Stone Furnishings of Guyeongneung Royal Tomb

Guyeongneung, the former Yeongneung, was the tomb of King Sejong and his queen, Queen Soheon of the Sim clan. It stood on the ridge west of Heolleung Royal Tomb, the tomb of King Taejong, in what is now the area of San 13, Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Its construction began in 1446, the 28th year of King Sejong, when Queen Soheon died, and reached its final stage when King Sejong was buried alongside her in the west chamber in 1450 (the 32nd year of King Sejong) and the spirit-path stele for King Sejong the Great was erected in 1452, the second year of King Munjong. However, in 1469, the first year of King Yejong, it was argued that the site was not auspicious according to geomancy, and the tomb was relocated (cheonjang) to the site of the present-day Yeongneung. Guyeongneung was the last royal tomb built according to the burial regulations of the Gukjo-oryeui (the Five Rites of State), and it represented the royal tombs of the early Joseon period. It adopted a stone chamber of the 'one mound, separate chambers' (dongbun-isil) type, and, following the practice for two chambers, two stone civil-official figures and two stone military-official figures were made, along with four each of stone sheep, stone horses and stone tigers. Inside the stone chamber were painted the Four Guardian Deities and the Sun, Moon and Stars, motifs also found in tombs of the Goguryeo tradition, and the mound was encircled by screen stones (byeongpungseok) carved with the twelve zodiac guardian figures, with outer paving stones (oebakseok) and railing pillar-stones (nangan-juseok) set beyond them. A spirit-path stele, a feature no longer found from Gwangneung, the tomb of King Sejo, onward, was also erected at Guyeongneung. This large-scale, grand system of royal tomb construction ceased to be applied from Hyeonneung, the tomb of King Munjong and the first tomb built after Guyeongneung, and Gwangneung, the tomb of King Sejo, onward. Likewise, although the present-day Yeongneung is also King Sejong's tomb, it was built during the reign of King Yejong and therefore differs greatly from Guyeongneung. The 'Guyeongneung stone furnishings', which made up this representative early-Joseon royal tomb, were erected at the same time as the tomb itself. When Yeongneung was relocated to Yeoju, they proved difficult to transport and were buried in the ground; when excavated in 1973–1974, not all of the original items and quantities remained. Of the stone sheep and stone horse figures, which would each originally have numbered four, only two of each survive today, and of the two stone pillars (mangjuseok) that once flanked the tomb, only part of one now remains. The stone lantern (jangmyeongdeung) and the stone figures are all present, but the lantern's capstone has been lost. The spirit-path stele of King Sejong the Great was excavated with only its capstone (isu) and stele body (bisin) remaining, its tortoise-shaped base (gwibu) having been lost. The spirit-offering stone (honyuseok) has had its eastern part cut off, and of the drum-shaped stones (gosok) that would originally have numbered four, only one survives. No screen stones were found. Railing pillar-stones are generally uniform in size within a single tomb, but among the seven held at the King Sejong the Great Memorial Hall, two differ from the other five in size and manufacturing technique, so further verification is needed to determine which belong to Guyeongneung. Of the stone tiger figures, two were moved to the present-day Yeongneung after the 1974 excavation, and the remaining two are said to have been looted before the excavation, later recovered and moved to the Dankook University Museum, though this too requires further verification. A stone furnishing presumed to be a jukseok (bamboo-shaped stone) is held at the King Sejong the Great Memorial Hall, but records state that no jukseok was found around the site of the Guyeongneung mound at the time of excavation, so this too requires further verification. Accordingly, excluding the items requiring further verification and those furnishings located outside Seoul, a total of thirteen pieces are designated on this occasion. Although not all of the stone furnishings and their original quantities survive, the Guyeongneung stone furnishings make it possible to understand the scale of early Joseon royal tombs and the arrangement and manufacturing techniques of their stone furnishings, to convert period measurement units such as the yangjeoncheok and jucheok, and further to estimate the national strength and level of cultural development of King Sejong's reign.

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Where it is

Region

Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산