General Jeong Gi-ryong Historic Site (Chunguisa)

About this place

Chunguisa is the shrine that houses the memorial tablet of General Jeong Gi-ryong, a military officer during the reign of King Seonjo of Joseon who rendered great service as a renowned commander of land battles during the Imjin War. General Jeong Gi-ryong was born in 1562 (the 17th year of King Myeongjong) in Geumnam-myeon, Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. At the age of 20 he was recommended to Sangju, and at 25 he passed the military service examination, whereupon by royal command he changed his name to Gi-ryong. When the Imjin War broke out, he defeated many Japanese troops in more than 60 battles large and small with a small force, and while serving as the magistrate of Sangju he recaptured Sangju Fortress after a fierce battle. He later served as Army Commander of the Right Gyeongsang Province, Defense Commander of Gyeongsang Province, and Commander of the Three Provinces concurrently with Naval Commander of the Right Gyeongsang Province, before dying of illness. His posthumous title was Chungui (忠毅). Together with his stele of honor and the general's tomb, the site was designated a local cultural heritage monument in 1974, and through the 1978 project to purify sites of patriotism, the original shrine of about 16.5 square meters was expanded and refurbished on a plot of about 13,223 square meters into a shrine, exhibition hall, administrative office and more, making it a sacred ground of patriotic thought. The exhibition hall displays five items of treasure designation (two royal edicts, one royal appointment document, one identification tablet, and one jade belt) and movable cultural properties (19 royal appointment documents and 58 woodblocks of the Maeheon Silgi). In addition, each year around October local residents reenact the scene of recapturing Sangju Fortress during the Imjin War, promoting and carrying on the general's patriotic spirit.