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Geeks never cry! Yeah, right. See if you can read this 16th century death letter without shedding a tear

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Shoes made from hemp and hair

In 1998, after several hours of hard work, archeologists in Andong City, Korea dug through a tomb exposing a small wooden casket.  Inside they found a very well-preserved body, skull decayed but skin and beard still visible. Also found in the tomb, placed beside his head, were the sandals pictured above, woven from hemp bark and his distraught wife’s own hair. The mummified man inside, later to be identified as 30-year-old Eung-tae, a member of Korea’s ancient Goseong Yi clan,  measured 5 feet 9 inches and was dated to the 16th-century.

Se-kwon Yim, former director of the Andong National University Museum and one of the first people to see the mummy, said this about the man:

“The dark mustache made me feel that he must have had a charming appearance.”

Covering his body was a letter from the man’s pregnant wife.  The discovery of the letter would end up leading to several novels, an opera, and a feature film.

In the letter, written from the man’s grieving widow, was this:

To Won’s Father

June 1, 1586

You always said, “Dear, let’s live together until our hair turns gray and die on the same day.” How could you pass away without me? Who should I and our little boy listen to and how should we live? How could you go ahead of me?

How did you bring your heart to me and how did I bring my heart to you? Whenever we lay down together you always told me, “Dear, do other people cherish and love each other like we do? Are they really like us?” How could you leave all that behind and go ahead of me?

I just cannot live without you. I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are. My feelings toward you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit. Where would I put my heart in now and how can I live with the child missing you?

Please look at this letter and tell me in detail in my dreams. Because I want to listen to your saying in detail in my dreams I write this letter and put it in. Look closely and talk to me.

When I give birth to the child in me, who should it call father? Can anyone fathom how I feel? There is no tragedy like this under the sky.

You are just in another place, and not in such a deep grief as I am. There is no limit and end to my sorrows that I write roughly. Please look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail and tell me. I believe I can see you in my dreams. Come to me secretly and show yourself. There is no limit to what I want to say and I stop here.

16th century love letter from grieving wife to her dead husband

Sources: Archeology Today
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