Tomb of King Yeonsangun, Seoul

This is the tomb of the tenth king of Joseon, Yeonsangun (r. 1494–1506), and Lady Sin, Consort of Geochang (1476–1537). Yeonsangun was born the son of King Seongjong, the ninth ruler, and the deposed Queen Yun, and ascended the throne in 1494. In the early years of his reign the peace of King Seongjong's era continued: he issued detailed prohibitions to curb extravagance, reorganised the system for enshrining spirit tablets at Jongmyo Shrine, and, in the interest of national defence, established Biyungsa, an agency that produced iron armour and weapons. However, he caused the deaths of many officials in the Muo Sahwa of 1498 — a purge in which literati scholars such as Kim Il-son, then compiling the Veritable Records of King Seongjong, were persecuted by the meritorious-elite faction, triggered by Kim Jong-jik's essay 'Lament for the Righteous Emperor' — and in the Gapja Sahwa, in which both the meritorious-elite and literati factions were persecuted by the maternal-relative faction over the matter of his mother, the deposed Queen Yun's forced suicide. After these purges he lost interest in state affairs, and the court fell into disorder amid extravagance and indulgence. He was finally deposed in the 1506 restoration that enthroned King Jungjong, exiled to Ganghwado Island, and died there that same year. Lady Sin, Consort of Geochang, became queen when Yeonsangun took the throne, but was deposed from that position in the 1506 restoration of King Jungjong. The tomb takes the form of twin mounds: viewed from the front, Yeonsangun's mound is on the left and Lady Sin's on the right. The tomb was first built at his place of exile, but was moved to its present site in 1512, the seventh year of King Jungjong, at Lady Sin's request. Its furnishings follow the form used for a prince's tomb, with stone civil officials, a stone lantern, ornamental stone posts, and a memorial marker. In front of the tomb also lie the tomb of Uijeonggungju, Lady Jo, a concubine of King Taejong, and the tomb of Yeonsangun's daughter, Princess Hwisun, and her husband, Gu Mun-gyeong.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Dobong-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적