Mongnyeoksan Beacon Fire Site목멱산 봉수대 터

About

A bongsudae, or beacon fire station, was a means of communication used in the past to send urgent news with torches and smoke. Signals were lit on high mountains, with smoke used by day and firelight by night. The beacon on Namsan Mountain was set up after the capital was moved to Hanyang in 1394, the third year of King Taejo of Joseon, and remained in use for about 500 years, until the year after the Gabo Reform. It was also called Mongnyeoksan Bongsudae, after Namsan's old name, and Gyeongbongsudae, because it stood in the capital. In peacetime, one fire was lit; two when the enemy appeared, three when the enemy approached the border, four when it crossed the border, and five when fighting broke out with friendly forces at the border. As the central station where beacon signals from across the country arrived, Namsan's beacon played a key role. There are said to have been five beacons in a line from east to west, but today they are gone and only the site remains. With no surviving records, their exact locations cannot be confirmed; one beacon has been restored based on related materials such as the Cheonggudo map.