In the Joseon royal family prenatal education and birthing preparations were meticulously carried out in order to give birth to a healthy child. Near the delivery period, Sansil-cheong (産室廳, Delivery Room Office) was set up at the living quarter of the pregnant royal spouse for the health and safety of the mother and the newborn baby. The Office consisted of officials and royal medical staff who prepared and carried out both practical and ceremonial procedures regarding the royal childbirth.

The placenta and the umbilical cord of the new born baby were placed in two layers of jars and buried with utmost care in a geomantically auspicious place because the proper placement and safekeeping of the umbilical cord was thought to positively influence not only the future of the baby but also that of the entire kingdom. The procedures of childbirth in the royal family from the pregnancy to the burial of the placenta jars were recorded in detail in various forms such as ilgi (daily records), deungnok (transcribed records), or uigwe (royal protocols), and a manual for pregnant women was published. Existence of such material reflects the deliberate care and effort put into royal childbirths.

A set of placenta jars consist of two jars one of which is placed inside another. The inner placenta jar of King Sejong is the earliest surviving pieces of Joseon porcelain. It has a lid with a tall handle, a rough ovoid body, a large mouth and nine rings attached to the lid and the belly to fasten them with lace. The rings are a new feature that are not found in the placenta jars of his predecessor, King Taejong, which makes this jar an example of early Joseon placenta jars before their typical form was made.

The stone tablet bears inscriptions of the name of who the placenta jars belong to, his date of birth, and the burial date of the jar. This obsidian tablet was made when the placenta mound of King Sejong was repaired in 1601, the 34th year of King Seonjo’s reign, during the post-Japanese-Invasion period. The mound is located in Gonmyeong-myeon, Sacheon City, South Gyeongsang Province.

Placenta Mound of King Sejong
Repaired and buried in 22, 3rd lunar month, 29th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Wanli