Jayang-dong

Jayang-dong is a dong of Gwangjin District, Seoul, South Korea.

Name origin

During the Joseon period, the name of Jangyang-dong was "Jamajang", which translates to "female horse field." The term "jamajang" refers to a female horse. In the early days of the Joseon Dynasty, there was a legend that if one were to raise a thousand horses, a mythical creature called Yongma, a dragon-horse, would be born. This led to a great interest in horse breeding in various regions. Jangyang-dong, being an area where fertile sediments flowed through the Han River and accumulated, had vast natural fields, making it advantageous for grazing horses. As a result, a significant number of female horses were raised in this area. Having a large number of female horses in a ranch facilitates the mass breeding of horses through reproduction. The name "Jamajang" was later changed to "Jamajang-ri", and during the period of Japanese colonial rule, the Chinese character for "ja" was changed to 紫, resulting in the current name of Jangyang-dong.