I finally got a chance to visit one of the five palaces in Seoul, and I ended up going to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main and most famous one. Even though it is such a historic site, it was super easy to get there since it is located right outside one of the subway stations. Did I mention how much I love Seoul’s subway system? Anyway, I happened to arrive during the changing of the guard ceremony. During the ceremony, you get to see the colorful costumes of the guards and witness a traditional scene. Afterwards, I headed inside the palace to get a mini history lesson with an English speaking tour.
When you first enter the palace, you must cross a bridge. Back in the old days, there used to be a stream beneath the bridge. The bridge and stream were purposely built so that people can cross the bridge to clear their sins before seeing the king. The water was thought to cleanse their minds.
There are also three pathways along the courtyard. The center path was reserved for the king and the ground itself was raised higher than the surrounding pathways. The ground was also purposely designed to be rough and uneven in order to reduce glare from the sun since there were many meetings held outside.
Numerous granite stones were erected and line the left and right pathways. These stones were used for ranking the court officials with the military officers located on the left and the civil officers on the right side. In the past, the civil officers were held socially and politically higher than military officers. This area is where the officials were positioned during outdoor meetings.
By one of the buildings, there are stones figures on all fours sides of the building. You will find the Black Tortoise statue on the north side, White Tiger on the west, Dragon on the east, and the Red Peacock on the south side. They were the four guardians believed to ward off evil spirits and protect the royal family. They reminded me of the guardians that protect the family in “Mulan.” Along with the four guardians, each building in the palace also has the twelve zodiac figures positioned on top of the roofs.
There are also a few stone carvings located on the steps that depict a dragon and a phoenix. The dragon represents the king while the phoenix represents the queen. The king and queen are also symbolized in many paintings as the sun and the moon.
The palace was strategically structured so that all the main buildings were located in the center. In many of the buildings, they used an underground heating system to heat the floor with various chimneys located at the sides. The structures of the palace are intricate and colorful. Interestingly, they did not use any nails to building the palace. How did the palace stay together then, you ask. Well, the builders used a lego-like system to connect the individual structures together instead. There is also netting round the roof to keep birds away in order to protect the painting and wood.
The many buildings inside the palace serve different people. Many were only for the king, but one was for the queen, one was for the king’s mother, and one was for all of his concubines. In the past, no one was allowed to visit the king’s area. He had to go to the other buildings if he wanted to eat with the queen, his concubines, or his mother. It also seemed like the queen had a sad and lonely life because once she entered the palace as a crowned princess, she was never allowed to leave the palace again. At least, she had a huge palace to play in.
The last location I visited was a pavilion. It was a beautiful area overlooking the water, and it was used as one of the king’s dating spot. Even with the queen and all his concubines, the last king did not leave a son behind, which ended the reign of kings since he did not pass the title onto another relative.
My explanations and pictures did not do the Gyeongbokgung Palace justice since I already forgot a lot of things the tour lady said. The tour is much more interesting in person if anyone ever gets the chance to visit Seoul!
Most useful phrase of the week: 화장실이 어디에요? (hwajangshile eodiaeyo?) = where is the bathroom?
This phrase will always come in handy. And in many bathrooms, there are both western and eastern style toilets but the younger generations tend to use only the western style toilets.
