This is why I love history. It’s not just kings and generals. It’s everyone. Every person has contributed to our history and while gut wrenching to read, this helped bring this woman’s story back to life
In April of 1998, shortly after excavating an ancient tomb in Andong City, South Korea, archaeologists were stunned to find the coffin of Eung-Tae Lee — a 16th-century male, now mummified, who, until his death at the age of 30, had been a member of the ancient Goseong Yi clan. Resting on his chest was the following moving letter, written by his pregnant widow and addressed to the father of their unborn child. Also found in the tomb, placed beside his head, were the sandals pictured above, woven from hemp bark and his distraught wife’s own hair.
To Won’s Father
June 1, 1586
You always said, “Dear, let’s live together until our hair turns gray and die on the same day.” How could you pass away without me? Who should I and our little boy listen to and how should we live? How could you go ahead of me?
How did you bring your heart to me and how did I bring my heart to you? Whenever we lay down together you always told me, “Dear, do other people cherish and love each other like we do? Are they really like us?” How could you leave all that behind and go ahead of me?
I just cannot live without you. I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are. My feelings toward you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit. Where would I put my heart in now and how can I live with the child missing you?
Please look at this letter and tell me in detail in my dreams. Because I want to listen to your saying in detail in my dreams I write this letter and put it in. Look closely and talk to me.
When I give birth to the child in me, who should it call father? Can anyone fathom how I feel? There is no tragedy like this under the sky.
You are just in another place, and not in such a deep grief as I am. There is no limit and end to my sorrows that I write roughly. Please look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail and tell me. I believe I can see you in my dreams. Come to me secretly and show yourself. There is no limit to what I want to say and I stop here.
A paper parcel was found next to Eung-Tae’s head. At first archaeologists couldn’t make out what it was, but when they unwrapped it, they revealed a pair of men’s shoes. Faded writings on the worn-out wrapping paper included phrases like “with my hair I weave this” and “before you were even able to wear it” Scholars from Korea’s National Institue of Scientific Investigators analyzed the handwriting and concluded that the shoes, were in fact, made from her hair. “There are references in Korean literature to the tradition of making the shoes with human hair as a symbol of love or hope for recovery from an illness, but we have never actually found any examples,” says Se-Kwon Yim, former director of the Andong National University Museum.
Eung-tae was a tall man, much taller than the average Koreans and his skin and beard were well-preserved.
“The dark mustache made me feel that he must have had a charming appearance,” Se-kwon Yim, former director of the Andong National University Museum, was quoted as saying by the Archaeology journal.
Eung-tae apparently had a love life that is moving hearts even 445 years after his death. The love letter written by his wife has inspired novels, a feature film and an opera.
The love eulogy of the woman did not end with her love poems, as next to Eung-tae’s head the archaeologists discovered a paper parcel that contained slippers made from her hair. Writings on the wrapping paper read: “with my hair I weave this” and “before you were even able to wear it.”
“There are references in Korean literature to the tradition of making shoes with human hair as a symbol of love or hope for recovery from an illness,” Yim said.
According to Chris Scarre, head of archaeology department at the University of Durham, in medieval Korea certain burials were sealed in concrete, resulting in the exceptional preservation of organic materials, including written documents as in Eung-tae’s case.
These documents provide an insight into the emotional relationships of people in the medieval times.
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