Tomb of Yi Gyu-bo

The Goryeo poet Yi Gyu-bo loved "poetry, wine and the geomungo zither", and he was eccentric enough to write a story with wine as its hero and to design a pavilion on wheels. When the Goryeo court fled the Mongol invasions to Ganghwa Island, he spent his last years here, and after his death at 74 in 1241 he was buried on the eastern slope of Jingangsan. His tomb in Giljik-ri, Gilsang-myeon, is one of the rare graves of a Goryeo man of letters whose location has been reliably handed down.

Baegun Geosa, the "White Cloud Recluse"

Yi Gyu-bo (1168–1241) called himself Baegun Geosa, the White Cloud Recluse, a name that expresses a wish to live as freely as a drifting cloud. Born under the military regime, he passed the state examination but struggled for years before his career took off under the Choe family's rule, and he retired in 1237 as a senior chancellor. He argued that poets should find new expressions of their own rather than borrow lines from the classics, and of the thousands of poems he wrote some 2,000 survive.

His writings are essential sources for Goryeo history.

• The Lay of King Dongmyeong: a long narrative poem retelling the story of the founder of Goguryeo, expressing pride in Goryeo as Goguryeo's successor.
• Donggukisanggukjip: his collected works, published with the personal backing of the king and the most powerful official of the day, almost as a state record. Sources differ on its length: 53 or 56 volumes.
• Postscript to Sangjeong Yemun: here he noted that the book was printed with cast metal type, making it a key record of early Korean metal-type printing.
• Prayer for the Tripitaka carving: when the Tripitaka Koreana was being carved on Ganghwa, he wrote the prayer in which king and ministers asked the Buddha's help to repel the Mongols.

What to see at the tomb

The tomb lies on a low hill on the south-eastern spur of Deokjeongsan, which adjoins Jingangsan. A round mound about 3.8 m across has an earthen "tail" running behind it, and two tiers of banking enclose the grave.

• Stone figures and sheep: a pair of Goryeo-style stone figures, post-shaped with oversized heads, and a pair of stone sheep flank the mound. With their curled horns and chunky bodies, the sheep are the most striking pieces here.
• Lantern and offering table: in front stand a square stone lantern, an offering table and an incense stone, with a pair of stone pillars on either side.
• Gravestone: the stele at the front right was put up in 1919 and reads "Tomb of Yi Gyu-bo, Lord Munsun of Haeum, Chancellor of Goryeo" (高麗李相國文順公河陰伯奎報之墓).
• Portrait hall and lodge: below on the left is the Yuyeonggak hall with his portrait, and on the right the Sagajae ancestral lodge and a memorial stele.

The screen stones around the base of the mound are modern. Descendants tidied the site in the 1960s, the portrait hall and lodge followed in the 1980s, a literary monument in 1983 and a restoration stele in 1991, so the grave no longer looks as it first did. It was listed as a Gyeonggi Provincial Monument in 1972 and, after Ganghwa became part of Incheon, as an Incheon Metropolitan City Monument in 1995. It is looked after by Yi's descendants in the Yeoju Yi clan.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: about 30 minutes for the tomb. Look closely at the sheep and stone figures to see the simple, blocky carving typical of Goryeo.
• Address: 72-17 Kkachigol-gil, Gilsang-myeon, Ganghwa-gun (Giljik-ri). Enter this address into your navigation app.
• Nearby: Jeondeungsa Temple, about 4 km away, and Manisan to the south make a half-day in southern Ganghwa. The island is full of traces of the 39 years when Goryeo moved its capital here to escape the Mongols, which pairs well with the story of Yi's final years.