Min Yeong-hwan's Suicide Site

Min Yeong-hwan's Suicide Site is where Min Yeong-hwan took his own life in protest against the Eulsa Treaty, dying for his country. Min Yeong-hwan, a loyal subject of the late Joseon Dynasty, argued for the nullification of the Eulsa Treaty in front of the palace but was forcibly disbanded by Japanese military police. Failing in his efforts, he committed suicide at 6 a.m. on November 30, 1905, in the janitor's house, leaving behind three letters of will addressed to the people, foreign diplomats, and the emperor. After his death, his blood-stained clothes and sword were hung in the maru room of Sancheong. When the door of Sancheong was opened in May of the following year, four bamboo stalks had grown through the floorboards and the blood-stained clothes. People said that his loyalty manifested as blood bamboo, and they called this tree 'jeoljuk' (loyal bamboo). At Min Yeong-hwan's suicide site in front of the Hanabuilding in Insa-dong, Jongno-gu, a memorial sculpture inscribed by Kim Chung-heon and carved by Baek Mun-gi stands. This sculpture features bamboo and window doors symbolizing the blood bamboo said to represent his loyalty, along with the dagger used in his suicide and his letters of will.