Anti-Western Steles Erected

After the 1871 American attack, the Daewongun raised steles in Seoul and across the country proclaiming that there would be no peace or trade with the West.

The inscription reads: "The Western barbarians invade; not to fight is to seek peace, and to urge peace is to sell out the country. Let this be a warning to our descendants for ten thousand generations", with the note "composed in the byeongin year (1866), erected in the sinmi year (1871)".

The steles symbolize the policy of rejecting trade and relations hardened by the Catholic persecution, the General Sherman incident, the French and American expeditions and Oppert’s raid. Most were pulled down after the Daewongun was taken to China in 1882.