Jeongneung Royal Tomb, Seoul

Queen Sindeok was Taejo's second wife and the mother of his two youngest sons, one of whom he named heir. When she died in 1396 he built her tomb inside the city wall, near his own palace, where he could visit — the only royal tomb ever placed within the capital. The district is still called Jeong-dong after it. Her stepson Yi Bang-won killed both her sons in 1398 and became King Taejong. When his father died he stripped her of her queenly rank, and in 1409 had her tomb dug up and moved to this remote hillside north of the wall. The carved screen stones and the memorial stele he ordered used as building material: they went into the foundations of Gwangtonggyo, the main bridge over the Cheonggyecheon stream, where anyone can still see the carved guardian figures set into the abutments, some of them upside down. It took until 1669 for a later king to restore her title and rebuild the tomb with proper stonework. What stands here is that rebuilding; what was taken from her is downtown, holding up a bridge.

Original Text

Where it is

Region

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적