Gungnae 国内城

About Gungnae

Its stone ramparts mark the Goguryeo capital on the Tonggou Plain beside the Yalu, paired with the mountain city of Hwando. The remains are best understood as fragments of an urban perimeter rather than a standing palace complex. Sections of wall and the locations of later gates let you follow the old boundary, while the surrounding town demonstrates how subsequent settlement grew over the ancient capital.

Gungnae was established as Goguryeo's capital in 3 AD, when the ruler Yuri moved the seat from Heshenggu (纥升骨城), also called Zuben (卒本城); a guard city was also built nearby and, after being expanded, was renamed Hwando (丸都城) in 209. Gungnae and Hwando together served as the kingdom's political, economic and cultural centers until 427, when King Jangsu relocated the capital to Pyongyang to avoid pressure from the Northern Wei and to consolidate control on the Korean peninsula.

After Goguryeo was destroyed by a Tang-Silla alliance, Gungnae became the seat of the Tang Andong Protectorate's Gewu prefecture (哥勿州). Under the Balhae kingdom it was administered as Huanzhou (桓州) under the Western Capital (西京), a status retained under the Liao dynasty. In the twenty-eighth year of the Guangxu era (1902) the Qing government established Ji'an county, which has governed the site since.

What to look for

• Surviving stone rampart sections, especially the western city wall.
• The Jiwen, Anwu and Jinjiang gate sites, reference points for reading the historic city perimeter among modern streets.

Location & getting there

Getting to Gungnae

Start at the Jiwen Gate site (辑文门遗址) in central Ji'an, a named point on the city's heritage walking corridor.

• Use the locally marked heritage route to reach other wall sections; the gate sites should not be confused with fully surviving Goguryeo gateways.