Gwangyang Daapseomjinjinteo Stone Stele Pedestal

Seomjinjin, located in Seomjin village, Dosa-ri, Daap-myeon, is presumed to have been the largest military stronghold linking this area with Hadong. In addition, Jinsang-myeon had the Seomgeo postal station, and Wondong in Sinwon-ri, Daap-myeon, had the Seomjin-won travellers' inn, making the Seomjin ferry crossing an important transport hub linking Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do provinces. The earliest documentary record of Seomjinjin dates from the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). According to the Honam jinji, a gazetteer of garrisons in the Honam region, "the first person to station troops at Seomjin was Yi Sun-sin, posthumously honoured as Chungmugong, who placed auxiliary defence troops at Duchi, across the river from Seomjin, to guard the crossing." The Huiyangji, a local gazetteer, further records that "after the Japanese invasions, in 1603 Tongyeong set up a headquarters office here and began recruiting soldiers, and it was formally made a naval garrison in 1705, when a byeoljang, a garrison commander of the junior eighth official rank, was stationed here." Exactly when this commander's rank was raised is unclear, but the Yeojidoseo, a national gazetteer, records it as junior sixth rank. No walled fortress was built at Seomjinjin, but the Huiyangji records that it had an office called Seohaegwan, together with six storehouses and eight further buildings including official quarters, as well as two bangseon defence boats and two sahuseon scout boats. It also records a garrison force of 359 men at the time, with 88 civilian households in the surrounding area. However, since the garrison had already been closed down by the time this record was compiled, it is not possible to say precisely which period it describes, only that it predates 1895, when the garrison was abolished. A survey of the present condition of the site shows that, around the Suwoljeong Yuheobi, a stele marking the former site of Suwoljeong pavilion, four stone pedestals survive, believed to have once supported commemorative steles for the garrison's commanders. The sites of the official quarters and inner quarters, the garrison storehouse, the clerks' office, the armoury, the officers' hall, and a Seonghwangdang (Village Guardian Shrine) also remain, along with a seondol, a standing stone said to have been used for mooring boats.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gwangyang, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료