but the greatest number of casualties occurred during the Jeongyu War, when the largest naval battle of the conflict was fought near Uldumok (Myeongnyang), close to Jindo. On 15 September 1597 Admiral Yi Sun-sin arrived at Byeokpajin on Jindo Island, and on the 16th won a great victory at the Battle of Myeongnyang, but he then withdrew immediately to Dangsado Island in Sinan, leaving Usuyeong and Jindo exposed to Japanese attack. At that time the Jindo garrison troops were led by the county magistrate, Song Deok-il (宋德馹). Among the people of Jindo who died fighting as government troops at the Battle of Myeongnyang, eight men, including Jo Eung-ryang, are recorded by name. Buried in the area of the burial ground at Dopyeong-ri, Gogun-myeon are members of local gentry families of Jindo who died in the Jeongyu War: Jo Eung-ryang; his son Myeongsin (命新), also a Seonmu Wonjong meritorious subject; Bak Heon (朴軒), posthumously honoured as Deputy Minister of War; Kim Seong-jin (金聲振), a Seonmu Wonjong meritorious subject who died in the Battle of Namwon; and Kim Hong-rip (金弘立). This burial ground lies about 15 ri from Byeokpajin or Myeongnyangjin. It is said that when Jindo County was first established in the 1440s, this land was divided between the Changnyeong Jo and the Gimhae Kim clans. After the Jeongyu War the land was split between the two clans, and although some unrelated people were later buried here, around 200 of the graves are traditionally said to belong to those who died for their country in the Jeongyu War. The deaths of the gentry at the Battle of Myeongnyang are recorded in clan genealogies and in the Honam Jeoruirok, a record of loyalist deeds in the Honam region, but the contributions of the ordinary local people who served without being named have been largely overlooked. Of the many mounded graves here, aside from the 16 belonging to identified members of long-established local clans such as the Changnyeong Jo and Gimhae Kim, the rest are graves of unknown occupants. The fact that all the graves, whether of identified or unidentified occupants, face north towards Uldumok, the site of the battle, makes clear that this is a burial ground for the victims of the Imjin and Jeongyu Wars, giving it its significance.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jindo, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료