Korea tourist destination #7 Sungnyemun Gate

  Sungnyemun Gate   

In 1394 (Taejo 3), the third year since the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, Hanyang was designated as a new capital and a new city was built at the station. According to the palace construction plan, Jongmyo and Sajik were first constructed, followed by Gyeongbokgung Palace, and fortifications were built on four mountains around the city for the purpose of defending the entire capital. In the fortress, four large gates and four small gates were placed in the east, west, north and south, respectively, to make it convenient to enter and exit the city, and Namdaemun, the main gate, was named “Sungnyemun”.

 

Sungnyemun, along with Namdaemun Gate in Kaesong and Botongmun Gate in Pyongyang, is a representative structure of Korea, and is the largest and oldest gate among the remaining gates. Started in 1396 (Taejo 5) and completed in 1398 (Taejo 7), it has been well preserved through several repairs including 1448 (Sejong 30), 1479 (Seongjong 10), and 1868 (Gojong 5). It was designated as the first national treasure on December 20, 1962. The 2nd floor of Munru was burned and collapsed due to the fire on February 10, 2008. However, it was restored to its original shape after 5 years of detailed damage investigation 2 years and restoration work 3 years.

 

Sungnyemun is a two-story pavilion building with a rainbow-shaped Hongyemun in the middle of a stone pillar made of high-rise stones, and has 5 squares in the front and 2 squares in the side. The roof has a trapezoidal shape when viewed from the front, and the building's fear is in a multifocal style, showing the characteristics of the early Joseon Dynasty, where the shape is not severe and the structure is sound.

 

  Controversy on the signboard of Sungnyemun  

There is debate about who wrote the signboard of Sungnyemun.

According to Lee Soo-kwang's 《Jibong Yuseol》 and 《Shinjeungdongguk Yeoji Seungram》 and Lee Hyeok-ik's 《yeonlyeosilgisul》, "Yangnyeong had excellent writing skills from a young age, but pretended not to know the writing. He pretended to be crazy and lived a prodigal life, but no one knew Yangnyeong's thoughts. It is said that it was written by Yangnyeongdaegun, as it is said, "but there are many different theories.

Chusa Kim Jeong-hee's 《Wandang Complete Book》 is written as a tattoo of the early Joseon period, "The Letter of a Shinjang", and in Lee Gyu-gyeong's 《Ojuyeonmunjang Jeonsango》, "The name Sungnyemun was created by sambong jeongdojeon. The picture frame is said to be the writing of Yangnyeongdaegun,” he wrote, but also said, “The proportion of Sungnyemun was written by Jeong Nanjong.

 

In the September 1929 issue of Byeolgeon-gon, a magazine during the Japanese colonial rule, "The writing of Anpyeongdaegun is misunderstood, the writing of Yu Jin-dong, a famous writing in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty." aid to be the writing of Yangnyeongdaegun,” he wrote, but “The signboard of Sungnyemun was written by Jeong Nanjong.”

 

Most of the other gates of the Seoul fortress and the signs of general gates hang horizontally, but the signs of Sungnyemun are unusually made vertically. It is said that it was mounted vertically to cope with the fire of Mt. Gwanak.

 

 

On February 10, 2008, due to the fire of Sungnyemun Gate, the signboard fell, causing a partial dropout, fruiting, and partial cracking as a result of the impact. The frame tree of the signboard is also broken into several pieces and some of them are missing. However, it is expected that there will be no abnormalities in the original preservation treatment as 95% of the fruit pieces are secured in the field. The separated slice was transferred to the National Cultural Heritage Research Center of the Cultural Heritage Administration and preserved. After the transfer, related documents and data are reviewed, and at the same time, based on the results of pre-emergency investigations and consultations of the National Palace Museum, scientific condition investigation (X-ray, infrared photography, etc.) It is expected to be processed and the processing period is expected to take more than 6 months. According to what is now known, the signboard of Sungnyemun had a total of 38 pieces and was restored at the end of May 2009.

 

The existing'Sung' (崇) character has also been filled, and the existing modified writing (some of the'崇' and'禮' characters, etc.) is more prototyped on the basis of the transcripts from Jideoksa, which have been found to be accurate through historical evidence I saved it close to. The frame neck was completely replaced in preparation for the danger of walking again due to the severe damage to the connection part. Ook-jin Oh, the head of each important intangible cultural property, said to be the best, and Chang-won Hong, the chief of Dancheong. Lee participated and made the most of the original absence to enhance the meaning of restoration.

 

 

  Controversy on the signboard of Sungnyemun  

There is debate about who wrote the signboard of Sungnyemun.

According to Lee Soo-kwang's 《Jibong Yuseol》 and 《Shinjeungdongguk Yeoji Seungram》 and Lee Hyeok-ik's 《yeonlyeosilgisul》, "Yangnyeong had excellent writing skills from a young age, but pretended not to know the writing. He pretended to be crazy and lived a prodigal life, but no one knew Yangnyeong's thoughts. It is said that it was written by Yangnyeongdaegun, as it is said, "but there are many different theories.

Chusa Kim Jeong-hee's 《Wandang Complete Book》 is written as a tattoo of the early Joseon period, "The Letter of a Shinjang", and in Lee Gyu-gyeong's 《Ojuyeonmunjang Jeonsango》, "The name Sungnyemun was created by sambong jeongdojeon. The picture frame is said to be the writing of Yangnyeongdaegun,” he wrote, but also said, “The proportion of Sungnyemun was written by Jeong Nanjong.

 

In the September 1929 issue of Byeolgeon-gon, a magazine during the Japanese colonial rule, "The writing of Anpyeongdaegun is misunderstood, the writing of Yu Jin-dong, a famous writing in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty." aid to be the writing of Yangnyeongdaegun,” he wrote, but “The signboard of Sungnyemun was written by Jeong Nanjong.”

 

Most of the other gates of the Seoul fortress and the signs of general gates hang horizontally, but the signs of Sungnyemun are unusually made vertically. It is said that it was mounted vertically to cope with the fire of Mt. Gwanak.

 

 

On February 10, 2008, due to the fire of Sungnyemun Gate, the signboard fell, causing a partial dropout, fruiting, and partial cracking as a result of the impact. The frame tree of the signboard is also broken into several pieces and some of them are missing. However, it is expected that there will be no abnormalities in the original preservation treatment as 95% of the fruit pieces are secured in the field. The separated slice was transferred to the National Cultural Heritage Research Center of the Cultural Heritage Administration and preserved. After the transfer, related documents and data are reviewed, and at the same time, based on the results of pre-emergency investigations and consultations of the National Palace Museum, scientific condition investigation (X-ray, infrared photography, etc.) It is expected to be processed and the processing period is expected to take more than 6 months. According to what is now known, the signboard of Sungnyemun had a total of 38 pieces and was restored at the end of May 2009.

 

The existing'Sung' (崇) character has also been filled, and the existing modified writing (some of the'崇' and'禮' characters, etc.) is more prototyped on the basis of the transcripts from Jideoksa, which have been found to be accurate through historical evidence I saved it close to. The frame neck was completely replaced in preparation for the danger of walking again due to the severe damage to the connection part. Ook-jin Oh, the head of each important intangible cultural property, said to be the best, and Chang-won Hong, the chief of Dancheong. Lee participated and made the most of the original absence to enhance the meaning of restoration.

 

  Arson incident at Sungnyemun Gate  

On February 10, 2008, around 8:40 p.m., a fire occurred due to the arson of arsonist Chae Jong-gi (70, Chilgok, Gyeongbuk), and a fire engine was dispatched to the site to extinguish the fire, but at 0:40 on February 11 Flames rose from the ceiling, and from around 1 am, the second floor slowly began to collapse. Eventually, around 1:54 a.m., five hours after the fire, most of the first and second floor wooden pavilions were burned down, except for the non-burnable stonework, and all collapsed while many citizens were watching.

 

Initial investigation authorities disagreed whether it was a fire due to a short circuit or short circuit, or a fire caused by deliberate arson. In addition, based on the witness's statement, Chae Jong-ki, an arsonist who had already had a criminal record of arson at the gates of Changgyeonggung Palace, was arrested.

 

 

However, it was after one of the cultural heritages of the Republic of Korea that had been around for nearly 600 years had already been lost, and this left a great pain for the people of the Republic of Korea. Accordingly, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced a plan to restore the Sungnyemun Gate close to its original shape and carried out restoration work, which is now restored and opened. On August 15, 2008, the restoration site of Sungnyemun was opened to the public.

 

To restore Sungnyemun

At the restoration site, an underground bunker (2m deep, 2m wide, 3m long) was found inside the stone fence (installed during the Japanese colonial period) surrounding Sungnyemun at the restoration site. The Cultural Heritage Administration decided to demolish it.

In addition, the Cultural Heritage Administration marked the site of the old castle on the road, saying that it would restore the site of the old castle as a painting.

In consideration of national sentiment, the Cultural Heritage Administration established a plan to restore the shape of the Sungnyemun Gate, which was the first national treasure of Korea, on the basis of the remains of the Sungnyemun Gate, which was burned down, and aimed for the completion ceremony of the restoration in May 2013. Thus, the construction was completed on April 29, 2013.

Along with the restoration of Sungnyemun, which was destroyed by the fire, the 53m for the east and 16m for the west fortress, which were lost after the Japanese occupation period, were restored, respectively. The east staircase is 5m wide (formerly 2.9m). Based on the results of excavation and old data, the ground has been lowered by 30 to 50 cm from the previous one, and the first floor floor is changed from a well ridge to a rainy ridge. The roof tiles, which were products of the factory just before the fire, were replaced with traditional tiles, and the length of the ridge was also increased to 16.6m (formerly 15.7m). As for the japsang, the first floor was reduced by one to seven, and the second floor was the same to nine.

 

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