By Jeongnam Kim
(Former Senior Presidential Secretary for Education·Culture·Society, World Korean News advisor)
The Hwaseong, Suwon, which was recorded as a UNESCO World Cultural Asset, is a fortress erected in Suwon by King Jeongjo, the 22nd monarch of the Chosun Dynasty. King Jeongjo grew up with the agony in his heart about his father crown prince Sado Seja's death detained in a rice container executed by the order of his grandfather King Yeongjo.
Upon his ascension to the throne, King Jeongjo moved his father's grave to Hwaseong, and named the vicinity of the grave 'Hyeonryung-won.' The Hwaseung Fortress, Suwon, was the very place where he stayed to he visited Suwon to pay tribute to his father's Hyeonryung-won.
King Jeongjo ordered Jeong Yak-yong in 1792 to work out on a design to build a fortress in Hwaseong and sent him a book which was brought in from China and kept in the Gyujang-gak. This book was a 'Gigi-doseol,' a design book, introducing the construction of mechanical devises developed in the West up to the 16th Century. Jeong Yak-yong produced 'Geojunggi,' 'Yuhyeonggeo,' and 'Nokro,' and so forth, after having studied and based on this book.
Yuhyeonggeo is a large and powerful carriage. Seventy units of this powerful carriage will finish the workload in 164 days which would require 100 regular carriages and 324 days. Geojunggi was a device which would raise heavy loads without much efforts using four set pulleys and four moving pulleys. According to the related documents, the Geojunggi was used to raise a 12,000 keun boulder that would require 30 heavy-built workers, averaging 400 geuns per person.
It is estimated that a 7,200kg stone was raised with each individual holding up 240 kg load on average per person. Nokro was a device using fixed pulleys. With a four square frame made of lumber, which is buttressed by two poles askew to its front, a pulley is attached to the top of the pole. And a reel is set on the back of the lumber frame, and when rope is tied to the reel, which is rolled tight with a heavy load tied on the opposite side, it is easy to raise up the heavy load without much hardship.
The Hwasung Walls, Suwon, was constructed in two years, with four gates, Jangan Gate in the north, Paldal Gate in the south, and Changryong and Hwaseo Gates in the east and west, respected. An outdoor wall in the outside was constructed with the look of a semi-circle in order to provide a defense against the enemy forces and to hide the scene inside the main walls.
A part of the Hwaseong is protruding out of the wall, which is called the pheasant castle for its look of a pheasant that is hiding itself which looking out to see what's going on outside. Besides, there is a military facility in the Hwaseong known as "bong-don." This is a building where people used to give out smoke at the time of a national emergency and cannons would be fired.
When one smoke is raised from this facility, it means the normal situation, Two smokes meant an enemy made appearance, two meant the enemy came near the frontline, four the enemy crossing the frontline, and the five smokes was raised when the battle is raised with the enemy.
King Jeongjo gave a party celebrating the 60th birthday of his mother, Princess Hong of Hyegyeong Palace at Hwaseong, Suwon. Hwaseong had a 657-unit palace, one of the largest in our country. Besides being monumental a palace, it is particularly exceptional for the fact that all the construction procedures of this castle, from the design to the completion, was recorded in the royal documents. and this make it all the more worth for its designation as a World Cultural Heritage.
