The Poetry Board by Song Hun, Founder of Damyang School, 

Returns from Japan

- Korean Japanese Businessman Kim Kangwon to Make Third Donation of Korean Cultural Heritage - Donation Ceremony on June 19

A poetry board (sipan) written by Song Hun (1862–1926), the founder of Damyang School and father of colonial era independence activist Song Jinwoo (1890–1945), returns home from Japan.
* Song Jinwoo (sobriquet: Goha): Journalist, educator, politician, and independence activist who served as the president of the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper company during the Japanese colonial era. He advocated for the Movement for Domestic Goods, the Establishment Movement for People’s University, and the “V Narod” Movement. He refused to cooperate with the Japanese, such as worshiping at Shinto shrines or the campaign for encouraging Korean students to enlist in the Japanese armed forces. He also developed an anti-Japanese media campaign.
* Sipan: A signboard inscribed with a poem.

The Korea Heritage Service (Administrator: Choi Eung-Chon; hereinafter the KHS) and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (Chair: Kim Jung-hee; hereinafter the OKCHF) held a ceremony for the donation of the Johyeon Myogagun (“The Rhyme for the Hall for the Tomb in Johyeon”) Poetry Board on June 19 at 10:30 a.m. at the Japan office of the OKCHF in Tokyo.
* Johyeon myogagun poetry board: L. 34 × W. 50 cm / produced in the mid-19th–early 20th century / material: wood

The donated Johyeon myogagun poetry board features a Chireon yulsi poem by Song Hun, marking the establishment of a new myogak in Johyeon, the old designation for an area currently known as Gwangdeok-ri, Changpyeong-myeon, Damyang-gun in Jeollanam-do. This archetypal late-Joseon signboard boasts a baseboard and frame adorned with chrysanthemum patterns on the left and right edges, as well as geometric cloud motifs along the upper and lower edges.
* Myogak: A hall constructed to hold rituals next to a tomb
* Chireon yulsi: A form of hansi (Classical Chinese Poetry) consisting of eight heptasyllabic verses.

The poem on this board ends with the line “Sincerely written by Sujuk Song Hun,” which confirms that the writer is Song Hun, whose sobriquet is Sujuk. Sinpyeong Songssi daedongbo (Genealogy of the Sinpyeong Song Clan) also indicates that Song Hun, the father of Song Jinwoo, used the sobriquet Sujuk.

According to The Critical Biography of Goha Song Jinwoo (1990), Song Hun was a pioneering figure. He founded the Damyang School, a modern-style educational institution, using his own money to highlight the importance of modern sciences. He also sent his son Song Jinwoo to the Yeonghaksuk School in Changpyeong, Damyang-gun, so that he could pursue the modern sciences. The Johyeon myogagun poetry board is believed to have been created when Song Hun was socializing with local figures in a village in the Johyeon area of Damyang-gun.

The poetry board donation was initiated by its collector, Mr. Kim Kangwon, an antique art business owner in Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Kim personally contacted the OKCHF last year to express his desire to donate. In 2022, Mr. Kim acquired two Korean cultural heritage items – the White Porcelain Epitaph Plaques for Kim Gyeong-on in Cobalt-blue Underglaze and the White Porcelain Epitaph Plaques for Yi Seong-rip in Underglaze Iron - from the Japanese antique art market. He donated these items to Korea without any conditions or compensation.

The donation of the poetry board, Mr. Kim Kangwon's third contribution, marks a significant milestone in returning the artwork of the father of the independence activist Song Jinwoo from Japan to Korea. It not only reflects the collector’s goodwill and ongoing commitment to cultural heritage restitution but also showcases the close collaboration between the local collector and the OKCHF. In recognition of Kim’s contribution, the Korea Heritage Service honored him with a plaque of appreciation from its administrator during the donation ceremony.

The KHS and OKCHF will continue to make every effort to protect and utilize Korean cultural heritage housed overseas by actively identifying and retrieving them while strengthening local cooperative networks.