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A Study of Jeongeongong Im Meong-ju’s Newly Discovered Handwritten Letter

Kang, Soon-Ae 1

1한성대학교

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ABSTRACT

This paper studies Jeongeongong Im Myeong-ju(1705-1757) in light of his newly discovered handwritten letter by examining his life and academic works, his achievements as written in Nokmunseonsaengmunjib’s memorial inscription and in Yunjidangyugo’s funeral address, and the bibliography and content of his handwritten letter. Im Myeong-ju’s courtesy name was Baek Shin and his family clan was based in Pungcheon. He passed the classics licenciate(saengwon) level of the civil service examination in the 9th year of Yeongjo’s reign(1733) and the higher literary examination in the 23rd year of Yeongjo’s reign(1747). That same year he went through the government post of Hansungchamgun and Saganwonjeongeon to become the Saheonbu jipyung. His time in public office was not long due to an involvement in an incident. He died in Jeonju’s Haksanusa in the 33rd year of Yeongjo’s reign(1757). The origin of his academic studies lay in the late Joseon Dynasty’s Yulgok Giho school’s Jugipa Seongrihak. The sources are Sagye(1548-1631) ￫ Uam Song Si-yeol ￫ Hwang Kang(1641-1721). Through marriage he became connected to the academic branches of No Ga-jae and Kim Chang-eop. Im Myeong-ju wrote the letter on February 8 in the 14th year of Yeongjo’s reign(1738) when he was living in Yeoju in order to ask his father’s second cousin for help gathering travel equipment for the civil service examination. The letter measures 32.0 cm vertically and 40.5 cm horizontally. The body of correspondence has 18 vertical lines and is blank in the top three horizontal lines. There is a total of 183 letters in the body and 14 letters for years. The words that refer to his father’s second cousin such as ‘myeokhaejigyo,’ ‘hahyejimul,’ ‘gyohasong,’ ‘hahyul,’ ‘baekgub’ and ‘hasong’ are preceded by a blank space to show respect. The item on the very front is the envelope, on which is inscribed ‘族 伯父主前 上書,’ showing that it is a letter addressed to his father’s second cousin. Im Myeong-ju’s calligraphy is based on Ahn Jin Kyung’s semicursive and cursive style, possessing a balance of powerful yet smooth brush strokes and character style and a uniquely natural and vibrant form. The styling of the dots and strokes are ample and witty, having variation for style yet strictly upholding class. The letter is divided into seven paragraphs according to content. The identity of Im Myeong-ju’s father’s second cousin is not clear. He is the one who lent Im Myeong-ju money to prepare for the civil service examinations and to buy paper for his studies, as well as lending the rest of Im Myeong-ju’s family three months’ worth of food. Although it is not mentioned in the letter, Im Myeong-ju failed the civil service examination in the 14th year of Yeongjo’s reign(1738) in spite of the help given by his father’s second cousin. It was later in the 23rd year of Yeongjo’s reign (1747) that he passed the singnyeonsi (regular examinations), coming in second in the first level of the literary examinations. This research will henceforward be used in the study of private records and also as the most basic study results in bibliography, archives and records management, history and Korean linguistics.

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