Donggureung Royal Tombs
동구릉
Nine royal tombs in one wood, so the changing form of the tomb — from the founding of Joseon almost to the Korean Empire — can be walked in a single visit. Taejo’s mound at Geonwolleung is covered in silver grass rather than turf.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 동구릉
- Address
- 197 Donggureung-ro, Guri, Gyeonggi-do
- Opening hours
- Feb–May, Sep–Oct 06:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00) Jun–Aug 06:00–18:30 (last entry 17:30) Jan, Nov–Dec 06:30–17:30 (last entry 16:30)
- Closed
- Every Mon (open if it falls on a public holiday; closed the next weekday instead)
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Admission
- ₩1,000
- Operated by
- Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre
Prices
| Adult(domestic visitors 25-64, foreign visitors 19-64) | ₩1,000 |
|---|---|
| Admission(Korean nationals aged 24 and under or 65 and over (photo ID required)) | Free |
| Admission(foreign visitors aged 18 and under or 65 and over) | Free |
| Admission(visitors wearing hanbok, including modernised hanbok) | Free |
| the last Wednesday of each month, Culture Day | Free |
| Group(groups of ten or more) | ₩800 |
Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — royal tomb admission ·
What to see
History and Culture Hall
Donggureung’s history and culture hall first opened in 2011 and was reorganised in 2021. Its displays cover the Joseon royal tombs as a World Heritage site, Donggureung and the people buried in it, and the treasures the precinct holds.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Jaesil (Ritual House)
The ritual house is both the working quarters of the officials who managed the tomb and the place where the memorial rites were prepared.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Sureung
Sureung is the tomb of Munjo, posthumously raised to emperor, and Empress Sinjeong of the Jo clan. It takes the joint-burial form, the two of them together under a single mound. A royal tomb normally follows the right-above-left rule, so that seen from the front the king lies on the left and the queen on the right — Sureung reverses it. Its civil stone figures wear the gold-crowned ceremonial court dress instead of the usual bokdu cap and robe, the only ones at Donggureung to do so.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Hyeolleung
Hyeolleung is the tomb of Munjong, the 5th king of Joseon, and his queen Hyeondeok of the Gwon clan. One T-shaped shrine serves two mounds raised on separate hills within the same precinct: seen from in front of the shrine, the left hill (west) is Munjong’s and the right hill (east) the queen’s. Munjong’s mound follows the rules of the Gukjo oryeui, the basic Joseon book of state rites; the queen’s is the same but for the screen of stone panels, which is left off.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Mongneung
Mongneung is the tomb of Seonjo, the 14th king of Joseon, his first queen Uiin of the Bak clan and his second queen Inmok of the Kim clan. One T-shaped shrine serves three mounds, each raised on its own hill: seen from in front of the shrine, the left hill is Seonjo’s, the middle Queen Uiin’s and the right Queen Inmok’s. Its shrine is the only one at any Joseon royal tomb built with multi-cluster dapo bracketing, and is designated a Treasure.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Geonwolleung
Geonwolleung is the tomb of Taejo, the 1st king of Joseon, laid out on this site when he died in 1408. Its mound is covered not in turf but in silver grass: the Injo Sillok records that cheongwan — silver grass — was laid over it in accordance with Taejo’s dying instruction. The T-shaped shrine is designated a Treasure as the clearest surviving example of the standard Joseon form, and so is the memorial stele recording Taejo’s life and achievements.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Hwireung
Hwireung is the tomb of Queen Jangnyeol of the Jo clan, second queen of Injo, the 16th king of Joseon. The mound has no screen of stone panels, only a balustrade, and the balustrade is carved with the twelve zodiac branches to mark the compass points. Five drum-shaped stones support the offering table, briefly reviving the arrangement of Taejo’s Geonwolleung from the early dynasty. Unlike the other shrines at Donggureung this one has wings added on either side of the main hall, which makes it markedly grander.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Wolleung
Wolleung is the tomb of Yeongjo, the 21st king of Joseon, and his second queen Jeongsun of the Kim clan. It takes the twin-mound form, the two mounds set side by side inside one curved screen wall: seen from the front, Yeongjo lies on the left (west) and Queen Jeongsun on the right (east). It was built to the rules of the Gukjo sangnye boppyeon, compiled in Yeongjo’s own reign, and its stele pavilion holds three tablets.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Gyeongneung
Gyeongneung is the tomb of Heonjong, the 24th king of Joseon, his first queen Hyohyeon of the Kim clan and his second queen Hyojeong of the Hong clan. Three mounds stand in a row — the only Joseon royal tomb in this form. Seen from the front, Heonjong lies on the left, Queen Hyohyeon in the middle and Queen Hyojeong on the right. None of the three has a screen of stone panels; all three carry a balustrade, and the balustrades run on into one another.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Hyereung
Hyereung is the tomb of Queen Danui of the Sim clan, first queen of Gyeongjong, the 20th king of Joseon. She died while still crown princess, so her grave was laid out on the precedent of the earlier graves of Crown Prince Sunhoe and Crown Prince Sohyeon. When Gyeongjong took the throne in 1720 she was raised to queen and the grave renamed Hyereung, and in 1722 further stone objects were added to bring it up to the form of a royal tomb.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
Sungneung
Sungneung is the tomb of Hyeonjong, the 18th king of Joseon, and his queen Myeongseong of the Kim clan. It takes the twin-mound form, the two mounds set side by side inside one curved screen wall. Its stone objects came from Hyojong’s former Yeongneung, which stood where Wolleung now is: when that tomb was moved to Yeoju the stones were buried, and they were dug up again and recut for Sungneung. Its shrine is the only royal tomb shrine left with a hip-and-gable roof, and is designated a Treasure.
궁능유적본부 (royal.khs.go.kr, KOGL Type 1)
History and Culture Hall selected
Nearby
Taereung and Gangneung Royal Tombs
The Joseon Royal Tombs Exhibition Hall, which covers the tombs as a whole, stands inside this precinct. If several tombs are on the itinerary, starting here is what makes the rest legible.
Sareung Royal Tomb
The tomb of Queen Jeongsun, Danjong’s consort. She died stripped of her rank and was buried with the rites due a grand prince’s wife; nearly one hundred and eighty years later she was restored, and the grave became a royal tomb.
Hongneung and Yureung Imperial Tombs
Imperial tombs of the Korean Empire, so the form departs from every other Joseon royal tomb: a sleeping hall in place of the T-shaped shrine, and stone qilin, elephants and camels lining the approach. The graves of the imperial family lie inside the same walls.
Uireung Royal Tomb
The former KCIA auditorium still stands inside the tomb walls. The July 4th North-South Joint Statement was announced in that building, so a Joseon royal tomb and twentieth-century political history share one precinct.
Stories about this place
- Gyeonggi's Twelve Joseon Royal Tomb Precincts, Compared: The Five That Differ on Price or Opening Time
All twelve Joseon royal tomb precincts in Gyeonggi Province, compared on how many tombs each one gathers and on what can only be seen there. Unlike Seoul's five, admission and opening hours vary here, and five of the twelve differ from the other seven.
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