Cheonghaejin () was a major military headquarters and trading hub located on Wando island, South Jeolla province of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and established by

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n general

Jang Bogo Jang Bo-go (787–841), whose childhood name was Gungbok or Gungpa (), was a Sillan who rose to prominence in the Later Silla period of Korea as a powerful maritime figure who effectively controlled the Yellow Sea (West Sea), and dominated the ...

in 828 ACE during the

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

kingdom period. It traded mainly with

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and served as a military hub to combat various pirate factions.

History

Cheonghaejin was established originally as a military complex by General

in 828, the third year of King Heungdeok's reign. Jang appealed to Heungdeok to establish a military complex in Cheonghaejin to protect

's merchant fleets and coastal residents from pirates. He was granted permission and 10,000 troops. He established a small castle and a military base in Garipo. Cheonghaejin was very successful in its mission; it maintained strong commercial ties with Chinese and Japanese trading ports and successfully protected Silla merchants and coastal residents from pirates. Jang sent envoys called ''Hoyeoksa'' (호역사) for trading activities and cultural exchange. It was resented by many Silla noblemen of small maritime societies because they lost their profits from private maritime trades. The noblemen of Silla sent an assassin,

Yŏm Chang Yŏm Chang (, ? - ?), also mentioned as Yŏm Mun, was a Silla general who is best known for assassinating Jang Bogo. Yŏm had been a subordinate of Jang Bogo, but their relationship apparently deteriorated as he was once punished by Jang Bogo f ...

, to assassinate Jang. After Jang's assassination, the complex was maintained by Yŏm Chang himself, but the residents of Cheonghaejin, mourning Jang's death, left Cheonghaejin. They mostly moved to other regions of Silla, while some moved to

. It is recorded in

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk sagi'' () is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. Completed in 1145, it is well-known in Korea as the oldest surviving chronicle of Korean history. The ''Samguk sagi'' is written in Classical ...

that the central Silla government closed Cheongjaejin in February 851. The remaining residents were then relocated to Byeokgolgun.

Modern times

Cheonghaejin is now located in

Wando County Wando County () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. It takes its name from the island of Wando (island), Wando, which is the largest island within the county and serves as the county seat. ...

, Jeollanam-do, and is a main tourist location in the region. There is a

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

commemorating the relocation of residents of Cheongjaejin to Byeokgolgun and various remains of the complex. Remains of various mercantile products and plates have been discovered in Cheongjaejin, which greatly contributed to understanding the life of Silla people.

Historical site

The historic site of Cheonghaejin is the site of a military fortress dating back to the Unified Silla period located on Jangdo at 734 Jangjwa-ri, Wando-eup, Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do. The distance from Wando (island) to Jangdo is about 180m, which can be covered on foot twice a day when the

ebb tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide ...

exposes the seabed. It is a major historical site where in the 9th century during the

Unified Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla, is the name often applied to the historical period of the Korean kingdom of Silla after its conquest of Goguryeo in 668 AD, which marked the end of the Three Kingdoms period. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang alli ...

, General

installed Cheonghaejin and cracked down on

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

and let the place serve as the stronghold for a maritime trading route that dominated the maritime trade in the seas off the three sides of the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

Ruins and relics

*Wooden Fence (Wonmokryeol): Presumed to be a wooden fence designed to defend the entrance of the island, Wonmokryeol has a length of 331 m and is mostly made of oak posts. When a specimen of the fence was radiocarbon dated, it was identified as dating to the mid-9th century. *Cheonghaejin Castle: Stretching 890 m, the castle construction used rammed earth, which arrays in parallel one or two layers of stones at intervals of 5–6 m and compacts earth inside the framework to stack up in a robust manner. *Historic Site of Beobhwasa (): At the foot of Sanghwang-bong ('peak') that stands behind Jangjwa-ri lies the old site of Beobhwa-sa ('Buddhist temple') reportedly constructed in imitation of Beobhwawon that

built in Chishan (赤山),

Shandong Province Shandong is a coastal province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural and religious center ...

. *ㄷ-Shaped Vestiges of Rammed Earth Construction and the Well: The ㄷ-shaped vestiges of rammed earth construction is a costal structure, a type of construction found also in

and

. The ㄷ-shaped vestiges of rammed earth construction serve to protect the

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

and reinforce the outer castle gate. The remaining depth of the

is 5.8 m.Reference to Local signs Various artifacts such as earthenware flasks, iron pots, and bronze bottles believed to have been used for ceremonial purposes have been excavated from the pit or well. *Oeseongmun ('Outer Castle Gate'): A passage that connects the inside to the outside of the fortress and serves to deter enemy attacks, stage counterattacks, or defeat enemies. The gate is reinforced by a double fortress wall. *Naeseongmun ('Inner Castle Gate'): It is the second gate inside the castle with a defensive purpose. *Godae ('High Site'): Located at the middle of the castle wall south of Cheonghaejin that runs from east to west, it is a vantage point at the passage that leads inland from overseas, from which it was easy to monitor offshore commercial ships and pirates. File:Chunghaejin 01.jpg, Panoramic view of Cheonghaejin. File:Chunghaejin_03.jpg, View seen from the ramp of Cheonghaejin. From left to right, "Oeseongmun Gate", "Naeseongmun Gate", and a shrine are shown. File:Chunghaejin_04.jpg, A large well in front of Oeseongmun. It is surrounded by earthen walls. File:chunghaejin_05.jpg, View of Oeseongmun overlooked from Naeseongmun File:chunghaejin_06.jpg, Part of the wall File:chunghaejin_07.jpg, Part of the wall sectioned to show the state of heaping and hardening of earth (''panchuk'' in Korean). File:chunghaejin_08.jpg, Chi, a distinctive Korean wall style. Two ''chi'' have been preserved in Cheonghaejin.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Cheonghaejin
Changpogo.co.kr

Hyulim.co.kr

Jangdo Cheonghaejin Historical Site
Geography of South Jeolla Province Buildings and structures of Silla Wando County Tourist attractions in South Jeolla Province Historic Sites of South Korea