Songgyebyeoreop Site

Songgyebyeoreop is a site associated with Grand Prince Inpyeong, Yi Yo (1622–1658), the third son of King Injo. He stayed here from time to time and took the pen name Songgye ('Pine Stream'); he also had his retainer Yi Sin inscribe the phrase 'Gucheoneunpok' ('Silver Cascade from the Ninth Heaven') beside a waterfall, among other signs of his deep attachment to the place. However, after Grand Prince Inpyeong died in 1658 in his thirties, Songgyebyeoreop passed to his sons, who would only have used it occasionally. Grand Prince Inpyeong's sons — Prince Bokchang, Yi Jeong; Prince Boksun, Yi Nam; and Prince Bokpyeong, Yi Yeon — became deeply involved in politics as members of the royal clan, and were especially close to the Namin (Southerner) faction. Songgyebyeoreop subsequently lost its owner and was left abandoned, and appears to have been destroyed when a buseokso, a stone quarry site for royal tomb stonework, was established there. The inscriptions relating to the Sareung Royal Tomb stone quarry site confirmed on this occasion are significant as evidence of these circumstances. The inscription known as the 'Record of the Supervision of Stone Quarrying for Sareung' reads: Inspector Yi Jun; Assistant Section Chief Jo Jeong-ui; Clerk Bak Heung-ju; Stonemason Jo Geum. Written in the first month of the gimyo year, after completing the supervision of stone quarrying for Sareung. The site was chosen for quarrying ostensibly because its stone was hard and strong and therefore suitable for royal tomb stonework, but in truth there was also an intention to thoroughly destroy a place where Grand Prince Inpyeong's sons had conspired with the Namin faction. Even so, the inscriptions 'Gucheoneunpok' and 'Songgyebyeoreop' survived, precisely because of their direct connection to Grand Prince Inpyeong himself, and could not easily be effaced. In this way Songgyebyeoreop was destroyed, and its name gradually faded from memory, leaving only the waterfall Gucheoneunpok as a notable scenic spot. Although Songgyebyeoreop thus receded from memory in its ruined state, after stone had been quarried for the royal tombs of Hwireung and Sareung, an inscription reading 'Buseok Geumpyo' ('Prohibition on Stone Quarrying') was carved on a large rock at the mouth of the valley. It is not known exactly when this inscription was carved, but it is thought to date from after 1626, when quarrying first took place here. The prohibition on private quarrying of stone was a measure taken by the Joseon royal house to safeguard supplies in case of a state funeral. The fact that stone was in fact quarried from the site of Grand Prince Inpyeong's Songgyebyeoreop is highly suggestive, implying that political considerations also played a part in the selection of the quarry site.

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Where it is

Region

Gangbuk-gu, Seoul

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료