Hongneung & Yureung Imperial Tombs

The stone animals moved downhill

At Hongneung, qilin, elephants, lions, haetae, camels and horses stand in pairs along the ceremonial approach. In older Joseon royal tombs, guardian statues clustered around the burial mound. Here they were moved downhill and made part of the public approach to an emperor’s tomb

The shift followed Gojong’s proclamation of the Korean Empire in 1897. The new imperial tomb form kept core Joseon elements but drew on Ming imperial precedents. The usual T-shaped shrine was replaced by a straight chimjeon ritual hall, and the range and number of stone animals expanded

That reorganization changes the visitor’s first impression. Imperial status is announced before the burial mound is reached, through the long line of human and animal figures in front of the ritual building

Hongneung was rebuilt around an emperor

Hongneung’s history began with Empress Myeongseong’s death in 1895. Plans for her burial site changed repeatedly before she was interred at Cheongnyangni in 1897. When Gojong died in 1919, her remains were moved to Geumgok and the two were buried together in the present Hongneung

The 1919 tomb therefore joined an earlier royal burial with the new imperial form. Gojong and Myeongseong share one mound, while the ceremonial architecture below uses the larger chimjeon associated with the emperor’s tomb system

Inside the ritual hall, the structure follows palace terminology: chimjeon means a bedchamber, and the tomb building serves as the place where memorial rites are performed. Its scale and position separate Hongneung clearly from the more familiar Joseon pattern seen at sites such as Donggureung

The stonework still retains strong traditional carving conventions, especially in the large civil and military officials. The unfamiliar animals and relocated statues create the new imperial composition around them

Yureung changed the sculpture again

Yureung was created for Emperor Sunjong in 1926. His first wife, Empress Sunmyeong, had died in 1904 and was moved from her earlier burial site when Sunjong was interred at Geumgok. Empress Sunjeong was added to the same mound after her death in 1966, leaving three separate burial chambers inside one mound

The overall layout follows Hongneung, but the stone figures look markedly different. National heritage research notes more realistic anatomy, clothing and three-dimensional carving at Yureung. The approach statues were designed with modern sculptural methods, including full-size plaster models, under Japanese colonial rule

Some of that work was led by Japanese sculptor Aiba Hikojiro, and the statues took more than a year to complete. The change is visible without specialist knowledge: Hongneung’s figures feel closer to late Joseon monumentality, while Yureung’s people and animals have a more naturalistic surface and proportion

Placed side by side, the two tombs preserve a compressed architectural record of the Korean Empire’s attempt to create an imperial burial form and the different artistic conditions that followed its loss of sovereignty

Before you go

A short visit is strongest when Hongneung and Yureung are treated as a direct comparison. The animal rows, chimjeon buildings and guardian figures repeat the same basic imperial plan, while the sculpture changes noticeably between the two. The wider grounds also contain later Korean imperial-family graves for visitors extending the walk