③ (Baegui Jonggun Road) From the Old Home to Gongju

Admiral Yi Sun-sin — the commander who saved Joseon at sea during the Imjin War, now walking south as a disgraced man stripped of rank — set up his mother's mourning hall and stayed three more days at his old home. Then a clerk of the State Tribunal, the royal court that tried officials, came from Gongju and pressed him to leave. There was no time to hold the funeral.

This post covers the eighth and ninth days. We leave the old home in Asan, pass Geumgok and Bosanwon, and go on to Ilsin Station in Gongju. The road the Admiral covered in one day on horseback, we walk in two.

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

What to Know First

Itinerary for This Post

Day	Route	Distance	Date (lunar → solar)	Overnight
8	Old home in Asan (Hyeonchungsa) → Gokgyocheon Stream → Geumgok → Bosanwon	about 24 km	4.19 → 6.3	near Bosanwon, Gwangdeok-myeon, Cheonan
9	Bosanwon → Ilsin Station, Gongju	about 29 km	4.19 → 6.3	Gongju (where the Admiral slept)

The distances are estimates. I have not yet found an official walking-trail distance for this section. I will correct them as I walk.

Day 8 — Old Home to Bosanwon (about 24 km)

The Admiral's day: the first part of the 19th day of the 4th lunar month (solar June 3)

Taking Leave Before the Spirit Tablet

"Setting out early, I took my leave before my mother's spirit tablet and cried out. Where in all the world is there another plight like mine! It would be better to die early. I reached the house of my nephew Noe and reported before the ancestral shrine." (Nanjung Ilgi, 19th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year [1597])

This is one of the most painful passages in the Nanjung Ilgi, the Admiral's war diary. We carry these words with us as we leave Hyeonchungsa, the shrine that now stands at his old home.

The Road of Wailing

Asan City named the road the Admiral took that day the "Road of Wailing (痛哭)." It runs from the old house at Hyeonchungsa, crosses Gokgyocheon Stream, passes Gamtagi Village (Geumgok), and reaches Neoptigogae Pass (Hankook Ilbo, 2015). Over the pass lies Cheonan.

Geumgok: Dismounting to Wail

"When I reached the front of Gang Seon-jeon's house in Geumgok (Daedeok-ri, Gwangdeok-myeon, Yeongi-gun), I met Gang Jeong (姜晶) and Gang Yeong-su (姜永壽), got down from my horse, and wailed." (Nanjung Ilgi, 19th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

There are two views on where Geumgok was. The translation's note places it in Daedeok-ri, Gwangdeok-myeon. Asan City and the Yi Sun-sin Research Institute at Soonchunhyang University took Gamtagi Village in Asan to be Geumgok and laid out the "Road of Wailing" there. I could not decide which is right. We follow the road Asan City laid out.

The Stream at Bosanwon

"From there I reached Bosanwon (Bosanwon-ri, Gwangdeok-myeon, Yeongi-gun). The magistrate of Cheonan had come to the stream ahead of me; he got down from his horse, rested, and left." (Nanjung Ilgi, 19th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

Bosanwon-ri is today in Gwangdeok-myeon, Cheonan City. In 2014 a Baegui Jonggun memorial stone was erected at the entrance to Bosanwon 1-ri. On its back is carved what the Nanjung Ilgi records of this place (Seoul Shinmun, 2014).

The magistrate of Cheonan was the man who had helped with the funeral arrangements at Gebawi. He came this far to see the Admiral off. Han Sul, the magistrate of Imcheon, who was on his way to Seoul to sit an examination, heard that the Admiral was passing and came in to offer condolences.

We spend the eighth night near Bosanwon.

Day 9 — Bosanwon to Ilsin Station, Gongju (about 29 km)

The Admiral's day: the latter part of the 19th day of the 4th lunar month (solar June 3)

The Sons Who Followed as Far as Cheonan

"My sons Hoe, Myeon, and Ul (蔚), my nephews Hae, Bun (芬), and Wan (莞), and Jubu Byeon Jon-seo (卞存緖) followed me together as far as Cheonan." (Nanjung Ilgi, 19th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

His three sons and his nephews followed him this far, along with Byeon Jon-seo, who held the minor government post of jubu. His youngest son, Myeon, was among them. That autumn, Myeon was killed fighting the enemy in Asan.

👉 ⑦ Wailing — The Death of a Beloved Son

Sleeping at Ilsin Station

"Won In-nam (元仁男) also came to see me, and after parting I mounted my horse. I reached Ilsin Station (Singwan-ri, Janggi-myeon, Gongju City) and slept there." (Nanjung Ilgi, 19th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

"In the evening rain sprinkled." (Nanjung Ilgi, 19th day of the 4th month, jeongyu year)

Ilsin Station was a relay station on the road into Gongju. The translation's note places it in Singwan-ri, Janggi-myeon, Gongju City. Today this is the Singwan-dong area, north of the Geumgang River in the city of Gongju.

The Admiral went from his old home to Gongju in a single day. We take two. We spend the ninth night in Gongju, where the Admiral slept.

Next on the Itinerary

The next day the Admiral passed through Gongju and slept at Nisan (today Noseong in Nonsan). The day after, he passed Eunjin and reached Yeosan. Yeosan was in Jeolla Province. That night, sitting alone, the Admiral could not bear his grief.

👉 Next post: ④ (Baegui Jonggun Road) From Gongju to Yeosan

— Momcheolhak