GANGHWA COUNTY

Hongneung is the tomb of King Gojong (高宗, 1192–1259), the 23rd ruler of Goryeo. According to the History of Goryeo, “King Gojong died at the residence of the senior official Yu Gyeong (柳璥) on the imin day of the sixth month of 1259, the 46th year of his reign, and was buried at Hongneung on the gimi day of the ninth month of the same year.” Hongneung originally consisted of three elevated tiers of stone platforms, with a T-shaped ritual pavilion on the lowest tier, stone human figures on the second tier, and the royal burial mound at the highest level. The tomb was relatively modest in scale, and parts of the stone railing surrounding the mound are said to have survived. A carved stone animal once stood at each of the four corners of the mound, but all four have been lost, and only two stone human figures remain today. The railing has recently been repaired, and protective stones have been installed around the base of the burial mound. Gojong was the eldest son of King Gangjong (康宗) and was named crown prince in 1212, the first year of King Gangjong’s reign. His mother was Empress Dowager Wondeok of the Yu clan (元德太后 柳氏), and his consort was Empress Dowager Anhye (安惠太后), a daughter of King Huijong (熙宗), the 21st ruler of Goryeo. During his 46-year reign, military rulers held effective political power, while invasions by northern peoples brought continuing difficulties from abroad. When the Mongols invaded in 1231, Choe U, the most powerful figure at the time, moved the capital to Ganghwa the following year and adopted a strategy of prolonged, all-out resistance against them. In 1259, the 46th year of King Gojong’s reign, the crown prince, who later became King Wonjong, traveled to Mongolia to express Goryeo’s willingness to make peace, and the fortifications of Gangdo were demolished as a sign that resistance had been abandoned. Gojong died that same year and was buried in Ganghwa, and his tomb was named Hongneung (洪陵).