Gyeongcheon Group Ihaeryong Sapaeji Songgeum Stele

This stele was erected to forbid the unauthorised encroachment on, or felling of, the pine trees within the boundaries of land that King Gwanghaegun granted in 1614 to Yi Hae-ryong (李海龍), who had played a major role in peace negotiations with Japan before and after the Imjin War and was ennobled as Lord Gyeongcheon for his service. Songgeum (松禁), or "pine prohibition," was the historical practice by which the state designated and protected land suited to pine growth in order to secure timber, forbidding logging there; it began as early as the Goryeo period, and in Joseon times the systems of geumsan ("forbidden mountains") and bongsan ("sealed mountains") were established, under which the felling of pine forests was strictly controlled. This songgeum stele offers physical evidence of Joseon-period forestry policy previously known only from documents, and through it one aspect of Joseon pine-prohibition policy — comparable to a nature conservation policy in modern terms — can be clearly traced from the reign of King Taejo to that of Emperor Gojong. The stele is relatively well preserved in its original form, and is highly valuable both as the only known example of a songgeum stele anywhere in the country and as an important site in the history of Joseon forestry. Two such steles were once identified, but the whereabouts of one of the two is currently being investigated; the surviving stele is accordingly being designated a Seoul Metropolitan City Monument for preservation.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물