Geumamgijeok Stele

This stele was erected, with a text composed personally by King Jeongjo of Joseon, to commemorate an episode concerning his grandfather King Yeongjo, which Jeongjo recalled while returning from paying respects at Myeongneung, the tomb of King Sukjong (now a historic site). The stele body stands on a square base stone, and above it sits a roof stone imitating a hipped-and-gabled roof, its profile from the side resembling the shape of the character 八. According to the inscription, King Yeongjo, while still a prince known as Yeoninggun, visited Myeongneung to mark the birthday of his father, King Sukjong, and on his way back stopped to rest at the Geumam post station here. Shortly afterwards, on being told that a cattle thief had been caught fording the Deoksucheon (also called Changneungcheon) stream, he summoned the station commander and ordered him to show leniency, saying that the man must have stolen out of hunger and cold in a year of famine. At dawn the next day, on returning to the palace, the prince learned that he had been appointed heir presumptive to the throne (wangseje, an heir who was the reigning king's younger brother rather than his son). This episode later came to be regarded as an omen of the fifty years of good government that Yeongjo went on to provide. At the time, this site served as a post-station building on the road to Uiju; today the station buildings are gone and only the stele remains.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산