Hwaseong Fortress

Lore & Background

King Jeongjo built Hwaseong Fortress to prepare for a move of the capital from Seoul to Suwon, which was strategically positioned to connect Seoul with the West Sea and China. He wanted to leave factional strife and carry out reforms, ordering people to move to Suwon at considerable expense and exempting them from taxes for ten years. The fortress was designed by Chŏng Yagyong, who incorporated fortress designs from Korea and China along with contemporary science, influenced by the Silhak movement, which encouraged practical learning and the use of science and industry.

Reader's Guide

Hwaseong Fortress is significant as a World Heritage Site that was restored based on perfectly preserved blueprints from the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe, a design drawing from 200 years ago. Its construction used brick and efficient pulleys and cranes due to Silhak influence, and workers were paid by the government instead of using corvée labour. The fortress includes a perimeter wall, four main gates, two sluicegates, and numerous defensive structures such as arrow-launching platforms, secret gates, and a beacon tower with five chimneys for signaling. The wall is 5.74 kilometres long and can be walked easily. The fortress was severely damaged during the Korean War and reconstructed in the 1970s using the detailed records in the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe, which documented plans, wages, and materials.

Did You Know?

• The fortress was built over two and a half years, from 1794 to 1796.
• It cost 870,000 nyang and 1,500 sacks of rice to pay the workers.
• The wall is 5.74 kilometres long and varies between 4 and 6 metres in height.
• The beacon tower has five chimneys; one lit signaled peace, five meant fighting had begun.