Historical Documents held at Yeonggwang Namgeukjae Hall

The historical documents held at Namgeukjae Hall in Yeonggwang comprise 33 volumes of records relating to the full range of organisations formed by local village elders in the Yeonggwang region. They trace a continuous lineage from the Sagye, a mutual-aid association of working-level administrative officials founded in 1587 (the twentieth year of King Seonjo), through its successor the Nogye (also called Nosogye), which took on a new form in 1796 (the twentieth year of King Jeongjo), to the Yugyeonggye of 1920, the Muryeongsisa of 1933, the Sungnogye of 1934, the Chunchugye of 1951, and the Jeongpunghoe organised in 1954. Of these, the 25 volumes of Nogye and Sagye documents and the single volume of Gisahagi are the most important. The value of the Namgeukjae documents lies, first, in their long history and lineage. As records of a village-society organisation founded in 1587 (the twentieth year of King Seonjo), they are empirical evidence that vividly illustrates the changing character of the leading groups that ran village society in the South Jeolla region over more than 400 years since the organisation's founding. Second, as organisational documents of a particular social stratum, such surviving records are rare. The compilers of the Namgeukjae documents were working-level administrative officials of the Yeonggwang region, so the records serve as research material for local history, forming the matrix of the self-generated, self-governing organisations of the area's many village elders. The organisational documents of these officials, known as hyangni (local clerks), have in most cases been damaged or lost, so very little survives elsewhere; the Yeonggwang records, by contrast, preserve 18 types of Sagye documents (1602-1872), the core association, and 7 types of Nogye documents (1796-1929) belonging to retired officials, all in very good condition. They are also notable as social-history material for examining the social activities of the village leadership of the South Jeolla region, since they also preserve various records showing the diverse changes that took place from the late Joseon period onward. Third, the value lies in the complete preservation of the records and their potential for research use. In terms of heritage value, these diverse and continuous records have been preserved and handed down as a complete set without omission; as material steeped in more than 400 years of history, they are judged to hold precious historical value for research into the actual operation of the organisation through its regulations, into the distribution and change of local power through its membership rosters, and into social history through the organisation's succession, branching and changing activities.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeonggwang, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료