Introducing Gyeongbokgung Palace, a beautiful royal palace in Korea.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is a representative palace of Korea.Gyeongbokgung Palace is located in front of Seoul City Hall and is visited by many foreigners

These refer to high walls surrounding the Palace. They were built in 1398(the seventh year of King Taejo) in the east, south and west. The Geonchunmun Gate, Gwanghwamun Gate and Yeongchumun Gate gates were built into the walls. The northern wall was constructed later, along with the north gate, Sinmumun Gate. The Palace walls basically formed a rectangle and on the left and right side of the front were two watchtowers, Dongsibjagak and Seosibjagak.

Even after all the Palace buildings were burned down during the Japanese Invasions in the late 16th century, the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace protected the Palace grounds from the general public. When the Palace was rebuilt during King Gojong's reign, the walls were repaired.

During the Japanese occupation period(1910-1945), the front wall was taken down and the rest was damaged during the Korean War(1950-1953). The current Palace walls have been rebuilt several times since, redrawn further inside the original walls.

The corridors extending out from Heungnyemun Gate form an enclosure. In the middle of this enclosure is Geumcheon Stream, which was designed to flow through the Palace from the west to the east after coming down from Mt. Baegak.

A bridge called Yeongjegyo is located at the center of this stream. A stream is a must in all Joseon royal Palaces, including Changdeokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, Gyeonghuigung Palace and Deoksugung Palace as well as gyeongbokgung Palace. There were also streams in the previous Goryeo Dynasty Palaces and in Chinese and Vietnamese royal residences, indicating that a Palace stream was a requisite for East Asian Palaces. The Palace stream and Yeongjegyo Bridge acted as a boundary that marked where the court officials stood during their regular audiences with the king.

Geunjeongmun Gate was used for small audiences between the king and his civil and military officials. It was also where coronations were held. The coronation of King Danjong(1452-1454) was the first to be held here. When ceremonies were held at Geunjeongmun Gate, the officials above Rank 2 stood to the north of Yeongjegyo and those below Rank 3 lined up to the south of the bridge.

Officials of Rank 2 and above stood on the northern side of the bridge, while those of Rank 3 and below lined up on the south side. On the northwest of Heungnyemun Gate's enclosing corridors was Yuhwamun Gate leading to the assembly halls and administrative buildings in the west. In the Heungnyemun Gate enclosure, in addition to regular audiences granted by the king, other governmental activities took place, such as the interrogation of serious criminal offenders and the promulgation of royal edicts. A gate was necessary for officials working in the assembly halls and the administrative buildings to move easily in and out of the area. Yuhwamun Gate was used for this purpose. The Headquarters of the Japanese Government-General of Korea was built in the Heungnyemun Gate enclosure. In 2001, after the demolition of this colonial building, the area was restored to the original design.

source:http://www.royalpalace.go.kr