Kim Jeong-hui's Home in Exile, Seogwipo

Basic information

Designation

Historic Site No.487

Category

유적지

Designated year

2007

Location

서귀포시, 제주특별자치도— 제주 서귀포시 대정읍 추사로 44, 일원 (안성리)

Coordinates

33.250169, 126.278295

Kim Jeong-hui (1786-1856), a renowned scholar-official, calligrapher and painter during the late years of the Joseon Dynasty, lived here in exile from 1840 to 1848. Kim, widely known by his pen-name Chusa, was a great-grandson of Kim Han-sin, a son-in-law of King Yeongjo. He passed the higher civil service examination in 1819, the 19th year of the reign of King Sunjo, and later served as headmaster of the Seonggyungwan National Academy, and vice minister of personnel affairs. In 1840, the sixth year of the reign of King Heonjong, he was appointed deputy envoy for the annual winter mission to China but, shortly before embarking on the trip, was banished to the distant island of Jejudo as a result of conflict with the powerful Andong Kim Clan. He lived at the house of the local police chief, Song Gye-sun, for the first few years and then moved to this house, which was officially named his home in exile. Located outside the east gate of the town wall of Daejeong, which is currently in Seogwipo, the house was then owned by a local man named Kang Do-sun. It was burnt down during the civil uprising of 3 April 1948, and rebuilt in 1984 in accordance with the testimony of Kang’s great-grandson. While living in this house, Kim perfected his own calligraphic style, the highly acclaimed Chusache. He also produced a number of literary works and paintings, including Sehando (Winter Scene), and taught many students. In view of his ingenious achievements in the research of ancient Korean epigraphs as bibliographical sources of history, as well as Confucianism and the arts, Kim’s home in exile is held to be of great historical and academic value.

Location