Capital moved to Hanyang

King Taejo moved the capital from Gaegyeong to Hanyang, where Jeong Do-jeon laid out the shrines, palace and city walls.

Taejo pressed for a new capital soon after taking the throne, since Gaegyeong was the stronghold of the Goryeo royal house and the old elite. Work first began on a site below Mt. Gyeryong but was halted at the end of 1393. After debate between Muak, backed by Ha Ryun, and Hanyang, Hanyang was chosen: it lay at the centre of the country, the Han River made transport easy, and the surrounding mountains made it easy to defend.

Following the Rites of Zhou, Jeong Do-jeon placed the royal ancestral shrine (Jongmyo) to the left (east) of the palace and the altar of land and grain (Sajik) to the right (west). Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo were finished in 1395, and in 1396 the city wall was built with four great gates, including Sungnyemun and Heunginjimun, and four small ones. The city was administered by Hanseong-bu. King Jeongjong, enthroned after the First Strife of Princes, moved back to Gaegyeong in 1399, but Taejong returned to Hanyang in 1405 and built Changdeokgung. Hanyang then remained the capital for the rest of the dynasty.