Korea's largest civil engineering project, Cheonggyecheon dredging project

 In February 1760, King Yeongjo ordered large-scale construction. It was a construction to dig deep and wide Cheonggyecheon Stream flowing in the center of the city wall and build stone walls on both sides of Cheonggyecheon Stream. As many as 215,380 people were mobilized for the construction. The cost used was 35,000 nyang and 2,300 seats of rice. The dredging of Cheonggyecheon Stream, which was carried out during the reign of King Yeongjo, was the largest civil engineering project in Joseon's history. However, the dredging of Cheonggyecheon is not the only one that receives the highest evaluation of its scale. King Yeongjo's achievements are often referred to in three ways: the implementation of the Uniform Act, which dramatically reduced the burden of military service for ordinary people, the implementation of the Tangpyeong policy, which eliminated party disputes and hired talent evenly, and the implementation of the Cheonggyecheon dredging. The dredging of Cheonggyecheon is highly regarded. - Cheonggyecheon Stream in the Joseon Dynasty, which had clear water as its name suggests during the central stream of Hansung, was a perfect laundry site for women in the Joseon Dynasty and a good playground for children. As such, Cheonggyecheon Stream was an important living stream located in downtown Hanyang. Today's sewage plumbing map shows the flow of Cheonggyecheon Stream during the Joseon Dynasty, and according to the plumbing map, it can be seen that the water flowing from the surrounding mountains gathered and flowed through the center of the city. King Taejo Lee Seong-gye connected the four mountains surrounding Hanyang to build a castle and make a four-door gate. In addition, a long road connecting Dongdaemun and Seodaemun Gate and a road connecting the north and south were made. Gyeongbokgung Palace was built under Bukaksan Mountain, and Sajikdan Altar was placed to the left of Gyeongbokgung Palace and Jongmyo Shrine to the right. Cheonggyecheon Stream flowed through the center of Hanyang and met the Han River. Today, the Han River, which crosses the center of Seoul from east to west, is a symbol of Seoul and is closely related to the lives of Seoulites, playing an important role in identifying precipitation in Seoul along with the functions of drainage, drinking water, and water. Cheonggyecheon Stream, which was the central river of Hanyang during the Joseon Dynasty, played the same role as today's Han River. In the 18th century, Hanyang's population grew rapidly. According to Hanyang's population at the time, the number of people at the end of King Hyojong's reign was 85,572, and at the end of King Hyeonjong's reign, it was 194,030 at the end of King Hyeonjong's reign. It has more than doubled in just 12 years. As it became difficult to make ends meet in the late 17th century when natural disasters were exceptionally severe, local people who were suffering from hunger came to Hanyang one by one. They thought that they would not starve to death if they came to Hanyang, where the king, the parents of the people, lived. The royal court installed Jinjejang to cook porridge for them and distribute grain. In addition, they gave Laozi and recommended him to return to his hometown, but they did not go back, because they had no way to live even if they returned to their hometown. King Yeongjo allowed those who wanted to stay in Hanyang to stay. In this way, from the late 17th century to the 18th century, the refugees who flocked to Hanyang from all over the country became a new class of Hanyang. They lived day by day in commercial areas such as Xijeon and Nanjeon and Mapo Ferry. Therefore, at that time, the biggest task in rowing was to provide conditions for them to live a minimal life. Moreover, as the urban poor increased, various social problems arose in Hanyang. As the poor who could not find a house gathered around Cheonggyecheon Stream, housing problems and environmental problems were serious, and as the population increased and the use of firewood and timber to build houses increased, the mountains around the city gradually became Mindungsan Mountain. As a result, the court discussed dredging construction to scoop up soil piled up on the floor of Cheonggyecheon several times and deepen the floor. Construction finally began on February 18, 36th year of King Yeongjo. The construction was carried out by pumping out all the soil and sand piled up on the floor of Cheonggyecheon Stream one by one using a shovel or plow, and moving the dug soil out of Dongdaemun. The dredging of Cheonggyecheon was very effective. It relieved the anxiety of Hanyang residents who had been anxious about flooding Cheonggyecheon Stream, and Cheonggyecheon Stream, which had been stinky due to garbage, was cleaned up. This is not the only reason why dredging Cheonggyecheon is considered a meaningful construction. It is all the more meaningful in that 63,000 of the 210,000 people who participated in the construction at the time were those who worked for wages. During the Joseon Dynasty, when there was a national civil engineering construction, it was called a subordinate, so the people were not paid to work. However, from the early 17th century, cases of paying for the work began to appear little by little, and it was implemented in earnest after King Yeongjo ascended the throne. There is a record of hiring 10,000 refugees to work for the renovation of the fortress, which was implemented in the second year of King Yeongjo's reign. At that time, the people recruited for the Cheonggyecheon dredging project were urban poor, and for them, dredging became an important means of making a living. King Yeongjo started dredging Cheonggyecheon as a way to help the poor in the city. If you look at various records related to dredging work, you can read this intention of King Yeongjo. After completing the dredging construction, King Yeongjo published a book called "Juncheonsa. King Yeongjo wrote in the introduction of the book, "We will have to continue to dredge in the future, and large-scale dredging in 1760 should serve as an example." King Yeongjo's recruitment and construction of the urban poor was a method of relief for the poor, and it was recorded in Juncheonsa Temple to recruit and implement people to work for dredging afterwards. The fact that the dredging of Cheonggyecheon was a remedy for the poor can be seen from the fact that the construction was carried out during the spring season from February to April, when it was very difficult for farmers to live. Since then, Cheonggyecheon has been managed by dredging and construction has been carried out every spring as King Yeongjo wishes. In the 32nd year of the Annals of Sunjo, when officials said that Cheonggyecheon should be dredged in the summer, Sunjo ordered the dredging work to be done in the coming spring for the hungry. King Yeongjo said this when he ordered the dredging of Cheonggyecheon Stream at the time. "Dredging is for the people, and for the people, too."