Kyotae-jeonThis was the queen's bed chamber. It has a wooden floored hall in the center with ondol (heated floor) rooms on each side. Of special note is that the east wing has a wooden hall and a room that opens directly to Amisan Garden in the back of the building. Kyotae-jeon was demolished by the Japanese colonial government in 1920, but was restored in 1995.
Amisan GardenKoreans usually put a garden behind their home instead of in front. The rear garden of the Wueen's residence was forbidden to most people. It is adorned with decorative rocks, dragon decorated drains, a sun dial, a lotus-shaped stone water container, and beautifully ornamented hexagonal chimneys. The various plants and trees planted there were chosen to highlight each season: the blossoms of spring, the lush foliage of summer, and the myriad colors of fall.
Chimneys in Amisan Garden
These four chimneys (collectively designated Treasure #811) were built to draw off the smoke from the fires that heated the floors of Kyotae-jeon, the queen's quarters. They were built in 1865, the second year of the reign of King Kojong, when Gyeongbok Palace was finally rebuilt. Each side of the hexagonal chimneys have similar decorative panels with designs for good fortune, longevity, and warding off evil spirits and fire. They also include cranes, bats, a phoenix, pine tree, bamboo, chrysanthemum, rock, deer, butterflies, and Haet'ae (a mythical beast that eats fire). The tiles on top of the chimney are a square exhaust. Besides being functional, these structures provide an aesthetic addition to the Queen's exclusive garden.
Sajong-jeon
This was one of the office buildings used by the king. Destroyed by fire during the 1592 Japanese Invasion,
it was reconstructed in 1867. The building sits on the north-south axis of the palace in conformity with the
arrangement of the royal palaces of the Chosun Period. The building lines up with Kwanghwa-mun, Hongnye-mun,
Kunjon-jeon, and Kangyong-jeon, the royal residence. There are two other office buildings for the King,
Manch'eon-jeon in the east and Chonchu-jeon in the west.
Manch'eon-jeon and Chonch'u-jeon
Manch'eon-jeon (Hall of Ten Thousand Springs) was the King's living quarter where he discussed the
affairs of state, read books, and held banquets with his ministers. Chonch'u-jon
(Hall of Thousand Autumns) was the cradle of the nation's scientific development. These identical buildings
were built in 1867 when the Prince Regent Taewon-gun had the palace reconstructed. Destroyed by fire during
the Korean War, they were rebuilt in 1988. The members of Chipyon-jon (Hall of Worthies), under the guidance
of King Sejong (r.1418-1450), devised and invented various tools of civilization here.
Kangnyong-jeon
This was the King's bedchamber. The building was expanded in 1433, but was damaged by a fire in 1553 and burned down again during the 1592 Japanese invasion. It was reconstructed in 1867, but was destroyed by fire later that year. Reconstructed in 1888, but later dismantled for timber to mend the royal bedchamber in Changdok Palace (which was destroyed by fire in 1917), the present Kangnyong-jeon was restored in 1995.
Haeshigye (Sundial)
This is hemisphereie sundial is known as the "upside-down cauldron sundial" because of its
shape. On the inside surface of the depression are 13 horizontal lines running across the vertical
hour lines. They indicate the 24 fortnightly periods, including the the summer and winter solstices.
The shadow of the style, oriented toward the North Pole, shows the hour and seasonal subdivisions.
Animals of the zodiac were drawn instead of letters in consideration of the illiterate. The sundial was
invented during the reign of King Sejong in 1437, and this replica was made in the late 17th century.
It is 35.2 centimeters wide and 14 centimeters high. The original was designated as Treasure #845.Pongin-sa Stupa And Sarira Containers
This stupa (designated Treasure #928) was erected in 1620 in supplication for the happiness and longevity
of the crown prince, heir to king Kwanghae-gun (r.1608-1623). The stupa was built with the traditional
combination of an octage pedestal and a spherical reliquary, a style that prevailed in the construction
of stupas from the Unified Shilla period (668-935). With the delicate carving of lotus petals and clouds
on the gracefully curved roofstone, the stupa is representative of the stonework found during the
mid-Chosun dynasty.During the Japanese Occupation (1910-1945), it was to taken to Japan from its original location in Pudo-am Hermitage of Pogin-sa (Namyanggu, Gyeonggi Province) and was kept in the garden of the Osaka Municipal Museum until recently. The stupa was returned to Korea in 1987 by Iwada Senso who volunteered to do so in accord with the spirit of the Unesco Convention, which stipulates that a cultural property taken out of country of origin should be returned. Some containers of sarira (the calcified remains of Sakyamuni) which were enshrined in the stupa, were also returned. The containers are now kept in a museum and the sarira is enshrined in a replica of the stupa constructed on its original site in Pudo-am.
The site of Myongsong-Hwanghu's (Empress) Murder
This monument marks the site where Myongsong-Hwanghu (or Queen Min, as
she is more commonly known) and a number of court ladies were murdered on October 8, 1895, by a group
of Japanese assassins who slipped into the palace and attacked her residence at dawn. The Japanese
Ambassador to Seoul planned the assassination because of the influential queen's anti-Japannese
sentiments following Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War. The queen was posthumously awarded the
title 'Myongsong' in 1897. Her grave was moved from Ch'ongnyangni to the royal tomb Hongnung
in 1919 when her husband King Kojong (r. 1863-1907) died.
(For more pictures, please see the Gyeongbok pictures page.)
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