In the Heart of Gangnam: Seolleung and Jeongneung Royal Tombs
Image courtesy of the author. The spirit path, one of three burial mounds, and shrine of the Seolleung and Jeongneung Royal Tombs.
Image courtesy of the author. Walking path at Seolleung and Jeongneung Royal Tombs.
In 2009, UNESCO listed 40 Joseon Dynasty tombs as heritage sites, including burial mounds dating as far back as 1408, and Hongneung, the last tomb completed in 1966. Amongst the oldest of the Joseon-era royal tombs is the Seonjeongneung, or Seolleung and Jeongneung Royal Tombs, located in the heart of Gangnam, only a few minutes from Starfield COEX Mall. This site, surrounded by skyscrapers and the bustling life of modern-day Gangnam, offers a glimpse into another time, containing the original burial mounds and structures honoring the life and death of King Seongjong, his wife, Queen Jeonghyeon, and King Jungjong (who was the second son of King Seongjong).
Today, the tombs also serve as a city park where visitors can walk, relax, view cherry blossoms, and visit the tomb site, for a small entrance fee of no more than 1,000 KRW.
King Seongjong was crowned in his early teens, ruling until his death at about age 37. Under his reign, 15th-century Joseon society experienced significant economic prosperity, with the King promoting major tax reforms and implementing the Hongmun’gwan Office of Special Advisors, which served as the main administrative branch of the Joseon Dynasty for over 400 years until 1907.
15th-century Joseon landscape painting on ink wash on silk, attributed to An Gyeon — National Museum of Korea, public domain.
King Jungjong, the second son of Seongjong, came to power after a coup, successfully overthrowing the tyrannical reign of his older brother Yeonsangun, who conducted the first two literati purges, executing Confucian officials and concubines across the Joseon court. Jungjong’s rule launched large-scale reforms in the wake of his brother’s purges. However, they ultimately fell short due to ongoing strife amongst the court, resulting in another purge amongst the dissenting factions.
Seongjeongneung includes several key features of Joseon Era tombs, including the ceremonial entrance, wooden shrine, and stone figures of animals and people. The tombs follow Confucian principles of harmony with the natural word as well as Korean principles of balance and space, called pungsu. Together, these ideas formed tombs that seek to balance heaven and earth through their geographic locations and form of an ideal, balanced site. Joseon tombs face south towards water, and are placed in sites of natural beauty. The balance between heaven and earth, living and dead, can be felt as visitors approach the Confucian shrine of the Seonjeongneung tombs, where ancestral worship rituals were performed. Built with the intent to both honor the memory of the royals, and protect their ancestral spirits from evil, Joseon tomb sites were built by as many as 9,000 workers in the months following the death of a royal. The burial sites themselves, large mounds within which the bodies are interred, reflect the balance between earth and sky, with the associated buildings, like the shrine and tombkeeper’s house, surrounding the base of the burial mounds.
The Seolleung and Jeongneung Royal Tombs are one of 40 Joseon-era tombs built in this manner. Their convenient location (a few hundred meters from Seolleung station) makes them easily accessible to visitors. The tombs provide a balanced and reflective site between history and the modern day, tying the historical past of Joseon with modern urban Seoul. This peaceful, natural, and historical site is open for public access year-round, opening at 6 a.m. and closing between 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., depending on the time of year. They can be found at 1 Seolleung-ro 100-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (서울특별시 강남구 선릉로100길 1).
Image courtesy of the author. Burial mound at Seolleung and Jeongneung Royal Tombs.
Edited by Sandy Ou