Day 307

CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE

I recently visited Changdeokgung Palace, one of the "Five Grand Palaces" of Seoul built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897).  I had previously visited Gyeongbokgung Palace, and was eager to see another palace.   Changdeokgung was lovely, less crowded, and delightfully close to Insa-dong, the neighborhood that sells my favorite Korean snack.

A word to the wise: once you've seen one palace or temple, you've seen them all.  They're all painted identically, and much (if not most) of the structures are reconstructions.  They're cool... but there's a pervading sense of déjà vu.

Here's a map to help you figure out where everything is, straight from the Korean tourism site. The ones I talked about are bolded in the legend.

1. Donhwamun	2. Geumcheongyo	3. Injeongmun	4. Injeongjeon	5. Seonjeongjeon
6. Huijeongdang	7. Daejojeon	8. Gyeonghungak	9. Naeuiwon	10. Royal Garage
11. Nakseonjae	12. Yeonghwadang	13. Buyongjeong	14. Buyongji	15. Juhamnu
16. Aeryeonji	17. Yeongyeongdang	18. Seonhyangjae	19. Gwallamjeong	20. Ongnyucheon
21. Uirojeon	22. New Seonwonjeon

Anyway, on to the real reason you are here: photos of palaces!  And remember, you can click on them to make them bigger.

The entrance to Changdeokgung is called Donhwamun.
It was burned down in 1592 (by the Japanese, shocker) and restored in 1609.  It's a national treasure.

The gate to enter Changdeokgung Palace is called Donhwamun.  "Mun" is pronounced "moon" and means "gate."  Every building and structure in the palaces has a name.

Cute kids posing at the entrance.

The stream (minus the water) is called Geumcheon and the bridge the photo was taken from is called Geumcheongyo.  'Cheon' is river, and 'gyo' is bridge.

This mini-river is unfortunately empty.

Aha, surveillance.  Sneakily disguised with the same color paint!

If you're wondering why a palace needs surveillance, let me inform you of two facts:

1) The entire palace is made of wood.

2) Back in 2008, some old guy burnt down Namdaemun, the 600-year-old Great South Gate that once guarded the entrance to the walled city of Seoul.  The gate was the original and, having lasted six centuries of invasions and wars, was considered the #1 most important national treasure of Korea.  A team of 360 firefighters couldn't stop the blaze, and the gate was utterly destroyed.  And the guy who lit it up?  He did it because he was angry over a land dispute.

The remains of Namdaemun.
Photo by Lee Jin-man.  Read more about this fire at the NY Times article.

Shockingly, the gate had no surveillance or protection of any kind.  These days, there are cameras and firefighting gear everywhere.

Keep an eye out, and you'll see these hose-containers and little red fire extinguishers all over the place.

But enough of that depressing historical stuff!

Here's a surprise: a wheelchair access ramp!  Most of Korea is extremely unfriendly to the handicapped.
This building is called "Okdang."

The open spaces don't have names, but all the buildings do.  The building on the right has no name, but the gate on the far side is Sukjangmun.  On the left is Injeongmun, which is the gate to Injeongjeon--we'll get there in a minute.

Taken from Jinseonmun, another gate.

Click to make me bigger!

According to the signage--which had an abundance of perfect English, praise the translators--only about 30% of the original structures are present.  I guess there used to be a lot less empty space!

Here is Injeongjeon, which is the throne hall of Changdeokgung palace.  "Jeon" is pronounced kind of like the "John" and it means "pavilion."  The king performed major affairs here, like the welcoming of foreign envoys and the coronation of new kings.  It looks like two stories, but nope, it's just a tall fancy ceiling.

This is Injeongjeon, a fancy throne room.

Looks cool from below too!

It was originally built in 1405, when Changdeokgung palace was founded, but it was rebuilt a few times.  First in 1418, then in 1610 after being burned down by the Japanese in 1592, and one more time in 1804 after being destroyed by a fire.  The lighting, curtains, windows, and floor were modified to a Western style in 1908.

I must admit, even though they mostly look the same, I do think Korean palaces are awesome.

See the new lights?  Well I wouldn't strictly call them 'new' but hey, there they are.

Actually, it's a pretty cool room.  Very colorful!

A better view of the throne.  You can go inside if you wait a long time, but I wasn't feeling that patient on this day.

I love how ornately decorated the ceiling is.  And those weird bulb chandeliers are cool too.

Click to make any photo bigger!

If you're standing in front of Injeongjeon, you can see Injeongmun, the gate.  This is the other side of the same gate you saw before.

This side has significantly more people!

Next to Injeongjeon is Seonjeongjeon.  In Seonjeongjeon the king met with officials to discuss routine state affairs.  It was destroyed a few times by the Japanese and by a coup, but rebuilt in 1647.  It looks comfy.

Looks cozy.

Closer view of the throne-area.  The five-mountain background symbolizes royalty somehow.

I loved the ceiling in here!  It's hard to believe that all this stuff is painted by hand.

Pretty!

Closer view of... I guess they're birds?  I dunno, but they are pretty.

Clay tiles are still used to roof the buildings.  In some towns, like Gyeongju (which I visited in October) there are laws stating that all buildings, old and new, must have the traditional roofing.  It does look cool!

Traditional roofing.

Onto another area: Daejojeon!  It has a cool sundial in the front.  According to the pamphlet, "it was the place where the last cabinet meeting of the dynasty was held to deliberate over Japan's annexation of Joseon."  In case you aren't familiar with Korean history, that didn't work out so well for the Koreans; Japan wasn't a very nice ruler.

Covered in Chinese characters that I can't read.  Also, I apparently don't know how to use a sundial at all.

If you can't see the sundial in the front right of the building, click to make the photo bigger.

Walking path that people are not allowed on today.

The place was destroyed by--you guessed it--fire in 1917, and rebuilt later.  Everything around it is connected by long covered corridors.  Apparently the original palace had a lot more of these corridors.  It seems like the original palace was basically a giant hamster maze.

Corridors!  Can't go inside though.  :(

You never have to go outside with all these covered corridors!

While I was here, I noticed a locked basement door with a gap at the bottom, so I snuck my camera under there and got this:

This is a basement room for ondol.

What you're looking at in the above photo is a fireplace for heating.  Koreans have traditionally used a floor-heating system called "ondol" or "gudeul."  In the early days, a fire for cooking doubled as a way to keep one's home warm.  Later, the furnace was kept outside the house to prevent the home from overheating in the summer.  Smoke from the fire traveled through pipes beneath the floor of the home, although usually the floor was only really warm near the source of the fire.  This method did have some problems with carbon monoxide poisoning and pollution.

A diagram of traditional ondol from Wikipedia.

Today Koreans still use ondol, but they use water heaters to channel hot water under the floor.  This is more environmentally friendly, less dangerous, and also creates more even heating.  And let me tell you, ondol is AMAZING.  If I ever build a house in America, I'm putting in ondol heating.

This is just a sneaky indoor photo I took through a hole.

This is part of the corridor system leading from Daejojeon to Huijeondang..

On the roof are stone carvings that are supposed to be various animals and gods.  These are also on the roof of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Stone animals!  And dragons!

A closer look.

This next building is Huijeongdang.  While Injeongjeon was more of a symbolic hall, Huijeongdang was used more often.  The building burned down in 1917 and was rebuilt, but it's apparently quite different from the original.  It used to have a pond in the courtyard, a raised floor on stone columns, and other fancy stuff.  None of that exists today.  Instead, it has Western features like wooden floors, carpet, glass windows, and electric chandeliers.  It's still a national treasure though!

Huijeongdang.  I think so, anyway.  It's kinda hard to remember them all.

Uh... I have no idea what this one is.  I can't remember.  I can't even find it on the map.  Sorry.

This might not even be a building, maybe it's just more corridors?  It looks impressive.

Mystery structure.

This one is cool!  This is Nakseonjae.  It was built as the king's quarters in 1847, so it's relatively new.  It was built by King Heonjong, who wanted to use it to read and relax, but he wasn't a flashy guy.  You should notice that, unlike every other 'historic' building/temple/etc. in Korea, Nakseonjae is not ornately painted with red and sea-foam green.

Nakseonjae!  I think this building looks nicer than all the painted ones.

This building was actually occupied until 1989!  Back in the early 1900's, a young Japanese woman named Masako Nishimoto was a candidate for marriage to the Japanese crown prince, the future Emperor Hirohito.  Japan had officially annexed Korea in 1910, and in 1916 they were keeping the Korean crown prince in Japan on the pretense of 'studying abroad.'  Instead of getting hitched to the future Japanese emperor, the 18-year-old Masako was wed to the crown prince of Korea.  She became known as "Crown Princess Bangja," although I'm not sure if 'Bangja' is a title or a Korean name.  (According to Google Translate, it means either "wantonly" or "magnetically shielded."  It's a toss up.)  Either way, she and the crown prince of Korea had two sons, one of which died under suspicious circumstances as a baby during a visit to Korea.

Masako's wedding photo.  She looks so happy...

After World War II ended--remember, Japan lost--Korea was split into two countries and given back its own authority.  In South Korea a presidency was established, and the then-current president Rhee Syng-man prevented Bangja/Masako and the rest of the royal family from returning to Korea.  They lived in 'destitution' (I put this in quotes because I'm pretty sure that's an exaggeration) as Korean residents in Japan until 1963.  President Rhee wasn't a huge jerk, he was just worried that the popularity of the royal family would threaten Korean democracy.  Finally, in 1963, president Park Chung-hee invited the royal family back and allowed them to live in Changdeokgung Palace.

Despite being a Japanese woman in a society rife with anti-Japanese sentiment, Bangja/Masako dedicated her life to the education of mentally and physically handicapped people.  She is known as "the mother of the handicapped" in Korea, and was generally respected up until her death by cancer in 1989.  She died at home, in Nakseonjae.

More fun historical information: Bangja/Masako wasn't living alone in Nakseonjae.  Her only living son, Crown Prince Gu, married an American woman named Julia Mullock.  They met while working together at I.M. Pei's architecture firm in New York. married in 1959, and moved to Korea in 1963.  There was a bit of controversy over whether she was ever officially the Crown Princess Julia, since they didn't marry in the traditional Korean custom.  They divorced in 1982 under pressure from the royal family, since Julia was unable to have children and produce an heir.  According to Wikipedia, she currently lives in the Gangnam neighborhood (yes, the Gangnam of the Psy song) in Seoul.

Alright, enough history lessons, more pictures.

This is apparently a site that will be rebuilt in the future.  Uh, I mean, restored.

This isn't named on the map.  It appears to just be a pavilion for resting.

This is right next to Nakseonjae.

Same place (Nakseonjae) but from a different view.

Click to make this (or any photo) bigger.

This palace, unlike the others I've visited, had lots of foliage!

I heard there was a secret garden, so of course I wanted to see that.  You can only see it on a guided 90-minute tour.  I bought my ticket, waited for 30 minutes, and made a new friend.  Now let's see the...


SECRET GARDEN  / HUWON

Changdeokgung Palace is also the home of Huwon, the Secret Garden of the Korean royalty.  It was essentially a quiet place for the king and his family to use--Korean kings generally seem to have been a bit more competent than many European kings were.  As in, they managed to have concubines and run the nation.  And the training for the crown princes seems pretty brutal by American standards.  (Possibly normal for Korean children though.)

There's a catch here: you can only see it by taking a guided tour, but fortunately they offered an English tour.  The guide was excellent!  She spoke great English and even made jokes, which takes a high level of skill to do in a foreign language.

She was also pretty.

We tramped around the path for a bit, saw a few pavilions--they all look identical to me by now--and then got to the cool bit: a square pond with some great buildings around it.

Look at all the foreigners in my tour group.

The building on the right is called Yeonghwadang.  It was originally a hall for the king and his friends to enjoy poetry, but later it was used to administer civil service exams.  Civil service exams, much like those of Imperial China, were the centerpiece of education.  They prepared men for government service.  

It's a great place to study, with all the fresh air and breeze and nice things to look at.

The Silla dynasty (the first of the big three Korean dynasties) only gave government positions to the children of the aristocracy, so the civil service exams didn't really affect anything.  During the Goryeo dynasty, just about anyone could take the tests.  Under the Joseon dynasty three types of exams were administered: military tests, literary tests, and miscellaneous tests that included everything from medicine to astronomy to translation.  During the Joseon period, these tests were essentially the only way to achieve a ranking position in Korea, which was pretty important back then.  Mostly anyone who wasn't a slave or cheonmin could take the test. (Cheonmin were the lowest class of workers, who did 'vulgar' work like butchery and metalworking.  The caste system was similar to that of India, and the cheonmin were equivalent to the 'untouchables.')

Side note--yes, slavery and caste systems did exist here!  Some people were so poor that they sold themselves into slavery.  There's an interesting history there but we haven't got time for that today, so let's look at more pretty buildings.

Beside Yeonghwadang is Juhamnu, which served as a library.  The library materials have been removed and are currently stored in a more modern library.

I wish my library looked like this.

And yes, the gate has a name: Eosumun.  (Remember, 'mun' means 'gate.')  Seriously guys, I wasn't kidding when I said that everything has a name.

The main gate is for the king only.  The other two gates are for officials.  Officials had to stoop to use the gates, which was symbolic of them being beneath the king.  (Everything is so symbolic in other cultures.  In America... not so much.)

And now we see the gross-looking pond!

The rectangular pond is called Buyongji.  ("Ji" means "pond.")  It has an island in the far corner.  It may or may not have some fish in it.  Honestly, it looks gross and I think I'd die if I fell in.  There wasn't much in the way of pond scum filters back when this pond was built, so I can forgive them for that.  In fact, one of the reasons the lotus flower is so prevalent here is that it's beautiful despite growing in such disgusting conditions.  (But would it kill them to put a filter in here?  It'd be much prettier.)

The island, and the gross water.

The little house-type thing that hangs over the edge is called Buyongjeong.  "Buyong" means lotus flower, so it's the lotus pavilion.  (I actually learned this word from a Korean drama.  Go figure!)  It is apparently a party pavilion for after students finished an exam.  It is in some way supposed to look like a lotus flower, but I'm not seeing it.

Also, this pond could use some buyong--I mean, lotus flowers.

Actually, this place was very pretty.  We got to stand around and take lots of photos here.

With lots of people.

Daaaang I cannot get over that pond water.

There's a little building in the back called Sajeonggibigak.  It's not noteworthy, but next to it was a little house built for ducks.  And there were ducklings!  Awwww.

The library building is off-limits to visitors.  There appeared to be some kind of committee there on that day,
which is who you see on the steps.

You know I love a panorama.
Click to make it bigger!

After a bathroom break, the tour group moved on another area.  We passed through a gate called Bullomun, and apparently if you walk through it you will never get old.  We'll see, gate.  We'll see.  On the other side of the gate is Aeryeonji, a square pond.  In this photo, the pavilion you see is called Aeryeonjeong.  Facing the pond is a little study room called Uiduhap, but it wasn't very picture-worthy. 

Eh, nice enough.

I'm not the only one who likes the lotus flower despite the dirty water.  King Sukjong named the pond, and 'Aeryeon' means 'loving the lotus flower.'  He said, "I love the lotus flower because it blooms with such clean and beautiful flowers, however dirty the water may be, symbolizing the virtue of a true gentleman."  Again with the symbolism.  It all goes over my head.  Sometimes I feel like I'm constantly rereading the green light scene from The Great Gatsby.

Except instead of a green light, there's green water.

We moved on to the servants' quarters, Yeongyeongdang.  There were separate sides for men and women, but they were neither interesting nor separated very well, because there were a whole bunch of small buildings around for the children of those servants.  There's a kitchen behind the women's quarters, and a pavilion somewhere on a hill.  Not super interesting.

Our tour guide, leading us into the servants' quarters.

Inside the servants' quarters is a study building called Seonhyangjae, which you see below.  They had a pretty nifty pulley system to lift up those panels.  

Oh look, a child at play.

Back to pretty things.  This is the Jondeokjeong area, and the pavilion you see below is Jondeokjeong itself.  It was built in 1644.  There used to be five ponds in this area, but during the Japanese occupation they were combined into just two ponds.

Pretty.

Jondeokjeong ooks like every other pavilion.  The sign says you have to take off your shoes to enter.

The ceiling of the pavilion.

Cool painting..

On the other pond is Gwallamjeong.  My guide told me nothing about this.  Looks like a nice place for a nap.

I'm getting sleepy just looking at this.

Here are two more photos of Jondeokjeong that I have included not for their composition or historical significance, but solely for the poses of this guy in my tour group.  He is not posing for a photo.  This is just how he stands, apparently.

Can you say 'fabulous'?

Seriously man, I should throw a filter on this photo and put some faux-inspirational unreadable cursive text on it.

One more of the nice Jondeokjeong pavilion.

There's another area called Ongnyucheon.  I could tell you about it, but it's not particularly interesting.  There's pavilions and a little bit of water and sometimes the king and his bros would float their wine cups in the water while 'writing poetry.'

This is kind of a symbolic rice paddy.

Me with a pavilion called Seungjaejeong.

After this 90-minute tour I was starving, so my new friend Petra and I went to Insadong for souvenirs (her) and food (me).  Insadong is the home of kkultarae, the candy of the Korean kings, also known as dragon's beard candy.  It's delicious and I'm too lazy to make it myself.  (But don't worry, friends, I'll make it when I come back to the States.  Because it's goooood.)

Petra is significantly taller than me.

In Insadong!  Petra's bag is full of souvenirs, mine is full of candy.

That concludes Changdeokgung Palace!  It's an okay palace, but I'd recommend Gyeongbokgung if you've only got time for one.  I don't recommend taking the Secret Garden tour unless you have an undying love of pavilions and pond scum.  The tour isn't bad or expensive, but it's 90 minutes of your time.  And you could be spending that time in Insadong buying and eating kkultarae, which I strongly recommend.

This is probably the last palace I'll visit.  The individual histories are interesting, but they're all basically the same to look at.  There's still some museums and towns to see before I leave, though.  And of course, many more foods to try.  The adventure isn't over yet!

Cheers,
Ashton