Jeungsan

Jeungsan was established as a county in 1394, when King Taejo separated it from Gangseo in Pyeongan. Its magistrate also held military duties within the Pyongyang command. The geographical appendix to the Annals of King Sejong records a district reaching toward the sea in the west, with fields producing grain alongside mulberry, hemp, paper mulberry, pears and chestnuts. More than a quarter of its registered cultivated land was paddy. Coastal production mattered too: two salt-making sites west of the county seat operated eighteen pans. A beacon at Tangot relayed signals between Hamjong to the south and Pyongyang to the north. This combination of cultivation, salt production and military communications gives Jeungsan a specific place in early Joseon administration. Its county office connected agricultural households and maritime resources with the defensive organisation of the western province.