Nam Sago

Nam Sago (Korean: 남사고, Hanja: 南師古, 1509–1571) was a scholar of the Joseon period of Korea.¹ He was well versed in mechanics 역학(易學), geomancy 풍수(風水), astrology 천문(天文), divination 복서(卜筮) and physiognomy 관상(觀相).² In a first part of his adult life, he lived as a wandering scholar, traveling to famous mountains all over the country to detect auspicious sites. Under the name of Gyeogam 격암(格庵), he became known for poems and prose with prophetic intents.² In his later years he served as Professor of Astronomy³ (천문학 교수, rank 6b) at Gwansanggam (觀象監).

Appearances in the Records of Joseon Dynasty

During the reign of Seonjo, Nam Sago is quoted as an expert in pungsu (geomancy) 1593-01-12, art.3 (about the fortunes of the sky and fortune-telling) or 1600-07-26, art. 1 (about Selection and Creation of a Burial site). On the contrary, during the reign of Yeongjo 1733-08-18, art. 4, the works of Nam Sago are linked to a criminal case, while 1733-08-26, art. 2 is about banning them for being related to the Gwak Cheo-ung⁴ poster case. Indeed, the Joseon court was trying to enforce a separation between the geomancy issued from the approved Chinese texts and the native, politicized, geomancy of Korea.⁵

Works

Nam Sago is credited with writing the "Secret Predictions of Nam Sago" 남사고비결(南師古秘訣) ⁶ as well as the 십승지 "Ten Excellent Sites for Protection and Good Luck [according] to the Geomancy of Nam Gyeoggam".⁷ These two texts were included in the compilation known as , which was probably collected in the 1600–1650 period.