Jujeon Hall Beacon Station

Beacon stations (bongsu) were a military communication system used before modern means of communication existed. They were built on mountain peaks with good visibility, using fire at night and smoke by day to report the safety of the borders and coasts to the central government. The beacon system was established in 1149, the third year of King Uijong of Goryeo, which set the number of fires to be lit at first- to fourth-class stations and made provision for the livelihood of beacon guards. The system was reorganised under King Sejong of Joseon, when new regulations for five-tier signalling were drawn up, coastal beacon mounds (yeondae) were built in every province, and beacon routes were fixed. At each station a squad leader (ojang) and beacon guards (bongsugun) worked in shifts, lighting one fire in normal times, two when an enemy appeared, three when the enemy approached the border, four when the enemy crossed the border, and five when battle was joined. In 1894, the thirty-first year of Emperor Gojong, the spread of telegraph communication led to the decision to abolish the system, and the following year all beacon mounds and guards nationwide were disbanded, ending the beacon system entirely. Beacon stations were classified by role into capital beacons, inland beacons, and coastal beacons. The capital beacon was the central station at which signals from every station in the country converged; it stood on Mongmyeoksan Mountain in Seoul and was known as the Mongmyeoksan Beacon Station or the Namsan Beacon Station. Coastal beacons stood on the front line of the sea and land border and were called yeondae, while inland beacons, which linked the coastal beacons to the capital beacon, were by far the most numerous. Jujeon Hall Beacon Station, also known as Nammok Beacon Station, stands on the summit of Bongdaesan Mountain in Jujeon-dong. It received signals from Cheonnae Beacon Station and relayed them to Yupo Beacon Station. After the eighteenth century, once Yupo Beacon Station was abolished, it instead relayed signals north to Haseoji Beacon Station in Gyeongju. Along the beacon route the distance was about 5.17 km to Yupo Beacon Station in the north, about 6.54 km to Cheonnae Beacon Station in the south, and about 16 km to Haseoji Beacon Station. The site now occupied by Bongho Temple is said to be where the bongdaesa, an auxiliary building of the beacon station, once stood. Restoration work completed in 1981 gave the station its present appearance.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Dong-gu, Ulsan

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물