Assassination of Jong Mongju
A famously loyal advisor to the king of Goryeo, Jeong was a staunch political opponent of Yi Seonggye. On his way home after a party held for him by the future king, he was ambushed by five men on the bridge and brutally murdered with an iron hammer. Later canonized as a Korean sage, and revered even by Joseon monarchs, Jong's death came to symbolize unwavering loyalty. A brown spot on one of the stones is said to be Jong's bloodstain, and to become red when it rains. A famous poem of his records his final thoughts:
Even if I may die, die a hundred times,
Even if my skeleton may become dust and dirt,
And whether my spirit may be there or not,
My single-hearted loyalty to my lord will not change.
Read more about this topic: Sonjuk Bridge
Famous quotes containing the word jong:
“To name oneself is the first act of both the poet and the revolutionary. When we take away the right to an individual name, we symbolically take away the right to be an individual. Immigration officials did this to refugees; husbands routinely do it to wives.”
—Erica Jong (b. 1942)