Plaque: “Love Thy Subjects by Imposing a Fair Tax, and Build up National Power by Decreasing Spending”

The calligraphy on this plaque was written by King Yeongjo. In 1734, the 10th year of King Yeongjo’s reign, King Yeongjo gave a written instruction to the Ministry of Taxation to 'build up national power by decreasing spending, and love the subjects by imposing a fair tax'. This plaque would, therefore, have been hung on the office wall of the Ministry of Taxation. On the back of the plaque, “11th lunar month in the Year of Gapja”is written in ink. This indicates that the order of phrase on the plaque is different to the original, and the change was made in 1744, the 20th year of King Yeongjo’s reign when this plaque was made.