Tomb of Kim Chang-hak

Tomb of Kim Chang-hak

The Tomb of Kim Chang-hak is a cultural relic protection unit of Nantong City.

The Tomb of Kim Chang-hak is located at the southeastern foot of Langshan Mountain in Chongchuan District and is a cultural relic protection unit of Nantong City.

The Tomb of Kim Chang-hak is situated on the southeastern slope of Langshan Mountain in Nantong.

Kim Chang-hak, whose given name was Ze-rong, courtesy name Zi-lin, and literary name Chang-hak, also known as Shao?Csheng, was a native of Kaesong, Korea. He was a Korean historian and patriotic poet.

At the age of 42, Kim Chang-hak passed the imperial examination and had served as a Korean historiographer, a central court and cabinet scribe, an assistant in the Ministry of Rites, and a member of the compilation committee at the Hongwen Hall. In 1905, after Japanese imperialism's armed occupation of Korea, Kim Chang-hak resigned from his official posts, left his position, and, accompanied by his wife, daughters, and books, traveled from Incheon to Shanghai and then settled in Nantong. Later, he was hired by Zhang Jian to serve as an editor at the Nantong Hanlin Printing Bureau.

Kim Chang-hak had a deep knowledge of Chinese studies and was a prolific writer. He compiled over 30 works himself, including “Collected Works of Shaolang Hall,” “Poetry Manuscripts of Chang-hak,” and “Brief Histories of Korean Dynasties.” Most of these were published and shipped back to Korea. The Korean poetry collection “Poetry of Shen Zipxia,” which he edited and published, saw nearly all 1,000 copies of its first edition purchased within Korea.

Kim Chang-hak was deeply devoted to his homeland. In 1909, when Korean patriot An Jung-geun assassinated Japanese Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi, he immediately wrote “The Biography of An Jung-geun,” printed ten thousand copies, and distributed them to commend his heroic act. He also named his youngest son “Guangzu,” meaning “to glorify the ancestors,” expressing his hope that his son would help restore their country. Later, when Korean patriots organized a provisional government in Shanghai, Kim Chang-hak wrote a “Draft Petition,” using the metaphor “like melons and vines, like lips and teeth” to describe the relationship between China and Korea.

In April 1927, unable to realize his dream of restoring his country, having lost three sons at a young age, and facing great personal hardship due to political instability in China and the suspension of wages at the printing bureau, Kim Chang-hak took poison in sorrow and anger. Members of Nantong society held a grand memorial service for him, and he was buried on the southern slope of Langshan Mountain on May 7. His tomb mound is made of cement slabs, rectangular in shape, 1.95 meters wide at the front, 2.92 meters long on the side, and 0.73 meters high. The tombstone was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and has not been restored since.

Protected area: the tomb garden.

Construction control zone: located within the Langshan Scenic Area; no specific construction control zone is designated.