The Hwaseong construction record
The Hwaseong record was compiled after the fortress was finished: which stones went where and how many, how each machine was built, drawings included. It even lists the workers by name, the days they worked, and what they were paid. A blueprint does not end on the drawing. It survives as a record.
| 첫째 단서 — 구조 | Drawings and text together. Which stones went where and how many, how each machine was built, with the drawings beside the words. It is arranged so that a reader could build it again. |
|---|---|
| 둘째 단서 — 목적 | Not a document for building but a document for keeping. It was compiled after the work was finished. That the next person should know — that was the purpose. |
| 셋째 단서 — 질서 | It lists the workers by name, the days they worked, and what they were paid. Recording who received how much is not accounting. It is principle. Without principle, records like this do not survive. |
A blueprint does not end on the drawing. It survives as a record of what was built and how.