Jeonhongyuhuseolchong Tomb Tomb

This is the tomb of Seolchong, a scholar of the Silla period active during the reign of King Gyeongdeok. His father was Wonhyo and his mother was Princess Yoseok; he is presumed to have been born sometime between 654 and 660, during the reign of King Taejong Muyeol. He is said to have shown great talent from birth and to have been widely versed in the Confucian classics and histories. He became the founding figure of Confucian learning in Silla, and was later ranked, together with Gangsu and Choe Chi-won, as one of Silla's three great literary masters. He is said to have devised idu, a system for writing the Korean language using Chinese characters, but since works such as Seodongyo, from the reign of King Jinpyeong, and Pungyo, from the reign of Queen Seondeok — both written before his time — were already recorded in idu, it appears more likely that he systematised the script rather than invented it. Seolchong devised a method of reading and annotating the Six Classics, thereby rendering Chinese-character texts into the Korean vernacular, and he also contributed to advancing the study of Confucianism and other Chinese learning. He is thought to have played a leading role in the founding of the National Academy under King Sinmun. The tomb, surrounded by houses in the middle of Bomun-dong, bears no inscription or stele, but has long been said to lie to the east of King Jinpyeong's tomb, in the Bomun area. Recently a stone offering table was placed in front of it, and it is reasonably well preserved.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물