Placenta Chamber of King Gyeongjong, Chungju

In Goedong-ri, Eomjeong-myeon, north of Chungju, a small stone monument ringed by a stone balustrade crowns a round, pine-covered hill. This is the Placenta Chamber of King Gyeongjong of Joseon. Gyeongjong was the son of King Sukjong and Royal Consort Jang Hui-bin, and the chamber prepared here after his birth in 1688 has the elaborate form reserved for heirs to the throne.

What is a taesil?

When a prince or princess was born, the Joseon court washed the placenta, sealed it in a jar and buried it on carefully chosen ground. Usually the jar was simply buried, but the placenta of a crown prince or royal grandson in line to the throne was placed inside a separate stone chamber. If its owner actually became king, the chamber was embellished in a ceremony called gabong and a stele was erected.

History: the son of Jang Hui-bin

The chamber was first prepared here in 1688, the 14th year of King Sukjong, after Jang Hui-bin gave birth to a prince. The stele records that Gyeongjong was born in the tenth month of that year and his placenta buried in the second month of the next. When he came to the throne in 1720 a stele was set up beside the chamber, and in 1726, under King Yeongjo, an octagonal stone balustrade and a further stele were added by royal order. Sixteen guards were assigned to the site, and rites were held every three years.

During the Japanese occupation the monument was moved elsewhere on the grounds that it was hard to look after, and the placenta jar was taken to Changgyeonggung Palace. The stonework returned to its original site and was restored in 1976, but the jar never came back, so only the stone chamber and stelae now stand on the hill. The site was listed as North Chungcheong Tangible Cultural Heritage on 20 August 1975 under the name "Placenta Chamber of King Gyeongjong the Great" and renamed in January 2013.

What to see

• The chamber: a round stone chamber sits on a low octagonal base under an octagonal roof stone. The rounded body looks much like a jar.
• Octagonal balustrade: added under Yeongjo, its posts and rails encircle the chamber and show the full gabong form.
• Stelae: a stele stands on a turtle-shaped base, carved with the dates of Gyeongjong's birth and of the burial of his placenta.
• The hilltop view: between the pines you look out over the fields and ridges of Eomjeong-myeon, which helps explain why such rounded hilltops were chosen for royal placentas.

Tripto tips

• Access: an open-air site you can visit at any time, free of charge.
• The climb: from the entrance at the foot of the hill, stone steps and an earth path lead up. It is short but slippery after rain, so wear trainers.
• Time needed: 30 minutes is enough to walk up, look around and come back down.
• Getting there: the site is about 13 km north of central Chungju, in Goedong-ri, Eomjeong-myeon. Coming by car or taxi is simplest.
• Combine with: the Central Tower (Seven-story Stone Pagoda in Tappyeong-ri), about 12 km away by the Namhangang River, for a day of royal and Buddhist heritage in Chungju.