Samjeondo Monument

Samjeondo Monument
Korean name
Hangul	삼전도비
Hanja	三田渡碑
Revised Romanization	Sam-jeon-do-bi
McCune–Reischauer	Sam-jŏn-do-bi

The Samjeondo Monument is a monument marking Korea's submission to Qing Dynasty of China in 1636 after Second Manchu invasion of Korea. its original name was Daecheong Hwangje Gongdeok Bi (大淸皇帝功德碑) which means the stele to the merits and virtues of the Emperor of Great Qing. Initially erected at Samjeondo, near the Sambatnaru crossing point of the Han River, it was thereafter buried and erected again several times. It is nowadays designated as the 101st Historic site of South Korea.

Erection

Following the siege of Namhansanseong, King Injo of Joseon had to surrender and was forced to accept vassal status to the Manchu Empire in 1636. The following year, Hong Taiji, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, ordered King Injo to put up a monument "in honor of the excellent virtues of the Qing Emperor". In 1639 it was erected at Samjeondo, where the ceremony of surrender had been conducted. Inscriptions were written in Manchu and Mongolian on the front side and in Chinese on the back; they have almost identical contents. The Chinese version was composed by Yi Gyeongseok (李景奭), and the rest seem to have been translated from it.

Samjeondo, meaning "crossing of the three fields", was located near the Sambatnaru, a major crossing point of the Han River in early Joseon times. The Sambatnaru way was the shortest route to the stronghold of Gwangju and the southern provinces. It was also the one most often used to visit the tomb of King Taejong at the foot of Mt. Daemosan.

Further History

This section provides few references, and tries mostly to be a fair synthesis of the Chinese, Japanese and Korean Wikipedia pages (thereafter referred as C-J-K).

Because of the strong emotional charge attached to it, this monument has been buried down and then erected again several times from 1639 till nowadays.

• 1895. (C-J-K). The monument was buried down as a result of the Treaty of Shimonoseki that concluded the First Sino-Japanese War(1894-1895). Remark: since 2004/05/12, this English page was saying : the monument was wiped out during the First Sino-Japanese War but was re-erected in 1895 (assertion that looks weird indeed).

• 1913. The monument is erected again. K-J pages agree on the date, but don't give further explanations. One can guess that motives were vexatious. C page says 1931 (without context, could be a typo).

•  ???. The monument is buried down after 1945. Korean page says: 1945 by the inhabitants, Chinese page says 1956 by the South Korea's Minister of Culture and Minister of Education, Japanese page gives no details. During Syngman Rhee's presidency (1948–1960), orders were given to destroy the stele, but the Ministry of Culture had it buried instead.

• 1957. South Korean Government appoints the site as Historic Site No 101 (1957/02/01).

• 1963. (C-J-K). The monument comes again to the eyes due to a flood of the river.

• 1983. (C-J-K). Monument is placed in a park, 37.503351 N,127.107083 E, i.e. in Seokchon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea (cf pictures, second line of the Gallery section).

• 2010. Monument is relocated 37.510407 N, 127.101635 E. Korean page says 2010/04/25, Japanese page says decision taken 2008, Chinese page gives pictures of the new location. The same pictures are given in the first line of the Gallery section.

On the contrary, from 2004/07/03 to 2011/08/29, the section History of this English page was ending by the following remark, that has NEVER been challenged (even from 2008) apart from reversions patriotic/nationalist :

Understandeably, the South Korean government has done little besides this [the 1983 park] to attract attention to the site, which is generally considered shameful by nationalist Koreans.

ignoring the deplacement of the monument.

Names

• in Manchu: Daicing gurun-i Enduringge Han-i gung erdemui bei ()
• in Mongolian: Dayičing ulus-un Boγda Qaγan-u erdem bilig-i daγurisγaγsan bei
• in Chinese: Daqing Huangdi Gongde Bei (大清皇帝功德碑)

which can be translated as "the stele to the merits and virtues of the Emperor of Great Qing."

Contents

Description

The plate which explain the Surrender of King Injo to Hong Taiji at Samjeondo. It show the Korean king prostrating in fromt of Hong Taiji.

Both the Manchu and Koreans saw the inscription as the litmus test for Korea's attitude toward the Manchu Emperor, so King Injo frayed his nerves to it. As a result, it greatly flattered the Manchus; namely, the inscription narrates how the king of Korea came to attach himself to the virtue of the Manchu Emperor from a Korean point of view. Although one-sided, it provides a concise account of the Manchu-Korean relationship.

The inscription starts with the description of the second Manchu campaign against Korea in 1636. The Manchu army besieged the Namhan fortress, where King Injo took refuge. He admitted his guilt, accepted the imperial edict and surrendered at Samjeondo. Since Hong Taiji felt compassion for the king, he mercifully sent the king back to the capital and rapidly withdrew the army without doing harm to the people.

In the next paragraph, the inscription traces the history back to the Battle of Sarhū in 1619. The Korean army, led by Gang Hong-rip, put on the appearance of supporting the Ming Dynasty but surrendered to the Manchus. However, all of the soldiers except the high-ranking ones were released by Nurhaci, and the inscription emphasizes the merciful act. Since Korea still displayed disobedient behavior, Hong Taiji commenced the first Manchu invasion of Korea in 1627. He did not overthrow the kingdom but established a Confucian "elder brother-younger brother" relationship. The inscription then goes on to describe the second Manchu campaign. When Hong Taiji declared the new dynasty of Qing in 1636, Korea did not accept it even though the Empire announced a war. The inscription stressed his benevolent acts during the war.

Next, the inscription explains the background of erection of the monument. It says that the king voluntarily erected the monument at Samjeondo to let the excellent virtue of the Emperor be known around the world.

Finally, the inscription summarizes the entire course of events in verse.

Present day carvings

All of the pictures of the back side (see Gallery) are showing that carvings on the back side have been erased, except from the first line. It would be great to have

• a sourced description of what happens and when
• a fine description of the remaining first line (see the last picture)

Gallery

• 

  New place, Back side

• 

  Turtle

• 

  Turtle

• 

  Historic context

• 

  About relocation

• 

  In the old place

• 

  The two turtles

• 

  Kneeling Injo

• 

  Another view

• 

  Enlarge full-size to see back-side carvings

See also

• History of Korea
• Yeongeunmun Gate
• Independence Gate
• Kowtow
• Humiliation of Jingkang

External links

• Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese texts