JPG Magazine: Stories: Photo Essay: Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace

By Claudia Martin

28 June 2008

During the reign of King Taejo in 1395, South Korea built a cluster of gardens, buildings and stone walls known as Gyeongbukgung Palace. It is the first, largest and grandest government and palace headquarters from the beginning of the Joseon dynasty (1390's-1700). Its 419,100 square meters of walled-in grounds contain several buildings, including Chagyong-jon, once the living quarters for Queen Dowager Cho; Hyangwon-ji (far-reaching fragrance) reflection pool; and Seoul's largest Pavilion with 48 stone pillars, Kyeonghoe-ru (joyous meeting). The grounds have at times sheltered several hundred buildings for governement officals and Korean royalty, however ensuing damages and fires during civil war and Japanese invasions have left just preserved displays of the major halls, pavilions, offices, store rooms, gardens, gates and bridges. There is also the National Folk Museum next door, and behind the walls and across a guarded street, the Blue House, or the Korean equivalent of the White House where the new and unpopular Korean President Myong Bok Lee resides.

I stood with tourists and umbrella-toting Koreans (for sun protection) in front of the palace during the changing of the guard, which is performed six times per day by members of the Korean military. Several men carry flags, beat drums, stand and walk and stand again for about thirty minutes. They all looked terrible, serious and stone-faced like the guards in front of Windsor Castle, until I realized, peering further into spotted spectacles, that they were all wearing masks. The masks were very sinister looking until I took in the Whole Picture of brightly colored traditional dresses, fake beards and mustaches secured with strings. Then they just amusingly looked like boys playing dress-up.

Situated in the heart of Seoul, this is a magical place. Walking the grounds I could feel the history seeping up into my coffee-rattled veins. This is where a mysterious fire burnt the buildings to the ground in 1593, upon which they were immediately reconstructed. This is where the Japanese built a governor-general's house over the middle of the grounds to show superiority over the Korean people. This was where the last Min Queen and first offical wife of Jing Gojong, the Empress Myeongseong, was murdered, her body badly burnt. This would actually be the reason why there is no royal family in Korea today.

Well, there was all this history I read on my own, because I missed all but two minutes of the English-speaking tour. Luckily, I preferred dawdling with my camera, stopping in random spots to stare bemused at pigeons, trees, Koi fish, and other pesky tourists with cameras and wonderous gazes. I'm not sure if it was the intensely bright sun, the joy of a day off from work, or the magic of Gyeongbokgung, but everything appeared to be absolutely glowing, like a piece of heaven in Seoul.