Gyeongjuissi Yangwolmunjung Gomunseo Mit Hyangan

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.1474-1

Category

Books & Records

Era

15~17세기

Designated year

2006

Location

경주시, 경상북도— 경북 경주시 일정로 186, 국립경주박물관 (인왕동,국립경주박물관)

Coordinates

35.829387, 129.227912

The documents from the Collection of the Yangwol Branch of the Gyeongju Yi Clan include not only documents related to family afffairs, but also many that are related to local government and which, therefore, have wider significance. The designated documents include two Books of government orders of appointment, twenty-three Royal Notices of Appointment, one Civil Petition, and one Royal Command regarding Yi Ji-dae, which is preserved at the Seoul Museum of History. The government orders of appointment show signs of having been examined by the Inspector-General, and are valuable evidence of the Goryeo method of drafting government documents, which was used prior to the letter of appointment system. It seems that the government order of appointment was the final stage of the inspector’s examination, and that the official who received the government order of appointment was officially appointed as a civil servant. Thus, the document is related to personnel administration. The two books of government orders of appointment were issued to Yi Jeom in 1423 and 1444. As those documents were written before the publication of the Gyeongguk Daejeon (Complete Code of Law of the Joseon Dynasty), they are valuable materials that illustrate changes in the form of official documentation. The Royal Notices of Appointment were issued to Yi Hyeong-lim (1), Yi Su-gwang (2), Yi Hong (5), Yi Gyeong-han (12), Yi Gyeong-han’s wife Oh (1), and Yi Sang-il (2). They show the history of the Yangwol Branch of Gyeongju Yi Clan’s governmental positions and can be considered important materials for study of the system of personnel administration and governance at that time. The civil petition concerns a dispute over the annexation of towns (hyeon) in the Gyeongjubu region. It reveals certain aspects of the local administration, which conducted regional restructuring into gun (county) and hyeon (town). Gyeongju hyangan (seventeen books of the lists of local government official families), a set of 17th-century records possessed by the Yangwol Branch of the Gyeongju Yi Clan, is particularly valuable due to the significance of its contents and the rarity of the data compared similar artifacts in other regions. These seventeen hyangan were written between 1592 and 1692, which was an important period in which changes were made to the hyangan. These gyeongju hyangan documents are a very rare example as they have been preserved in perfect condition. In addition, they are comprehensive documents that include the original documents as well as copies thereof, administrative documents of the rural community (hyangchon), and village codes (hyangyak). Thus, the gyeongju hyangan documents, as materials related to the hyangchon administration representing its regional characteristics and social order (Unclear grammar, punctuation and, consequently, meaning!), are considered valuable materials for study of the rural society and system of the Joseon Period.

Location