Lesson 38

The palace is quite possibly the coolest thing I've seen since I got here.

The golden Buddha is a close second.

Since we didn't have school (Chuseok is tomorrow) Kristen, Kelsey, Tonya, and I went on a little excursion to Seoul to walk around the palace and go shopping in Insadong.

It took nearly two hours to get from Suwon to Hyehwa Station (Line 4) and we were feeling a bit peckish, so we wandered around in search of food. We found Spaghettia, which had tons of different spaghetti-based dishes to choose from. I got Spicy Seafood Soup Spaghetti because I wanted to eat the photo in the menu (it looked that good). I'm glad I ordered it - it was amazing. The spice crept up on me after a few bites and lingered in my mouth until about 30 minutes after I'd finished eating. So my head was on fire, but good God was that fire tasty.

We got directions to the palace from the host of the restaurant before we left. After walking for maybe 15 or 20 minutes we saw a large sign that read "창경궁" (Changgyeonggung - say that ten times fast) and saw a large red gate with a faded painted roof.

Not the entrance to Changgyeonggung.

Tonya trying to open the gate.

We realized that, obviously, this is not the famous palace gate, so we followed the wall for another five minutes hoping to find it. We came upon this:

Main gate at Changgyeonggung.

Entrance to the palace.

Entrance detail.

And now for a history lesson: King Sejong built Suganggung Palace for his father in 1418. It was later expanded on and renamed Changgyeonggung. Honghwamun, the palace's main gate, was first built in 1484. It was burned down by the Japanese in 1592, then rebuilt in 1616. This is where King Yeongjo would meet his subjects to hear what they had to say. On his mother's 60th anniversary, he also distributed rice to the poor at this location.

When you walk through the main gate you can see the Okcheongyo Bridge (built almost 500 years ago), which has stone goblins (dokkaebi) perched atop the railing to ward off evil spirits.

Cross the bridge and you see Myeongjeongmun, the gate which leads to Myeongjeongjeon, the main hall. Trivia fact: the main hall of most palaces in East Asia is built facing south, but Changgyeonggung's main hall faces east.

Continue through the gate and you'll see a three-tiered walkway leading up to Myeongjeongjeon. The center path of the walkway was reserved for the king only.

Myeongjeongjeon is the oldest main hall of all the palaces in Seoul. It was built in 1484, burned down by the Japanese in 1592, and rebuilt in 1616. The building itself is built on an elevated stone yard which dignifies the structure. It was used to hold meetings and banquets, and deal with state affairs.

Surrounding Myeonjeongjeon are several one-room buildings. When standing in front of Myeongjeongjeon, these buildings almost form a protective wall around it.

Follow the walkway behind Myeongjeongjeon to the inner courtyard. Here one can find eight different buildings for various purposes (state affairs, living quarters, funeral halls, birth halls, banquet halls, etc.). Several buildings had been torn down during the Japanese occupation and only a few were restored.

Pagoda in front of the Munjeongjeon, the building used for discussing state affairs.

We wandered around the inner courtyard for quite some time. There were many young children dressed in their hanbok playing traditional Korean games and Kristen and Kelsey stopped to take pictures of the kids. I read the educational pamphlet and "tour guided" myself around the area. I eventually found my favorite part of the palace.

Tongmyeongjeon, the queen's sleeping quarters, is situated in the quietest part of the inner court. Even with the noise of the children playing games, it was very peaceful. It was the most important residence in the inner court, hence the elevated stone yard. Tongmeyongjeon was built in 1834.

Next to Tongmyeongjeon is a stone well, a garden, and a pond with a pedestal in the middle upon which people toss coins and hope their wish comes true.

I sat quietly on the back porch of the queen's sleeping quarters for about ten minutes, just listening. All I could hear was the light breeze in the trees and the occasional squeal of delight from a child echoing off the natural wall behind the building.

I wanted to see more of the palace, but my traveling companions were tired of walking (we did very little, comparatively speaking) and wanted to go shopping in Insadong. If I had a phone I would have just told them to go ahead and I'd see them back in Suwon, but I didn't want to risk getting hopelessly lost in a part of Seoul I'd never been to before.

We headed off into the forest on the outskirts of the inner courtyard. Tonya and Kelsey thought there was another exit which would take us closer to Insadong. I knew there wasn't (thanks to the educational pamphlet), but said nothing because I was hoping to see a little bit more of the palace before we left.

We happened upon King Seongjeong's placenta chamber monument (which none of them wanted to take a photo of... so I don't have a photo of it here), then continued down a little path (above) and found ourselves at Chundangji Pond. The pond used to be eleven rice paddies which King Sejong plowed with oxen and farmed himself.

Tonya eventually asked someone where the exit was, found the sign, and led us back to the main gate.

The only thing that would make Changgyeonggung cooler is if it were a Korean Colonial Williamsburg where people are dressed up in the traditional outfits and reenacted palace life - but that's what the Korean Folk Village is for. I'm going to have to come back here another time. Perhaps in the spring when the flowers are blooming. Then I can take my own photos and spend as much time as I want.

P.S. I'll write about Insadong the next time I go there. In a nutshell: street filled with vendors and nifty shops where one can buy cool little gifts for people.