Sunday, April 01, 2007
Changdeokgung
This Saturday Lailani (the new teacher at our school), Sam, and I headed into Seoul for a tour of Changdeok Palace. This palace is different then the others in that it can only be visited on a tour. We signed up for the English speaking tour, since we figured we'd learn the most that way!
The palace was beautiful. Originally built in the early 1400's, burnt down by the Japanese (just like everything else) in the late 1500's, and rebuilt in the early 1600's. The palace was built as an "alternative home" in case the main palace that the royal family lived in was destroyed...which it was...thank you Japan! It was interesting, because we were told that members of the Joseon dynasty family actually lived in parts of this palace until 1989. Crazy, eh!
The grounds were beautiful, as you'll be able to see from the pictures.
This is me in front of the main gate enterance.
This is Sam and I in front of Injeongjeon Hall. This building was a throne room, used for official ceremonies. You can see that the road leading up to the building is tiered. The top tier (where we're standing) was the road for royalty. The right side was for civil officials, and the left side was for military officials.
This building served as the Queen's day chambers (men and women were kept separate during the day because of the Confucian influence at the time), and the royal couple's night chambers (they were allowed to be together at night so that the Korean race did not simply die out). The Chinese symbols above the entrance say "Chamber for Creating Great Things" (or something close to that). As you've probably figured out, the "great thing" they were trying to create was an heir for the throne. No pressure, though!
As you can see from the blossoms behind us, spring has semi-sprung! Some of the trees are just starting to get their blossoms...beautiful, beautiful!
This is Sam standing in the "Secret Garden"...named that because only the royal family was allowed to come to this area...giving it a feeling of mystery for the rest of us common folk. It was supposed to be a place of peace and relaxation. In June this pond is supposedly full of lotus blossoms, which will be worth a trip back to see.
And here we are in front of the pavillion that looks out onto the lotus blossom pond.
The palace was beautiful. Originally built in the early 1400's, burnt down by the Japanese (just like everything else) in the late 1500's, and rebuilt in the early 1600's. The palace was built as an "alternative home" in case the main palace that the royal family lived in was destroyed...which it was...thank you Japan! It was interesting, because we were told that members of the Joseon dynasty family actually lived in parts of this palace until 1989. Crazy, eh!
The grounds were beautiful, as you'll be able to see from the pictures.
This is me in front of the main gate enterance.
This is Sam and I in front of Injeongjeon Hall. This building was a throne room, used for official ceremonies. You can see that the road leading up to the building is tiered. The top tier (where we're standing) was the road for royalty. The right side was for civil officials, and the left side was for military officials.
This building served as the Queen's day chambers (men and women were kept separate during the day because of the Confucian influence at the time), and the royal couple's night chambers (they were allowed to be together at night so that the Korean race did not simply die out). The Chinese symbols above the entrance say "Chamber for Creating Great Things" (or something close to that). As you've probably figured out, the "great thing" they were trying to create was an heir for the throne. No pressure, though!
As you can see from the blossoms behind us, spring has semi-sprung! Some of the trees are just starting to get their blossoms...beautiful, beautiful!
This is Sam standing in the "Secret Garden"...named that because only the royal family was allowed to come to this area...giving it a feeling of mystery for the rest of us common folk. It was supposed to be a place of peace and relaxation. In June this pond is supposedly full of lotus blossoms, which will be worth a trip back to see.
And here we are in front of the pavillion that looks out onto the lotus blossom pond.# posted by Becky @ 8:36 PM 
