Jeong Guk-ryong Burial Ground, Hadong

These three square tombs are traditionally said to be those of Jeong Guk-ryong of the Hadong Jeong clan, a figure active from the reign of King Gojong of Goryeo to that of King Chungseon, and his two sons Ji-yeon and Nan-yeon. Jeong Guk-ryong, known by the sobriquet Miljik-gong, was posthumously granted the office of Miljik busa with the senior rank of Gwangjeong daebu during the reign of King Gojong of Goryeo. His elder son Ji-yeon, known as Cheomui-gong, rose through the offices of Jungnangjang and Jwasangsi under King Chungnyeol, and under King Chungseon rose further to Dongji Miljiksasa and Daegwang Dochomui Chanseongsa Panseonbusa; his posthumous title was Munchung-gong. Guk-ryong's second son Nan-yeon, known as Jwayun-gong, served as Jwayun under King Chungnyeol. Although their exact dates of birth and death are not recorded, since the period of their active careers is clear, the tombs are judged to have been built broadly between the late thirteenth and the early fourteenth century. Of the three square tombs, those of Guk-ryong and his second son Nan-yeon are arranged one above the other on the same ridge, while the tomb of the elder son Ji-yeon lies about 200 m to the west. The tombs take the form of stepped square mounds built of broken stone; because they stand on a slope, the rear tier is lower and the tiers rise in height towards the front. The tomb of the elder son Ji-yeon measures 585 cm in length, 475 cm in width and 220 cm in overall height. Except for Nan-yeon's tomb, each is surrounded by a stone wall, and the natural slope beyond it has likewise been cut into tiers as appropriate. Whereas an ordinary square tomb is built by setting upright stones on a base stone, capping them with a coping stone, and then raising a square earthen mound on top, these three tombs are distinctive in having a three-tiered stone base built in the shape of a pyramid, with a square earthen mound raised on top of that. All three tiers of the stone base are built of broken stone, with the lowest tier the highest and each tier becoming progressively lower towards the top; projecting broken stones are set along the top of each tier to create the same effect as a coping stone. Each tier narrows progressively towards the top, generally by around 30 cm with each rise. Aside from a repair to part of the stone base near Nan-yeon's tomb, the tombs appear to be preserved essentially in their original state. The stone monument to the left of the Guk-ryong and Ji-yeon tombs was newly erected in 1906, and at the entrance to Saebigol village stands a monument raised by descendants in 1758. Judging, moreover, from the tomb diagram of Lord Miljik included in the Hadong Jeongssi Sebo (Genealogy of the Hadong Jeong Clan), published in 1709 (the thirty-fifth year of King Sukjong), it appears that later descendants were well aware of the identity of those buried in these tombs.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hadong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물