Letter to Yi Ŭngt'ae

In 1586, an unnamed pregnant widow wrote a letter for her deceased husband Yi Ŭngt'ae (Korean: 이응태; Hanja: 李應台; 1555–1586), mourning his early death and expressing sorrow that her children will grow up without a father. Written by a member of an elite family during the Joseon period, the letter was composed in colloquial Middle Korean using the Hangul script. The author's emotional language indicates that the letter was meant to be private, as members of the Korean Confucian elite were discouraged from strong expressions of emotion.

The letter was discovered in 1998 in Yi's tomb in Jeongsang-dong, Andong, South Korea, while moving the tomb and body elsewhere. It and other materials from the tomb are also considered to be valuable historical artifacts for understanding the language and customs of the era. The letter's contents and use of language reflect the relatively equal status of wives and husbands around this period in Korean history and the story has since become widely known in South Korea, with a number of works of historical fiction produced about the couple.

Background

Yi Ŭngt'ae lived from 1555 to 1586. He was a local nobleman of the Goseong Yi clan, and was the second son of his father, Yi Yosin (이요신; 李堯臣). He died at the age of 31, possibly from an epidemic, based on letters from Yi Yosin. At the time of his death, he had a young son – possibly around 5–6 years old – and a pregnant wife.