Jangchungdan Park (Korean: 장충단 공원) is a park located in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. It is to the northeast of the mountain Namsan.

It contains the historic Dangchungdan Shrine [ko], which was built by Emperor Gojong in 1900 to memorialize Empress Myeongseong. The park has a children's baseball field, a tennis court, and a swimming pool. It is popular for walks and for exercise. It has a pine tree forest, with walking trails through it.

History

After the 1895 assassination of Empress Myeongseong, her husband Emperor Gojong built the Jangchungdan Shrine as a memorial to her in November 1900 in this area. Around the time, the area was known just as "Jangchungdan".

Japanese colonial period

It became a park in 1919, during the Japanese colonial period. After the 1932 January 28 incident (a conflict between Japan and China), a statue was erected dedicated to Japanese soldiers who died during it. The statue was quickly torn down just after Korea was liberated in 1945.

Post-liberation

The shrine was destroyed during the Korean War, although it was eventually rebuilt.

In 1959, the historic bridge Supyogyo [ko], which had stood over the stream Cheonggyecheon since 1420, was dismantled and moved to this park. A device used to measure the water level (수표; supyo) was also moved to the park. Both have since been designated Tangible Cultural Heritages of Seoul (No. 18 and 838 respectively).

In 1964, a bronze statue of Yi Tjoune was erected in the park, and a statue of Yujeong in 1968. The rebuilt monument was designated a Tangible Cultural Heritage of Seoul in 1969.

On September 22, 1984, the park, which had an area of 418,000 square metres (4,500,000 sq ft) since 1940, had a portion of it merged into Namsan Park. Its new area was 297,000 m (3,200,000 sq ft).

There are now a number of other monuments in the park that commemorate the March 1st Movement, the Korean independence movement, independence activist Yu Gwan-sun and Buddhist reformer Han Yong-un.

Between February and April 2022, the Seoul Museum of History ran an exhibition about the history of the park.

Gallery

See also

• Hyochang Park: another historic park in Seoul with monuments to the independence movement