Hwaseong Dangseong (당성)
Dangseong is an historically rich location that is gaining greater attention as Koreans look to their own long history. Originally constructed in the 3rd-4th Centuries A.D. by Baekje, it has the distinction of being one of only a handful of fortresses owned and manned by all three Korean kingdoms. Intended to protect the nearby port, Dangseong became the primary gateway to trade with the various Chinese dynasties that rose and fell from power throughout that millennium. As such, Dangseong served to protect that vital trade route all the way through the Joseon Era, an incredible usage spanning over a thousand years. Dangseong is also noteworthy in that, unlike other Baekje fortresses built of rammed earth and later fronted with stone, this fortification seemed to evolve in the opposite direction. The initial, small fortress was clad in stone and later additions by Unified Silla and Goryeo—with far fewer enemies so far south—included stretches of rammed earth walls. It makes some sense as the expansion was intended more to handle the vast influx of trade goods going to and from China than it was to truly expand the fortress’s inherent defensibility.
Since most of the lower walls have collapsed or become overgrown with thick vegetation, the first real sense that you’ve entered a Korean fortress is the large cistern positioned just inside what would have been the lower gate.
The outer walls as one walks up the slope from the cistern. There are two ways to go up, but one requires back-tracking a bit and heading up rough wooden stairs. That path follows the wall more closely. The other—easier route—is paved, but both bring you here, where the stone exterior wall edge only peaks through the vegetation here and there, yet the steep fall off to the left indicates where the wall stands.
The view from this western section of wall highlights the purpose of this fortress, namely to protect the gateway to trade with China. The sea, visible above, used to be closer to the fortress, but much land reclamation has occurred along most of Korea’s coastline, and Dangseong is no exception.
The map to the left gives an impression of the entire fortress. The double fortification—smaller surrounding the summit and the larger expanding into the valley below—layout is easier to understand from this picture than from actually walking the ground. The vegetation is simply too thick around some portions of the old fortress to make it all out.
Once again, only the steepness to the left of the path gives any indication, from a distance, as to where the masonry still stands, the top being completely overgrown. But trust me…it’s there!
The summit—within the central, older fortress walls—includes several buildings excavated during nine separate archaeological digs on the site. These are now marked and fenced off atop the hill.
This was the location of a medium-sized pavilion that would have provided an incredible view of both sea and land approaches to Dangseong.
The view from the northern wall below the pavilion. You can just make out the top stones of the wall along the bottom of the photo.
Turning to northeast, you get a sense for the view presented by this location, especially if you remember the trees would have been cleared away.
The eastern wall turned out to be a beautiful walk, with a sheer ten-meter drop-off to one side, and beautiful foliage to the other.
Eventually the eastern section rounds back toward the main gate. The masonry marking the exterior wall is prominent here and in the wooden staircase leading up the hill toward the main fortress across the way.
Turning back toward the—now missing—main gate, you get a better view of the cistern and its associated viewing platform as well as the paved path leading up toward the summit.