Korea tourist destination #1 Gyeongbokgung Palace

 

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace is a royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty in Sejong-ro, Seoul, Korea. It focuses on Geunjeongjeon.

It is located on the north side of Mount Bukak, and a wide Yukjo Street (now Sejongno) spreads out in front of Gwanghwamun, the main gate, and is also the center of the urban planning of Hanyang (Seoul), the royal road It was founded by Taejo Lee Seong-gye in 1395, burned down due to the invasion of Imjin in 1592, and was rebuilt in 1867 during the time of King Gojong. The rebuilt Gyeongbokgung Palace, led by Heungseon Daewon-gun, was a maze of over 500 buildings.

In the palace, government offices for kings and officials, living spaces for royal families, and support spaces for rest were created. It is also a place where several small palaces were gathered in the palace again, such as the Queen's Junggung, the Crown Prince's Donggung, and Gojong's Geoncheonggung. However, most of the buildings were demolished during the Japanese occupation, leaving only a few central buildings such as Geunjeongjeon, and the Joseon Government-General's Office was built to cover the palace itself. Fortunately, a full-scale restoration project has been promoted since 1990, and the government-general building was demolished and the entire area of Heungryemun was restored.

The central part connecting Gwanghwamun-Heungryemun-Geunjeongmun-Geunjeongjeon-Sajeongjeon-Gangnyeongjeon-Gyotaejeon is the core space of the palace and was built symmetrically according to the geometric order. However, except for the center, the buildings are arranged asymmetrically, bringing together the beauty of change and unification. At Gyeongbokgung Palace, the center of the capital city of Seoul and the foremost palace in Joseon, please enjoy the essence of the royal culture of dignity and grace.

 

Scenery of Gyeongbokgung palace

01234567891011121314

Spring in Gyeongbokgung Palace

 

 

01234567891011121314

Summer in Gyeongbokgung Palace

 

01234567891011121314

Autumn in Gyeongbokgung Palace

 

01234567891011121314

Winter in Gyeongbokgung Palace

 

History of Gyeongbokgung Palace

After opening the Joseon Dynasty in 1392, Taejo opened the Sindo Palace Castle Book in 1394, the third year of his throne, and moved to Hanyang in 1394 (Three year of Taejo). I made them build a palace. The first site to build a new palace was located at Namgyeong Palace during the Goryeo Dynasty, but it was too narrow, so he moved to the south and placed a building at the site of the present Gyeongbokgung Palace and erected a palace. The Annals of Taejo 6 September 9, 3rd New Palace Gyeongbokgung Palace In August of the 4th year of King Taejo (1395), 4,500 workers in Gyeonggi-do, 5,000 workers in Gyeonggi-do, and 5,500 workers in Chungcheong-do were enlisted, and were completed on September 29 of the same year. However, at this time, only the inner center of the palace was formed, and the palaces surrounding the palace and offices such as Uijeongbu and Yukjo, which are built in front of the palace, seem to have been completed several years later.

 

That year, in October of the lunar calendar in 1395, when Taejo entered the country, he made Jeongdojeon create the names of the new palaces and main halls, including the names of Gyeongbokgung, Gangnyeongjeon, Yeonsaengjeon, Gyeongseongjeon, Sajeongjeon, Geunjeongjeon, Geunjeongmun, and Jeongmun(now Gwanghwamun). And other major buildings were named. A wall of 20 characters in height and 1813 steps in circumference was built, and Gwanghwamun, the main gate in the south, Sinmumun in the north, Geonchunmun in the east, and Yeongchumun in the west. There were four gates, including Geunjeongmun (South Gate), around Geunjeongjeon, the main hall under the command of God, and Sajeongjeon in the north was Pyeonjeon, and there were sediments such as Gangnyeongjeon and Gyotaejeon, as well as several other temples. At this time, a total of 390 halls were erected, and the size and layout of the new palace and the function of each building are described in detail in the Annals of Taejo. If you can guess the basic layout of Gyeongbokgung Palace at the time of its creation, Gyeongbokgung Palace is located along the straight axis of the north and south in the order of Omun, Jeongjeon, Bopyeongcheong, and Yeonchim from the south to the north on the north-south axis. It is presumed that the haenggak was symmetrically wrapped in a square shape. In addition, the royal palace where the king sees his servants and politics is placed in the front of the palace and the civil war in the back. The construction of the palace, which is the outer fence of the palace, was in the 7th year of King Taejo (1398), three years after the palace was completed. The construction seems to have built a general palace wall during the winter, and again in July of that year, 3,700 soldiers from Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheong-do were mobilized to contract the palace. In addition to the main gate, the south gate, the palace was equipped with an east gate and a west gate, but the north was not equipped with a palace castle and a gate, and was surrounded by barriers, and it seems to have been completed only when it came to Sejong University. Meanwhile, at the end of the annals record when the palace was founded,"(behind) there were public offices of various companies such as Uijeongbu, Samgunbu, Yukjo, and Saheonbu." It is believed to have been built in the 7th year of King Taejo, when the palace and the palace were built.

 

As Gyeongbokgung Palace passed through Taejong and Sejong, the palace was continuously built and supplemented. In the 11th year of King Taejong (1411), Myeongdangsu was dug and brought to Geumcheon in front of Hongryemun to complement the palace's symbolism and feng shui appearance. Gyeonghoeru was built to be used as a banquet venue for foreign envoys and coordinators. It was during the King Sejong that Gyeongbokgung Palace became the royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty. Wolhwamun, Geonchunmun, Yeongchumun, and Yeongje-gyo were built at this time. In 1429, starting with the reconstruction of Sajeongjeon and Gyeonghoeru, the main halls were rebuilt or rebuilt. In addition, observation facilities such as Gandae were completed during the King Sejong period. Gyeonghoeru was renovated in 1474, and blue houses were raised in Geunjeongjeon and Gwanghwamun.

 

1553 fire

In September of the 8th year of Myeongjong (1553), a big fire broke out in Gangnyeongjeon, leaving only Sajeongjeon, Geunjeongjeon, Gyeonghoeru, Hamwonjeon, and Cheongyeonru. Books, the king's and queen's garnishes, clothing, and geoma were burned. Construction began in the spring of 1554, less than a year after the fire, and was completed in September of that year. At this time, it is said that the number of workers mobilized was 2,200 subordinates and 1,500 laborers. There was a painting called “Hanyang Palace,” depicting Gyeongbokgung Palace, built in the 15th year of King Myeongjong, but it was destroyed during the Imjin War.

 

Imjin War

It is said that refugees occurred when the ancestors fled in 1592, and refugees burned the palaces of Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, and Changgyeonggung Palace in order to remove the nobi documents and traces of the aggression. In Ryu Seong-ryong's 《Seoaejip》, it is recorded that "The royal family and officials left the evacuation early and left the empty palace, and before the Japanese colonists entered the capital, Hanseong, the people invaded the palace, burned nobi documents, and looted treasures." You can see this, but this is not an eyewitness story, but it was heard. Yoo Seong-ryong witnessed the burnt palace on April 20, 1593, after the coalition of the Joseon Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty recaptured Hanseong. It was after all collapsed. However, in the Joseon Diary, recorded in May 1592, when the Waegun entered Hanseong, the Joseon Diary, recorded in detail the details of his personal visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace immediately after the Japanese army entered Hanseong. It can be seen that there was. The recorded contents are as follows. “There is a womb (Gyeongbokgung Palace) facing south under the northern mountain. Stones are carved around the walls. Every five steps has an angle, and every ten steps has an angle, and the eaves are high. The name of the temple is unknown. It is a red island stone. I made a ditch, and the ditch flows from west to east. There is a stone bridge in the front, and it is decorated with stone railings with lotus patterns. There are four stone lions on the left and right of the pier to protect the bridge...." It can be seen that during the Imjin War, Gyeongbokgung Palace was destroyed due to repeated battles between the Waegun and the Cho-Myeong allied forces.

After Hwando, the old house of Wolsandaegun (Gyeongungung Palace after 3 years of Gwanghaegun, now part of Deoksugung Palace) was temporarily used.

 

Heungseon Daewon-gun's reconstruction

After that, it was not possible to rebuild for 273 years, but on April 26, 1865 (April 2 in the 2nd year of King Gojong), reconstruction was initiated on May 7 of the same year (April 13 in the lunar calendar) under the direction of Queen Shinjeong, who was converging and cleansing Gojong. 1) Airspace began and construction was completed at the end of June 1868, and on July 2, the king and royal family's Gyeongbokgung Palace was established, and government affairs began. Heungseon Daewon-gun, who led the reconstruction of Gyeongbokgung Palace, seized power. It took more than 7 years to complete the construction, including the issuance of the Dangbaekjeon, but the Gyeongbokgung Palace, like other palaces, had several other government offices such as the Seungjeongwon and Hongmungwan.

Many of the reconstructed Gyeongbokgung Palace buildings were then destroyed and restored several times. In the 32nd year of King Gojong (1895), Empress Myeongseong was attacked by the Japanese army at Geoncheonggung Palace in Gyeongbokgung Palace (Eulmi Incident in 1895).

 

Japanese occupation

After the forcible annexation of Korea and Japan in 1910, Gyeongbokgung Palace was damaged and lost its appearance. After 1910, Japanese colonialists demolished several buildings in Gyeongbokgung Palace and sold them to the private sector. From September 11 to October 31, 1915, the so-called "Chosun Commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of the City Administration'' was held in Gyeongbokgung Palace, destroying more than 4,000 buildings. In this area, 18 merchandise display tubes, covering 5,200 pyeong, were installed. When the exhibition was over, the Japanese colonial rule moved and placed various stone pagodas, buddos, stone lanterns, and Buddha statues from all over the country in Gyeongbokgung Palace, which were not related to the palace facilities, and installed Music Halls.

On November 10, 1917, when a big fire broke out in Changdeokgung Palace and all the sediment burned out, the sediments of Gyeongbokgung Palace such as Gangnyeongjeon, Gyotaejeon, Yeongildang, Hamwonjeon, and Gyeongseongjeon were demolished between 1918 and 1920. It was used as timber for sediment restoration work at Changdeokgung Palace, and from 1918, Geunjeongjeon, Sajeongjeon, Manchunjeon, and Cheonchujeon, the symbols of royal power, were used as relic exhibition rooms. From 1916, Heungryemun Gate and Yeongje Bridge, which were in front of Geunjeongmun Gate, were demolished and the building of the Joseon Government-General's Office began to be built on the site, and it was completed in 1926. The construction of the Government-General's Office building aroused public opinion by fiercely criticizing not only the Joseon Dynasty but also the Japanese. In this process, the Japanese imperialism demolished Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, in September 1927 and moved it to the north of Geonchunmun. In addition, in May 1929, the Japanese tore down Yongmudang and Yongmundang to build Yonggwangsa on the Han River. He built Parkmunsa Temple. In 1940, a museum (formerly traditional crafts exhibition hall) was built on the grounds of Geoncheonggung, and many civil war buildings were destroyed.

The buildings that remained in Gyeongbokgung Palace after the Japanese colonial period were constructed in 1865 (2nd year of King Gojong) and include Geonchunmun, Cheonchujeon, Sinmumun, and Dongcross. , Hamhwadang, Gyeonghoeru, Sujeongjeon, and Gyeongandang, and the buildings built in 1873 include Hyangwonjeong, Jipokjae, and Hyeopgildang.

 

After liberation

In the 1950s, President Syngman Rhee installed a Joseon-era wooden construction on the northwest side of Gyeonghoeru as a fishing site, and one battalion of the 30th Division dispatched during the May 16th Military Defiance in 1961 was the 30th Guards of the Metropolitan Police Command. After changing the name to the street, I stayed in the Taewonjeon area. Tent barracks were used after the 30th Guard Battalion was stationed, but in 1965, semi-permanent barracks such as 20 simple buildings and 5 concrete blocks were built in the northwestern area of ​​Gyeongbokgung Palace, and the structure of the 30th Guard was used until withdrawal in 1996. On January 21, 1963, the area of ​​Gyeongbokgung Palace was designated and protected as Historic Site No. 117, but in October of that year, the Cultural Heritage Management Bureau said that it was difficult to maintain the status quo with an entrance fee of 3 million won a year. It announced plans to build new facilities, restaurants, pubs, and general stores, and this was canceled out by backlash from public opinion.

On January 8, 1966, the government announced a development design of the National Museum of Korea in the area of ​​Seonwonjeon, subject to the appearance of a building that mimics the appearance of a cultural property. Construction started in the same year and completed in 1972, but the building was constructed in the 2nd year of King Gojong (1865), and the buildings of Gyeongandang, Daehyangdang, and Jeonghundang (Dongdang) were removed. In 1970, the second annex was constructed with a five-story reinforced concrete structure, which was later used as a cultural heritage research institute and demolished in 2004. In 1979, the Welfare Hall, a three-story reinforced concrete building, was completed, and was used as the Cultural Heritage Administration Office and the National Museum of Korea. In 2005, when the National Museum of Korea was relocated to Yongsan-gu, the Palace Relics Exhibition Hall in Seokjojeon Hall of Deoksugung Palace was moved to be used as the National Palace Museum. In 1982, in accordance with the policy of 'planning educational facilities for the scene of suffering in history', the Eulmi Incidental Recorded Exhibition Hall (removed during the restoration of Geoncheonggung in 2007) was installed in the area of ​​Geoncheonggung as a Korean plant condition.

Gwanghwamun was reconstructed in 1963 with a concrete structure in the original location after the Munru was burned down by the Korean War in 1950.

 

Gyeongbokgung Palace Restoration Project

In 1990, the Gyeongbokgung Palace restoration project began with the aim of completing it in 2030. The reinforced concrete building, which was built in 1915 as an art gallery of the Joseon Governor-General's Office, used as a museum after the Gongjin Association, was demolished in 1995. Mumyeonggak, a Korean-style building on the south side of Sujeongjeon, believed to have been erected was demolished in 1998. However, the annexed building built as a warehouse for the Joseon Government-General's Museum (1915) is currently being used as the Gyeongbokgung Palace Management Office. As of 2010, the first restoration and maintenance project of Gyeongbokgung Palace was completed, and 89 buildings and 8987㎡ buildings were restored. Currently, a total of 125 buildings, including 36 buildings that were left to escape from the Japanese demolition, reached about 25% of the 500 buildings in Gyeongbokgung Palace at the time of King Gojong. Since September 2010, the Gwanghwamun area has been fully opened. The 2nd restoration and maintenance project to restore up to 76% of Gyeongbokgung Palace was underway over 20 years from 2011. If the 1st restoration was to build the framework of Gyeongbokgung Palace as the main buildings, the 2nd restoration would be King's Suragan and Gwolnaegaksa Temple. It is the process of building and fleshing out many attached buildings.

 

1st restoration and maintenance project

The first-stage comprehensive maintenance project, which started in 1990 and was originally scheduled to be completed in 2009, was planned to restore 93 buildings including Gangnyeongjeon and 1,743.85m2 (3250 pyeong) by investing a total budget of KRW 1789 billion. As of 2010, when the project period was extended by one year, a budget of 157.2 billion won was invested to restore 89 buildings, 8987m2 (2720 pyeong). A total of 125 buildings were built, including 36 buildings that were left to avoid Japanese demolition, reaching the level of about 25% of 500 buildings at the time of King Gojong. During the project period, the former Joseon Government-General's Office, the former Joseon Government-General Museum (National Folk Museum), and the former Joseon Government-General Museum (Traditional Crafts Exhibition Hall) were demolished, and Gwanghwamun was rebuilt. The goal of the 1st stage comprehensive maintenance project was to complete the basic system of the government.

Accordingly, restoration of the central axis of Gyeongbokgung Palace, such as Jeongjeon, Pyeonjeon, Sediment, Donggung, and Binjeon, damaged during the Japanese colonial period was promoted. Specifically, 12 buildings including Gangnyeongjeon were restored through the sedimentation area (1990-1995) project, and 18 buildings including Charity Hall were built during the Donggung area (1994-1999) project. In addition, in order to correct the axis distortion during the Japanese colonial period, Geunjeongjeon was restored until the'Geunjeongjeon maintenance work' (200~2003). ∼2005), each of 25 buildings including Taewonjeon was restored. Finally, 28 buildings including Gwanghwamun and Geoncheonggung Jangandang were restored as a result of Gwanghwamun and other areas (2001~2010).

 

2ND restoration and maintenance project

After the completion of the 1st restoration and maintenance project in 2010, the Cultural Heritage Administration is promoting the 2nd Gyeongbokgung Palace Comprehensive Maintenance Project with a 20-year plan from 2011 to 2030. The planning period is divided into six stages to establish and implement detailed implementation plans for each stage. It is estimated that a total of 254 buildings will be restored and the total project cost will be approximately 540 billion won. The main hall will be fully restored, and 102 places that are judged to be relatively insignificant for restoration will be restored as base and cornerstones.

By 2030, when the project is completed, the total of 379 dongs will be restored to 75.8% of the original scale, and in the 5th stage restoration of the Seonwonjeon area, most of the 73 dongs, which were restored to the base and cornerstones, will be restored and left unrestored. In May 2013, the Cultural Heritage Administration started a research service for the "Gyeongbokgung Palace 2nd Restoration and Maintenance Plan Adjustment Plan", which drastically cuts down the existing plan established in 2010 for the reason that it is necessary to make efficient use of the budget and affects the flow of visitors. did. The main content is that only the representative buildings for each region are restored, the annexed buildings are not restored, and the plan for demolition of the National Palace Museum is also omitted. In 2015, the small kitchen area (18 buildings including internal and external small kitchens) was restored.

 

3RD restoration and maintenance project (Gwolnaegaksa area, etc., 2026-2034)

Yeongchumun area (restored Yeongchumun and Sumunjangcheong), Gwolnaegaksa area (Bincheong, Garden, Medicine Office), etc. ), etc., restored to the foundation and cornerstone.

 

4th  Restoration and Maintenance Project

Palace Jungrye Area (Heonjeon and Seonwonjeon Areas, 2031 ~ 2042): Mungyeongjeon and Hoesafe Areas (Mungyeongjeon), Sinmumun Area (3 dongs such as Sumunjang Office, 1 Bungan), Mangyeongjeon Area , Seonwonjeon area (Seonwonjeon, Gyeongandang), etc. A total of 23 dongs were restored to the original structure, and the foundations and cornerstones were restored, such as (Hoesafe area, Disuhap haenggak, Mangadang area, and construction complex).

 

5th  Restoration and Maintenance Project

Stage Palace Defense Area (East/Seo Cross and Naesabok Area, 2040 ~ 2045): Seo Cross Jagak Area (Seo Cross Jagak 1-dong, Palace Restoration), Dong Cross Jagak Palace Restoration. 

 

Guidance