20100417 Su-jin Park S16 Journal4

20100417 Su-jin Park S16 Journal4

I take the history school, so I introduce some interesting story about well known Historic Site. This is the third story.

Hwaseong Fortress

Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon was built by King Jeongjo to honor his dead father, Crown Prince Jangheon (now called Sadoseja).

           Crown Prince Jangheon, at the age of fifteen, was ordered by King Yeongjo, his strict father, to run the country Joseon on his behalf. At that time the political situation of Cho-Son was complicated. The political force were splintered. In 1762, several political rivals told the king that the prince had behaved badly, in order to dethrone him. Upon hearing the rumor, the King blew his cap. The furious King ordered his son to kill himself. He disobeyed and was imprisoned in a rice chest where he starved to death.

Years later, the prince’ son, Jeongjo, became King. In 1794 he began building Hwaseong Fortress. To build Hwaseong Fortress, King Jeongjo appointed the greatest intellectuals of the time like Kim Hong-do, Che Je-gong, and Jung Yak-yong. It was completed in 1796, and two years later, he moved his father’s tomb to inside the Fortress walls.

Hwaseong Fortress mixes original Joseon beauty with early modern architecture and engineering techniques. It was built with bricks, which were a new building material at that time. A large tool like a crane (a geojunggi) was invented by Jung Yak-yong, creative inventors of Joseon, to lift the bricks.

Hwaseong Fortress was named a property of World Cultural Heritage at the 21st meeting of the World Heritage Committee in 1997. The Committee praised Hwaseong Fortress as an outstanding example of early modern military architecture, mixing the best features of both Eastern and Western science.