② (Baegui Jonggun Road) From the Old Home to Gebawi

In the last post, we left Jonggak in Seoul and reached the old home in Asan in five days. It was a road the Admiral covered in three.

👉 ① (Baegui Jonggun Road) From the Prison Gate to the Old Home in Asan

This post covers the sixth and seventh days: from the old home to Gebawi on the coast, and back again to the old home. It is the road on which Admiral Yi Sun-sin — the commander who saved Joseon at sea during the Imjin War, then walking south as a disgraced man stripped of rank — went out to meet his mother and came back bearing her coffin.

Eight Days of Waiting at the Old Home

The Admiral reached his old home around dusk on the 5th day of the 4th lunar month (solar May 20). He stayed in this house until the 12th day of the 4th month, waiting for his mother, who was coming north by sea.

During that time the Admiral did not walk. We, too, skip these eight days. But we will read the diary for those days before we go.

People Come to Visit

"Friends from far and near all came and gathered. They fully unburdened feelings long held back, and went." (Nanjung Ilgi, 6th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year [1597])

State Tribunal officer Yi Sa-bin, who was escorting the Admiral, was also in Asan. The Admiral treated him with care.

On the 9th day of the 4th month, the village people came with bottles of wine to comfort him before his long journey. Some even sang.

"Even listening to the songs, I was not the least bit happy." (Nanjung Ilgi, 9th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

An Ominous Dream

"My dream at dawn was so troubling that I cannot tell it all. … My heart is very uneasy. I cannot hold my mind steady, as if drunk or mad — what omen is this! Thinking of my sick mother, I did not even know my tears were flowing. I sent a servant to go and bring back news." (Nanjung Ilgi, 11th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

A Letter from Anheungnyang

The next day, the servant Tae-mun came with a letter.

"Though Mother seemed about to breathe her last, on the 9th day everyone, high and low, arrived safely at Anheungnyang (Anheung, Geunheung-myeon, Seosan City)." (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

His mother was coming north by boat from the southern sea. The letter said that at Beopseongpo the anchor had dragged and the boat had drifted away, so that she was separated from the others for six days before they met again. The Admiral sent his son Ul ahead to the coast.

His mother was Lady Byeon of Chogye. Three years earlier, in the first month, as she sent her son off at Yeosu, she said words that remain in the diary:

"Go well. You must greatly wash away the nation's disgrace." (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 1st month, gabo year [1594])

What to Know First

Itinerary for This Post

Day	Route	Distance	Date (lunar → solar)	Overnight
6	Old home in Asan (Hyeonchungsa) → Jungbangpo → Gebawi	about 15 km	4.13 → 5.28	near Gebawi, Inju
7	Gebawi → Jungbangpo → old home in Asan (Hyeonchungsa)	about 15 km	4.16 → 5.31	near Hyeonchungsa (where the mourning hall was set up)

For distance, I followed Section 2 of Asan City's Baegui Jonggun Trail, the "Road of Filial Piety (孝)." From Hyeonchungsa to Gebawi in Haeam-ri, Inju-myeon, it is 15 km (Seoul Shinmun, 2021). This trail passes Jungbangpo and Gobun Bridge. We walk the same road going and coming back.

There are three days between the two days. The Admiral went to Gebawi on the 13th day of the 4th month and came back with the coffin on the 16th. Since we decided to walk without rest days, we go on the sixth day and return on the seventh.

Day 6 — Old Home to Gebawi (about 15 km)

The Admiral's day: the 13th day of the 4th lunar month (solar May 28)

Going Out to Meet His Mother

"After eating breakfast early, on the way to the coast to meet my mother, I stopped briefly at Hong Chalbang's house, and while we were talking, my son Ul (蔚) sent the servant Ae-su (愛壽) to say, / 'There is still no news of the boat coming.'" (Nanjung Ilgi, 13th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

On the way to the coast, the Admiral stopped at the house of Hong Chalbang (a chalbang was a postal station master). He heard that the boat had not yet come. The Admiral parted from Hong Chalbang and went to the house of Byeon Heung-baek. Byeon Heung-baek had the same surname, Byeon, as his mother. The diary does not say how they were related.

We do not know where Hong Chalbang's house or Byeon Heung-baek's house stood. We follow the "Road of Filial Piety" to the coast.

The Sky Went Dark

"After a little while, the servant Sun-hwa (順花) came from the boat and brought the news of my mother's death. I ran out, beat my breast, and stamped my feet. The sky went dark." (Nanjung Ilgi, 13th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

"I rushed at once to Gaetbawi (Haeam-ri, Yeomchi-eup, Asan City), and the boat had already arrived. I cannot write down all my grief. I write a rough account on a later day." (Nanjung Ilgi, 13th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

"I write a rough account on a later day." That day's diary could not be written that day.

Gebawi

Gebawi is today in Haeam-ri, Inju-myeon, Asan City. The "Yeomchi-eup" in the translation's parentheses differs from today's administrative districts. In Chinese characters it is Haeam (蟹巖), meaning "crab rock."

In April 2024, two stone monuments bearing characters collected from the Admiral's own handwriting were erected here. On one of them is carved "大雪國辱" (daeseol gukyok) (Chungcheong Times, 2024) — his mother's words three years earlier: "You must greatly wash away the nation's disgrace."

Three Days at Gebawi

"Hong Chalbang and Yi Byeoljwa came in, wailed, and prepared the coffin. The coffin wood had been prepared and brought from headquarters, and they said there was not the slightest flaw in it." (Nanjung Ilgi, 14th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

"Toward evening we placed her in the coffin. O Jong-su (吳終壽) took charge of the funeral and provided lunch; even if my bones turn to dust, I will not forget it." (Nanjung Ilgi, 15th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

It took two days to make the coffin and lay his mother in it. The magistrate of Cheonan came to help, and Jeon Gyeong-bok looked after the making of the mourning clothes every day.

The diary does not say where the Admiral slept those three nights. It must have been near the boat where the coffin lay. We spend the sixth night in Inju, near Gebawi.

Day 7 — Gebawi to the Old Home (about 15 km)

The Admiral's day: the 16th day of the 4th lunar month (solar May 31)

Bearing the Coffin

"We towed the boat and moored it in front of Jungbangpo, placed the coffin on a bier, and as I came home and looked toward the village, how could I put into words the pain that seemed to tear my heart apart! When I got home I set up the mourning hall." (Nanjung Ilgi, 16th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

The Admiral towed the boat to the front of Jungbangpo and then moved the coffin onto a bier. From there to the old home, he must have walked behind the bier. I have not been able to confirm the exact location of Jungbangpo. Since Asan City's "Road of Filial Piety" passes Jungbangpo, we follow this road back.

It rained that day.

"The rain poured down, I was utterly drained, and the day to go south was drawing near; wailing, I only wished I could die quickly." (Nanjung Ilgi, 16th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

The Old Home Where the Mourning Hall Was Set Up

On the seventh night we again stay near Hyeonchungsa, beside the old home where the Admiral set up his mother's mourning hall.

👉 ③ My Mother's Death, on the Road as a Disgraced Soldier

Next on the Itinerary

The Admiral had no time to hold his mother's funeral.

"Yi Su-yeong (李秀榮), the clerk of the State Tribunal officer, came from Gongju and pressed me to leave." (Nanjung Ilgi, 17th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

The next day it rained all day. The Admiral felt very unwell; he only wailed before the mourning hall, then withdrew to a servant's house.

And on the 19th day of the 4th lunar month (solar June 3), the Admiral left his mother's mourning hall behind and set off south. The next post covers that road: leaving the old home, passing Bosanwon, and going on to Gongju.

👉 Next post: ③ (Baegui Jonggun Road) From the Old Home to Gongju

— Momcheolhak