• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.90-107
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• 2013

The Stone Monument of Taejong King in Heonreung Royal Tomb, Seoul was originally erected in 1424 to pay a tribute to Bang Won Lee's achievement who was named Taejong, the Third King of Joseon Dynasty. The monument has been damaged by Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592 so that another monument was newly made and erected together with the original monument in 1695. The original monument was made of medium-grained biotite granite for the turtle base and medium-grained milky white crystalline limestone for the stele body and the top stone. The turtle base of the original monument is destroyed beyond the original shape and inscription due to irregular shaped breaking and a set of longitudinal crack. Analyzing the deterioration degree by using nondestructive methods, the 88 percentage of the front area and 38 percentage of the back area of the monument are damaged, and the lower part of the stele body is dominantly deteriorated especially due to the combination of discoloration and physical deterioration. The new monument in 1695 is also made of granite and limestone. The weathering indices of the turtle base and stele body stones by the calculation from ultrasonic velocity are 0.10 and 0.74, respectively. This is because the original monument is presumed to be degraded by heat shock and physical attack during the Japanese war, and the long-term outdoor exposure accelerated the weathering of the monument afterward without protective shelter.