지운영 池運永
Calligrapher and early photographer said to have photographed King Gojong; pen names Seolbong and Baengnyeon
| Life | 1852 ~ 1935 |
| Era | 조선 말·대한제국·일제강점기 |
| Clan | 충주 지씨 |
Life & career
Ji Un-yeong (1852-1935) was a late-Joseon calligrapher, painter, photographer and poet of the Chungju clan with the pen names Seolbong and Baengnyeon. Born into a middle-class family in Gwanhun-bang, Seoul, he is introduced as the elder brother of Ji Seok-yeong, the smallpox-vaccination pioneer, a seventh-degree uncle of the independence fighter Ji Cheong-cheon, and a distant granduncle of Ji Dal-su.
Enjoying poetry and calligraphy from his late twenties, he went to Tokyo in 1881, taught himself photography, returned in 1882 and opened a studio in Hanseong the next year. He is known to have photographed King Gojong's portrait in 1884 and is said to have been released from his middle-class status for it. That year he also served as an assistant secretary and secretary in the Tongni gunguk samu office.
He is said to have failed in an attempt on the lives of Bak Yeong-hyo and Kim Ok-gyun in 1886 and resigned from office. After touring Hangzhou and Suzhou in 1892-93, he lived from 1911 in Anbo-ri, Sangmo-myeon, Chungju, devoted to painting and calligraphy, and moved back to Seoul in 1932. He died at home in Gahoe-jeong on 6 June 1935.
Photography Learned in Japan
Ji Un-yeong went to Japan in 1881, taught himself photography in Tokyo and returned the next year. In 1883 he opened a studio in Hanseong, at the time modern photography was only just arriving. The studio is said to have been mistaken for a Japanese house because of its unusual structure and wrecked by a crowd during the 1884 Gapsin coup.
Photographing King Gojong
His best-known achievement is photographing King Gojong's portrait in March 1884. He is said to have been freed of his status for it, and by recommendation for scholarly conduct served as assistant secretary and secretary of the Tongni gunguk samu office and in 1886 briefly as a military affairs officer. One surviving portrait photograph of him wearing a horsehair hat is published on Wikimedia Commons.
The 1886 Incident
In February 1886 he is said to have failed in an attempt on the lives of Bak Yeong-hyo and Kim Ok-gyun and resigned that month. Because it was bound up with the conflicts surrounding the reformers at the time, accounts differ in how they assess it. He is said to have given up hope of returning to office afterward.
Later Years in Chungju
After touring Hangzhou and Suzhou in 1892-93, Ji Un-yeong settled from 1911 in Anbo-ri, Sangmo-myeon, Chungju, in a village where relatives of his wife lived, concentrating on ink painting and calligraphy. He returned to Seoul in 1932 and died in June 1935, four months after his younger brother Ji Seok-yeong. He has entries in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture and the Doosan Encyclopedia.
Grave
The location of his tomb was not confirmed in this research. His funeral service is said to have been held at Gakhwangsa temple in Seoul.