Record of Agreed Intestate Succession by Yi Bun and His Siblings

This document records the intestate succession by Yi Bun’s siblings in 1680. The inheritors were the eldest daughter, wife of Confucian scholar Na Seonghan, the first son Yi Bun, who held the title Seonmurang, Junior Sixth Rank, along with Yi Suli and Yi Sasul, who were offsprings mothered by a slave concubine. The succession took place in adherence to the will of
their parents and conventional inheritance customs. For example, it was family tradition to only distribute the purpose of property distribution to illegitimate offspring was primarily to ensure their livelihood. In the distribution process, the ancestral service reserve was included in the share given to the first son. Slaveswere not only distributed to each offspring, but also categorized as slaves originally bequeathed as wedding gifts, slaves aged sixty and older, and fugitive slaves, while also classifying their place of residence, such as slaves living in Chungcheong Province and those living in shrines or riverside pavilions to the ritual heirs (sons and grandsons). Although the children of the concubines were eligible for property inheritance, their signatures were not included in the document, and therefore there i no evidence of their participation in the distribution process. It is evident from that the children of concubines with financial difficulties were given a larger share than the customary norm, while the share for deceased children of concubines was reduced. This shows than Jeolla Province. Behind each page at the part adjoining it to the others, there were the seals of Yi Bun and Lady Yi, wife of Na Seonghan. In the case of corrections, if the correction was minor with one or two letters changed,pieces of paper were cut and affixed to the document, and authorized with the signature of the witness and author Yi Jeongpil, while major corrections were marked by the signature of Yi Bun and the seal of Lady Yi, along with Jeongpil’s signature.