Seonbawi Rock

Halfway up Inwangsan in Seoul, at the top of a steep flight of steps above the Guksadang shrine, two boulders 7–8 m high stand shoulder to shoulder. People say they look like monks in long robes, so they were named Seonbawi, after seon, the Korean word for Zen meditation. Candles and offerings are still left here every day, and the rock is tied to a famous argument over whether it should stand inside or outside Seoul's city wall.

The rock left outside the wall

When King Taejo built the walls of his new capital, Hanyang, the royal preceptor Muhak and the scholar-official Jeong Do-jeon are said to have clashed over this rock. Inside the walls, it would make Buddhism flourish and leave the Confucian scholars powerless; outside, the monks would lose their influence. The decision was put off, and the next day a line of unmelted snow appeared along the planned course of the wall. Taejo took it as a sign from heaven and built the wall along that line. The rock stayed outside, and Muhak is said to have sighed that from now on monks would be reduced to carrying scholars' book bundles.

Because of this, the city wall was nicknamed Seolseong, the "snow wall", and a folk etymology claims that seorul, "snow fence", became "Seoul". Other legends see the rocks as Taejo and Muhak, or as Taejo and his queen, and Muhak is said to have prayed here for a thousand days.

What to see

• The twin boulders: together about 11 m wide and 3 m deep. People call them the stone Buddha or Gwanseeum Bosal, or refer to the pair as yangju, "the two masters".
• Honeycomb hollows: the surface is pitted like a honeycomb, which gives the rocks their eerie faces. This is weathering of Daebo granite, the so-called Seoul granite formed in the Jurassic period.
• "Sticking stone" marks: people hoping for a child believed that rubbing a small pebble onto the rock until it stuck would help, and the rubbing marks are still visible.
• Altar and candles: an altar about 10 m wide below the rocks holds offerings of water, rice cakes and fruit, along with candles.
• Guksadang: the shamanic shrine just below. It originally stood on the summit of Namsan, but when the Japanese built the Chosen Shrine there it was moved here in 1925. It is a National Folklore Cultural Heritage.

Seonbawi was listed as Seoul Folklore Cultural Heritage No. 4 in 1973 and also as Seoul Natural Heritage in 2024.

Tripto tips

• Getting there: from Exit 1 of Dongnimmun Station on subway Line 3, walk about 500 m up the village lanes to the entrance of Inwangsa and the Guksadang. The steps above the shrine are very steep, so take them slowly.
• Etiquette: many people still come here to pray. Do not photograph worshippers without asking, and keep your voice down. A Jongno-gu notice also states that shamanic rites are not permitted within the heritage area.
• Time needed: allow about an hour there and back from Dongnimmun Station.
• Walk on: above Seonbawi the path meets the Inwangsan section of the Seoul City Wall, which you can follow to the summit or down towards Seochon.
• Combine with: Independence Gate and Seodaemun Prison History Hall at the foot of the mountain make it a half-day outing.