Beacon Station on Geumseongsan Mountain, Hapcheon

Bongsu (beacon signalling) was a traditional communication system in which fires were lit on high mountains to relay urgent news: by smoke (sui) during the day and by torch-fire (bong) at night. Although the beacon system appears in the records from the mid-Goryeo period (12th-13th centuries), it is presumed to have existed even before the Three Kingdoms period. It was only systematically organised, however, in the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods, when raids by Japanese pirates (waegu) became severe. Beacon stations, where the signal fires were lit, were set up on mountain summits with a clear, open view, spaced at roughly constant intervals of several tens of ri. In peacetime a single flame or plume of smoke was raised; if enemy ships appeared at sea, two; if the enemy drew near the coast, three; if a naval engagement took place, four; and if the enemy landed, five flames or plumes of smoke were raised. This beacon station was built on the summit of Geumseongsan Mountain, also known as Bonghwasan, where stones were piled up around the natural bedrock to form a fire pit (yeondae) and buildings. Only about 1 m of the fire pit now survives, and the site of the former buildings remains around it. Within that building site, a record relating to the construction of the beacon station is carved into the natural bedrock. According to this record, the beacon station was established in 1778 (the second year of King Jeongjo). According to the Dongguk yeoji seungnam, this beacon station relayed signals it received from Ibamsan Mountain to the south onward to the Sohyeon beacon station to the north.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hapcheon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물