Yongjangseong (용장성)
Unique in Korea’s history is the saga of the Sambyeolcho Rebellion of 1259. King Gojong of Goryeo made peace with the Mongols after nine invasions and 28 years of fighting. As part of the peace treaty and negotiated alliance, the royal court was forced to move back to Gaegyeong (modern Kaeseong) and the kingdom’s elite military force—the Sambyeolcho—was to be disbanded. The Sambyeolcho, led by a military aristocracy which had defied the Mongols for so long, refused to disband or cease their resistance. The army fled Ganghwa Island and set up a resistance government on the island of Jindo, off the southern coast. There they built the incredible citadel called Yongjangseong.
Unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else in Korea, this was a fortress built by men who knew how to fight and its layout reflects that experience. The outer, circular wall—of which little remains—was a stunning 13 kilometers in circumference. The inner fortress, which we visited, features overlapping baileys in a manner reminiscent of later Japanese castles where higher inner layers of defense could shoot down into lower ones. The tiers climbing the hillside are studded with foundation stones for buildings no longer extant. And as always with Korean fortresses, great care was taken to channel and control the flow of water, emptying into a deep and wide, stone-lined canal.
From this headquarters, the Sambyeolcho raided the western and southern coasts of Goryeo, harassing Mongol garrisons and even burning ships being built for the planned invasion of Japan. Under the terms of the new alliance, Goryeo’s army joined with the Mongols in attacking the Sambyeolcho, and both struck Yongjangseong in April of 1270. 4,000 members of the Sambyeolcho escaped to Jeju Island, but the Mongols claimed to have struck down or taken into slavery some 10,000 men, women, and children during the assault on Jindo Island. The remnant on Jeju would fall to Mongol assault in 1273, ending 41 years of resistance to the Mongols.
There’s a small temple on the site. The staircase looked inviting so that’s where we entered.
Passing through the temple, however, our eyes were drawn first to the massive set of stone ruins running in tiers up the slope…and then to the well-designed water channel at our feet.
This is where excess water flows out of the fortress into the channel below.
As I said above…never quite seen anything quite like this in Korea. Layer upon layer of overlapping baileys built upon a stone foundation. The site likely housed the “royal family” established by the rebels, making the upper levels a palace as well, but so much of what lies below was clearly designed with defense in mind.
Even the large corner stones resemble the technique Japanese castle builders would later use, though here without the need for the fan shape required to resist earthquakes.
As seen from above, the tiered nature of the walls are easy to see, as well as the stone staircases leading from one level to the next.
This is taken from behind the upper level, looking back down toward the temple and small information office.
The steep tiering in the background is studded with foundation stones to support wooden building supports, as are many of the baileys within the main structure, as seen above.
There is a small well at the base of the structure that still contains water.
Given the stubborn, heroic nature of the Sambyeolcho’s refusal to submit to Mongol rule, there is, of course, a grand monument to mark their rebellion and resistance.