Hongjueupseong Walled Town, Hongseong

This is a walled town in Hongseong-gun, South Chungcheong Province; of its roughly 1,772-metre circuit, about 800 metres survive as a section of stone wall. The exact date of its first construction is not known; the Sejong sillok jiriji, the geographical appendix to the Annals of King Sejong, records only the circumference of Hongjuseong and the existence of a single spring that never dried up, in summer or winter. Walled towns in districts expected to be attacked by Japanese pirates were rebuilt to a new standard during the reign of King Sejong of Joseon, and Hongjueupseong was first built at that time; it was rebuilt in the first year of King Munjong (1451). At that time the fortress measured 4,856 cheok (about 1.5 km) in circumference and 11 cheok (about 3.3 m) in height, had four gates, was equipped with parapets, projecting platforms and other facilities, and contained two wells inside. Joyangmun, the east gate, survives to the present day, having been restored in 1975. The amun, the gate to the local government office, was built at the same time as the gate tower of Joyangmun; the inscription "Hongju Amun" was written personally by Heungseon Daewongun, though it no longer survives. This is the largest and most distinctive amun gate in Korea, and provides material for studying the structure and form of local government offices of the Joseon period. In 1905, Min Jong-sik and others, raising righteous army volunteers in opposition to the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, attacked the Japanese troops stationed in this fortress and drove them back to Deoksan. Honghwamun, the south gate, was restored in 2012. This site continued in use as a walled town from the Three Kingdoms period through to the Joseon period, and is valuable in that it preserves a wall built to the new standard of the early Joseon period. The name was changed from "Hongjuseong (Joyangmun, Amun, Mountain Fortress)" to "Hongjueupseong Walled Town, Hongseong" (notified 28 July 2011).

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hongseong, Chungnam

Designation

Historic Site · 사적