Gim Gu
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LocationNangju-gil Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- CategoryRegional Overview
- Korean김구
- Chinese金坵
- Nickname차산(次山)|지포(止浦)|문정공(文貞公)
- FieldHistory / Premodern
- Contents TypePerson / Military officer
- BirthplaceNangju-gil Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- ResidenceJijipo-gil Gosa-gil Byeonsan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- ResidenceNangju-gil Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Location of TombSan 3-1 Gosa-gil Byeonsan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Location of ShrineYeongok-ro Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Definition
- A civil official of the late Goryeo period who was born in Buan
- Summary
- Born in Buryeong-hyeon, Jeolla-do (present-day Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do), Kim Gu (1211-1279) was a scholar-official who served the Goryeo dynasty from the period of the military regime to the early phase of Mongolian rule. Kim was also a distinguished man of letters, a master of verse and prose as well as a specialist in drafting diplomatic documents. He spent his last years in solitude in Buan, devoting himself to deepening his knowledge of Neo-Confucianism and educating local youth.
- Genealogy
- Kim Gu, a descendant of the Kim clan based in Buan (or Buryeong), was known by several other names including Kim Baeg-il, Chasan, and Jipo. As regards the origins of the Buan Kim clan, it is generally believed to have been founded by Prince Buryeong, an eleventh-generation descendant of King Gyeongsun (r. 927-935) of the Silla dynasty, or Kim Jak-sin, his eighth- generation descendant. One of his fifth-generation ancestors, Kim Gyeong-su, passed the state examination during the reign of King Sinjong (r. 1197-1204) of Goryeo and served as an Audience Usher (Hammunjihu). His father, Kim Ui, passed the state examination held in 1204 and served as an official of the central government of Goryeo during the reign of King Sinjong.
- Career
- Born in Seonhak-dong, Buryeong-hyeon (today's Seoneun-ri of Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do) in 1211, Kim Gu passed the primary-level state examination (Seonggyunsi) held in 1922, and the second-level examination (Yebusi) held ten years later. Following his success in the examination, he was recommended by Yi Gyu-bo (1168-1241), a renowned scholar-official of Goryeo, for a position in the military regime headed by Choe U (?-1249) and, later, for the post of Administrative Assistant (Pangwan) of the governor of Jeju. In 1239, he was enrolled in the Academy of Letters (Hallimwon) and given an opportunity to serve as a diary keeper (Seojanggwan) on a mission to Yuan China. This experience led him to write the poem Passing Through Cheolju (Gwacheolju), and the book titled Record of the Northern Expedition (Bukjeongnok). However, he was forced to retire from public service for about ten years after refusing the request of Choe Hang, who had come to power following his father, Choe U, to write an introduction to the Buddhist sutra called the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment. He was appointed as a special drafting officer (Jijego) at the Academy of Letters after Choe Ui came to power after Choe Hang.
The military regime of the Choe family ended abruptly with the assassination of Choe Ui by Kim Jun in 1258, to be followed by the “normalization” of diplomatic relations between Goryeo and Yuan. The new political situation gave Kim ample opportunity to make diplomatic documents and win the favor of Goryeo’s king, which eventually led his being awarded a ministerial position. The enthronement of King Chungnyeol (r. 1274-1308) in 1274 gave Kim Gu more opportunities to serve in various important positions in the government. It was during this period of service that he found the interpreters employed by the Goryeo court to be corrupt and enormously selfish. In an effort to settle the problem, he pleaded with the king to establish the Office of Interpretation and Translation (Tongmungwan) to nurture a new generation of interpreters and translators. His devoted service to the friendly diplomatic relationship between Goryeo and Yuan contributed to the restoration of the royal authority of Goryeo’s kings. After his retirement, Kim returned home and spent his final years in Jijipo in Unsan-ri, Byeonsan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do. He died in 1278 at the age of 68.
[Academic Achievements]
Kim Gu's writings were published in the book The Collected Writings of Jipo (Jipojip).
- Tomb
- Kim Gu’s grave is located at San 3-1, Unsan-ri, Byeonsan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do. His grave site was designated as the Provincial Monument of Jeollabuk-do No. 127 on October 23, 2009.
- Awards and Commemorations
- In 1534, the local Confucian community of Buan established a Confucian shrine-academy (Dodongseowon) to honor the life and achievements of Kim Gu at the foot of Seokdongsan Mountain in Yeongok-ri, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do. The academy was closed in 1868 according to the "Seowon Abolition Edict” issued in 1866 by the Prince-regent Heungseon and never restored. The spirit tablet of Kim Gu is currently enshrined at Gyeongjijae, the ancestral shrine of the Buan Kim clan. To the left of the shrine stands a stone stele that was set up in 1792 to honor Kim Gu. Another stone stele honoring his life and achievements was built in 1910 at a site in Seoneun-ri, Buan-eup, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do. The epitaph engraved on the stele was written by Jeon U (1841-1922). Kim Gu was posthumously granted the honorary title of Munjeong.
- See Also