Newsletter

To celebrate the month of Dokdo, the Northeast Asian History Foundation hosted an academic conference on October 24 to discuss "Jang Han-sang, Ulleungdo, and Dokdo." Academic discussions were held about the existing handwritten copy and the significance of the two additional copies of the record on Ulleungdo affairs titled "Ulleungdo sajeok" (鬱陵島事蹟) authored by Jang Han-sang (張漢相), a Joseon inspector of the island during King Sukjong's reign. The two additional copies were recently discovered by the Foundation at the Uiseong Jomunguk Museum, which assisted in announcing the discovery to the press. On the following day of October 25, a ceremony was held for the Gangneung Kim clan's donation of historical material to the Foundation that had previously been kept at Hanggil gotaek (恒吉古宅), the clan's old Hanggil residence. Ms. Kim Sang-rae and Mr. Kim Dong-wook attended the ceremony as members of the Gangneung Kim clan's Gamchalgong line to donate the entire collection of genealogical records as well as old books and documents that had been kept at Hanggil gotaek. Among the extensive collection was "Hanggil gotaek ilgi" (恒吉古宅日記), a series of almanacs that include records about patrolling the Korean island Ulleungdo.

Patrol Records in Hanggil gotaek ilgi

Hanggil gotaek ilgi is also known as "Hwangildaek saenghwal ilgi" or "Hangildaek saenghwal ilgi." It has previously been studied for research and although its content has partially been released to the press before, the donation ceremony held at the Northeast Asian History Foundation was the first time for its entire content to be disclosed.

The name "Hanggil gotaek" seems to have originated from the name "Hanggiljang" (恒吉庄) given to the residence in Samcheok where the Gamchalgong line of the Gangneung Kim clan settled down during the first half of the Joseon dynasty. The Korean-Chinese character hang (恒) meaning "always" and the character gil (吉) meaning "good fortune" must have been chosen in the hopes that the family members may always being blessed with good fortune. Hanggil seems to have been inspired from a hexagram called "henggua" (恒卦) in Zhouyi, the Book of Changes. Yet, because it is also possible for hanggil to be a misrepresentation of an unknown original name, the series of almanacs has temporarily been labeled as Hanggil gotaek ilgi.

Hanggil gotaek ilgi consists of almanacs holding descriptions about major events inserted above, below, or on the backside of a particular date in a calendar book. It was produced over a span of nearly 150 years between 1753, the twenty-ninth year of King Yeongjo, and 1904. A total of thirteen books made up of 118 volumes have been identified so far, which amounts to almanacs worth nearly 120 years. Some of the books have titles such as Gubong gwangeum (九峯光陰), Sokjae geoje (俗齋居諸), Sokjae gwangeum (俗齋光陰), Nokgi gwangeum (錄記光陰), or Dongwu gwangeum (東愚光陰). Maeam (梅菴) Kim Chi-ryeon (金致璉, 1720-1794), Jukheon (竹軒) Kim Eung-jo (金膺祚, 1755-1817), Kim Si-hak (金時鶴), Gubong (九峯) Kim Gu-hyeok (金九爀), Kim Yeon-jeong (金演政) are likely to be among those who contributed to authoring Hanggil gotaek ilgi.

The almanacs contain many records about patrolling the island Ulleungdo in specific years and nine of the patrols haven't been mentioned in any other record compiled by government offices such as Joseonwangjo sillok [Annals of the Joseon Dynasty], Bibyeonsa deungnok [Records of the Border Defense Council], Gaksa deungnok [Compiled Records of Individual Government Offices], Seungjeongwon ilgi [Daily Records of the Royal Secretariat], and Ilseongnok [Daily Records for Royal Introspection]. Hanggil gotaek ilgi therefore possesses great historical value for offering records that cannot be found elsewhere. Scholars had previously assumed that the Joseon government had faltered in patrolling Ulleungdo by the nineteenth century because of the chaos caused by power politics. However, Hanggil gotaek ilgi provides proof that the government had continued to regularly inspect the island every two years even throughout the power-politics period.

Hanggil gotaek ilgi is likely to be used as a vital source in the future for studying the territorial inspection system of late Joseon because it includes mentions about inspection-related taxes, the management of inspected areas, and the operation of coast guards to watch out for the arrival of patrol ships.