A Deposed Queen's Tomb Created a Hard-to-Read Place Name

The name Hoegi-dong began with Hoemyo, the tomb of Lady Yun — mother of King Yeonsangun, who was stripped of her title as queen — and arrived at its current form through a series of demotions and character substitutions.

Key takeaways

The name Hoegi-dong traces back to Hoemyo, the tomb of Lady Yun, mother of King Yeonsangun (who reigned 1494–1506 and is remembered as one of Joseon's most notorious rulers, eventually deposed). Fact After Yeonsangun took the throne, he posthumously honored his mother as queen and briefly elevated her tomb's status to "Hoereung" (a term reserved for a queen's tomb), but after Yeonsangun himself was deposed in a coup, the tomb's status was demoted again to the lesser term "Hoemyo." Fact The place name shifted accordingly — from "Hoereung-dong" to "Hoemyo-dong" — and was eventually respelled using an easier character for "hoe" and swapping the ominous character for "tomb" (墓) for the more neutral "gi" (基, "site/foundation"), producing today's name, Hoegi-dong. Fact

Hoemyo stood on the site of today's Kyunghee Girls' Middle & High School until 1967, when Kyung Hee University's relocation to this area led to the tomb being moved to Seosamneung in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Fact

What to look for on site

The grounds of Kyunghee Girls' Middle & High School (the former Hoemyo site, with limited outside access)
The character-by-character shift from "Hoereung" to "Hoemyo" to "Hoegi"
An example of how a royal tomb's status rose and fell along with political fortune

Editorial note

Avoid saying "Hoemyo still exists in Hoegi-dong today." Be clear that it was relocated in 1967.