West Three Royal Tombs, Goyang

The three tombs are Huireung, for a queen who died giving birth to the future King Injong; Hyoreung, for that son, who reigned eight months; and Yereung, for Cheoljong, the farm boy from Ganghwa island who was pulled off his fields in 1849 to be king because the royal line had run out of closer heirs. What makes this site strange is the rows of small stone markers on a terrace to one side. Joseon buried the placenta of every royal child in a stone jar on an auspicious hill, each with its own shrine, scattered across the whole country. In 1929 the Japanese colonial authorities dug up fifty-four of them and reburied them here in two neat lines, king's on the left and princes' on the right, with the original inscribed stones. The official reason was management; the effect was to sever each one from the hill chosen for it. The terrace also holds the graves of princes, consorts and concubines, and of the last crown prince's family, which is why more members of the royal house are buried here than anywhere else.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Goyang, Gyeonggi

Designation

Historic Site · 사적