Yeongil Irwolji Site

This is the site of the legend of Yeonorang and Seo-onyeo, recorded in the Samguk yusa. In the fourth year of King Adalla, the eighth ruler of Silla (157 CE), a fisherman named Yeonorang and his wife Seo-onyeo, who wove cloth, lived by the sea at Irwol-dong on Silla's east coast. One day, as Yeonorang sat on a rock gathering seaweed after fishing, the rock suddenly began to move and drifted eastward, carrying him to the island country of Japan; the people there, regarding this as a mysterious sign, made him their king. Meanwhile, Seo-onyeo, searching in vain for Yeonorang, found his shoes and stood on the rock, whereupon it moved again and carried her to the island where Yeonorang was, and she is said to have become queen there. After this, the sun and moon disappeared from Silla and the land was plunged into darkness; when King Adalla investigated the cause, he was told that because Yeonorang and Seo-onyeo had crossed the sea and departed, the land had lost its light. The king then ordered the couple to return to Silla, but they replied that, having come to that place by the will of Heaven and become king and queen, they could not return; instead they gave Silla a piece of silk woven by Seo-onyeo and told them to perform a sincere ritual to Heaven with it. When the ritual was performed, the sun and moon are said to have shone brightly once again. From that time, the place where the ritual was held came to be called Irwolji ('Sun and Moon Pond'), and even today it is known as Irwolhyang.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Pohang, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물