Gyeongbokgung

Korean spelling
Korean alphabet :	경복궁
Hanja :	景福宮
Revised Romanization :	Gyeongbokgung
McCune-Reischauer :	Kyŏngbokkung

Gyeongbokgung [kjəŋp'okk'uŋ] is a palace in Seoul . The name means "radiant bliss". It is the first and largest palace of five palaces built in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea .

Gyeongbokgung

history

Gyeongbokgung was completed in 1395, three years after the Joseon Dynasty was founded. Upon completion, the capital of the dynasty moved from Gaegyeong to Hanyang and served as the king's residence until it was destroyed in the Imjin War in 1592. It was only rebuilt in 1868 in the fifth year of King Gojong's reign.

During the Japanese rule (1910 to 1945) buildings were demolished and the structure was significantly modified. Among the buildings that have not been demolished are the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion and Geunjeongjeon. During this time, Japanese was the national language and the palace was named Keifukukyū ( 景福宮 ) after the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters used for the name .

It was not until 1990 that the reconstruction of the palace in its original form began. The governor general's residence, the government building from the time Korea was a province of Japan, had to be demolished. Only in this way could the Heungryemun be faithfully reconstructed. The royal apartments and the Crown Prince's residence have also been faithfully restored. The plans of the first phase were to have around 40% of the original structure restored by 2010.

architecture

Geunjeongjeon

[kɨnʝəŋʝən] (근정전, 勤政殿) The building with its forecourt was mainly used for ceremonies such as the accession to the throne or the reception of important guests.

Gyeonghoeru

[kjəŋhøru] (경회루, 慶會樓)

Gyeonghoeru

The one-story building was built on a small, man-made island, around which a pond was also man-made. You cross over to the island via a bridge. Mainly the building and the pond were used for the festival.