Historic Site of Scholar Choe Chiwon

About this place

This is a historic site where an autographed stone inscription by Choe Chiwon, scholar of the late Silla period, is preserved. Choe Chiwon is considered the founding ancestor of the Gyeongju Choe clan. In 869 (the 9th year of King Gyeongmun), at the age of 13, he traveled to Tang China to study. He passed the Tang civil service examination in 874, served as Biaoshu County official in Xuanzhou, and then was promoted to Chengwulang Zhentian Shiyushi Neigong Feng, serving as a military aide, receiving the Silver Fish Token and then the Purple Gold Fish Token. In 879 (the 5th year of King Heongang), during the Huang Chao Rebellion, serving as military aide to Gaobian, he composed the 'Proclamation to Huang Chao' (Tohuangso gyeongmun), establishing his fame as a literary master. Returning to Silla in 885, he became Reader and Hanlin Academician, Holder of the Ministry of Military Rites and Keeper of the Office of Records. In 894, he submitted a memorial of more than ten articles on statecraft to Queen Jinseong, lamenting the disorder of the state, and requested an external post, serving as regional governor of Buseong-gun (present-day Seosan, South Chungcheong Province) before becoming Acan. He then resigned his official position, criticizing the chaotic age, wandered through various regions, and spent his remaining years at Haeinsa Temple on Gayasan Mountain.