Record of Bequeathal of Princess Suksin’s House

This document records King Taejo’s special bequeathal of a house to Myeochi, his daughter by a concubine, on the fifteenth day of the ninth month, 1401. At the time, King Taejo was sixty-seven years old and could not guarantee the future in his old age,so he bequeathed a newly-built house of 24 kan to his daughter Myeochi, who was still young and unmarried. Most parts used for the house was purchased from Heo Geum, who was a councilor, and a number of slaves were used to build it at its location in Hyangbang-dong in Dongbu of the Hanseong Prefecture (modern day Seoul). This paper meticulously specifies house layout, its number of kan , whether it was tile-roofed or thatched, and the floor status. Myeochi was later granted a royal title as Princess Suksin, and following her marriage to Hong Hae, who held the royal title Dangsangwi, this document was handed down through the Namyang Hong family. Currently it is housed in the National Museum of Korea.