Gosongjeong Site

This description was machine-translated from the Korea Tourism Organization's Korean original.

Gosongjeongji is the site of a pavilion called Gosongjeong that Kim Cheo-il built in the 27th year of King Sunjo of Joseon (1827) in mourning for his ninth-generation ancestor Kim Chung-ju. When Kim Chung-ju’s grandfather and father were killed for taking part in the movement to restore King Danjong, he fled the capital at night, wandered many places, and then lived in hiding in Hwajeong-dong; it is said that for the rest of his life he ate no meat or alcohol, wore hemp clothing, and went about in the kind of hat worn by commoners. Whenever his loyalty to Danjong threatened to weaken, he would look toward Yeongwol, where Danjong’s tomb lay, and weep bitterly; it is also told that the pine trees withered and died from the tears he shed in grief over his grandfather and father dying unnatural deaths. He made a living by weaving grass into a house and selling charcoal he burned, and called himself the charcoal-burning old man “Tanong,” so the site of Gosongjeong is also called Tanong Goto. The pavilion measures two bays across the front and two bays on the side, and its roof is a hip-and-gable (paljak) roof that looks like the Chinese character for eight when viewed from the side. To the left of the pavilion is a rock carved with the words “Tanong Goji,” and if you go up to the right of Gosongjeong there is a rock called Mangworam where he wept while longing for Danjong. Nearby are a zelkova and a juniper more than 500 years old, and the natural scenery is outstanding.