Sunguijeon Shrine Site, Yeoncheon

This is the site where Sunguijeon once stood, the shrine where, throughout the Joseon period, rites were held for the spirit tablets of four Goryeo kings, beginning with King Taejo of Goryeo, together with sixteen loyal subjects of the Goryeo court. In 1397 Yi Seong-gye, King Taejo of Joseon, built a shrine hall for King Taejo of Goryeo, Wang Geon, and in the first year of King Jeong Jong's reign (1399) rites came to be held not only for King Taejo but also for Goryeo's King Hyejong, King Seongjong, King Hyeonjong, King Munjong, King Wonjong (also known as King Chungyeong), King Chungnyeol and King Gongmin. The shrine was later rebuilt in the fifth year of King Sejong's reign (1423) and again in the second year of King Munjong's reign (1452). Under King Munjong it was given the name 'Sunguijeon' in honour of the preceding dynasty, and the spirit tablets of four Goryeo kings — Taejo, Hyeonjong, Munjong and Wonjong — were enshrined there together with those of sixteen loyal subjects of Goryeo. Management of the building was entrusted to descendants of the Goryeo royal house, one of the ways in which the Joseon dynasty sought to placate the remaining people of Goryeo and forestall discontent among its former royal family. During the Japanese colonial period the Japanese Government-General continued this practice, but the shrine buildings were lost during the Korean War. This is a place steeped in the loyalty of the Wang clan of the former Goryeo dynasty, who steadfastly refused to serve Joseon and, suppressing every kind of grief, cherished the memory of the old Goryeo royal house.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi

Designation

Historic Site · 사적