The Confucian Culture Museum of the Korean Studies Advancement Institute announced Monday that it will hold an exhibition titled "Angi Station 1485: A Platform to Old Andong" at the museum's special exhibition hall in Dosan-myeon, Andong, North Gyeongsang Province. The exhibition focuses on Angi Station, a transport hub of Andong during the Joseon Dynasty, illuminating the postal relay system, old roads, and the daily lives of those who traveled them.
Angi Station is where Danwon Kim Hong-do served as a "chalbang" (a sixth-rank junior official), the equivalent of a station chief, between the ages of 40 and 42 (1784–1786). A special exhibition titled "Danwon Kim Hong-do, Painting an Era" is currently underway at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. Yoo Hong-jun, director of the National Museum of Korea, has described Kim as "the greatest painter since Dangun Wanggeom." That popularity now extends to Andong.
According to the Korean Studies Advancement Institute, the postal relay system was reorganized in 1485 alongside the completion of the "Gyeongguk Daejeon," the foundational legal code for governing the state during the Joseon Dynasty. The roads and stations reorganized at that time became an important foundation for connecting the country as one. In particular, the Angi-do route, centered on Andong during the Joseon Dynasty, was one of the major transport networks linking Seoul and the northern region of North Gyeongsang. Angi Station, the central station of the Angi-do route, was an important platform where people, horses, official documents, and goods moved back and forth.
This exhibition shows the roads and stations of Andong during the Joseon Dynasty through the now-vanished old station, along with the daily lives of those who operated and used those roads.
During the Joseon Dynasty, there were about 40 chalbang stations serving as hubs across the country, with subordinate stations operated alongside them. Angi Station, a chalbang station, oversaw 11 subordinate stations. The person who managed station affairs was called the "chalbang," a sixth-rank junior official whose term lasted 30 months.
Those who served as chalbang at Angi Station included Lee Jun, son of Toegye Lee Hwang; Bae Yong-gil, who served as a righteous army commander; and Ryu Won-ji, grandson of Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong. Various figures, including court painters and physicians, also took office at Angi Station and left their mark, with Danwon Kim Hong-do being a representative example.
The road that currently runs through downtown Andong and the Unan-dong area is called "Danwon-ro," and a Danwon Kim Hong-do Park has been established in the area where the old Angi Station once stood. The exhibition runs until September 27.
