Science and Technology Heritage

At a glance

The theme on the map

14 events in this theme

1. AD 633Cheomseongdae Built

   In the reign of Queen Seondeok, the stone observatory Cheomseongdae was built in Gyeongju.

2. 1377Establishment of the Hwatong Dogam

   At Choe Mu-seon’s urging, Goryeo set up an office to make gunpowder and firearms, producing eighteen kinds of weapons, including the daejanggun cannon, for use against the pirates.

3. 1395Cheonsang yeolcha bunyajido carved

   Under King Taejo, a star chart based on a rubbing of a Goguryeo astronomical map was corrected and carved in stone as the Cheonsang yeolcha bunyajido.

4. 1402Honil gangni yeokdae gukdo jido made

   Kim Sa-hyeong, Yi Mu and Yi Hoe combined Yuan maps with maps of Joseon and Japan to make the world map Honil gangni yeokdae gukdo jido.

5. 1432The Ganui Platform and Armillary Spheres

   King Sejong built the observation platform Ganuidae at Gyeongbokgung and had the simplified armillary (ganui) and armillary sphere (honcheonui) made.

6. 1434Self-striking water clock

   Jang Yeong-sil built the Jagyeongnu, a water clock that struck bells, drums and gongs on its own; it kept the official time at Gyeongbokgung.

7. 1434The Angbu Ilgu Sundial

   The angbu ilgu, a sundial shaped like a cauldron facing the sky, was set up by the roads of Hanyang so ordinary people could tell the time.

8. 1441Rain gauge

   Joseon made the cheugugi rain gauge and installed it in the capital and every county to record rainfall systematically.

9. 1442Chiljeongsan calendar compiled

   Yi Sun-ji, Kim Dam and others completed the Chiljeongsan, a calendar computing the motions of the sun, moon and five planets for the meridian of Hanyang.

10. 1451King Munjong’s Hwacha

    King Munjong had the hwacha built — a cart that launched rocket arrows (singijeon) or guns all at once.

11. 1669Song I-yeong’s Armillary Clock

    An astronomical clock made under King Hyeonjong by Song I-yeong, driving an armillary sphere with weights and gears.

12. 1750Jeong Sang-gi’s Dongguk Jido

    A map of Korea by Jeong Sang-gi, the first to use a scale — the "hundred-ri ruler".

13. 1794 – 1796Hwaseong Fortress built

    Jeongjo built a new fortress at Suwon, where he had moved his father’s tomb. Jeong Yak-yong helped design it and introduced a crane; the work was recorded in a detailed royal protocol.

14. 1861Daedong yeojido published

    Kim Jeong-ho published a woodblock map of the whole country in 22 folding sections; laid out together they form a map nearly seven metres tall.

Key people

• 
  Sejong the Great1397 – 1450

  Fourth king of Joseon, creator of Hangul, patron of science and of the northern frontier

• 
  Jang Yeong-sil

  Scientist of humble birth who built the self-striking water clock for Sejong and helped make astronomical instruments

• Choe Mu-seon1325 – 1395

  Inventor who learned to make gunpowder, built cannon at the Hwatong Dogam and burned the pirate fleet at Jinpo

• 
  Kim Jeong-ho

  Geographer who published the woodblock map Daedong yeojido

• Queen SeondeokAD 647

  Twenty-seventh ruler and Silla's first queen, under whom Cheomseongdae and the nine-storey pagoda of Hwangnyongsa were built

• King U1365 – 1389

  Thirty-second king of Goryeo, who ordered the Liaodong expedition and was deposed after the Wihwado retreat

• 
  Taejo (Yi Seong-gye)1335 – 1408

  Founder and first king of Joseon, formerly a general who fought Japanese pirates and the Red Turbans

• 
  Taejong (Yi Bang-won)1367 – 1422

  Third king of Joseon, who seized power in the Strifes of Princes and strengthened royal authority

• Jeong In-ji1396 – 1478

  Jiphyeonjeon scholar who wrote the preface to the Hunminjeongeum haerye and led the compilation of the Goryeosa

• 
  Jeongjo1752 – 1800

  Twenty-second king of Joseon, founder of the Gyujanggak library and builder of Hwaseong Fortress

• 
  Jeong Yak-yong (Dasan)1762 – 1836

  Silhak scholar who helped design Hwaseong; exiled to Gangjin, where he wrote the Mongmin simseo