A Beautiful and Haunted Palace

 

Last week, with my family members, I had visited Gyeongbokgung (Gyeongbok palace hereafter) for the first time in almost 40 years. Gyeongbok palace was the first of the five major royal palaces built during the Joseon Dynasty. Yi Seong-gye, the first king of Joseon, set the capital Hanyang, which is the old name of Seoul and appointed Shim Deok-bu, who contributed to defeating Japanese pirates, as the general manager of the construction project of the palace. Sim Deok-bu's son, Sim On, is the father-in-law of King Sejong (Yi Do), who is considered the best king in Korea. Gyeongbok Palace was completed in 1395, one year after construction began. Jeong Do-jeon, who was a founding father of Joseon, named the new palace Gyeongbokung (Kung means palace or royal court). In this palace, Gyeonghoe pavilion is my most favorite place that took my breath away first time I saw it forty years ago.

In 1411, Yi Bang-won, the third king of the Joseon Dynasty, ordered the repair of Gyeongbokgung, and construction of a large pond next to Geunjeongjeon Hall and a pavilion to boast to foreign diplomats. Park Jacheong who was a eunuch of the Koryo dynasty was the right person to carry out this renewal and he was a kind of genius and very knowledgeable on Iching. He constructed buildings by incorporating the principles of Iching and feng shui and even rose to the position of a Kongjopanseo which is same as a modern-day minister of constructions and infrastructures. On April 2, 1412, Gyeonghoe Pavilion was completed, and invited foreign envoys were impressed when they saw it. Although this palace was smaller than the Forbidden City, foreign diplomats boasted that Gyeonghoe Pavilion was a building that could not be seen even in China. The pond of Gyeonghoe Pavilion is 113 meters north and south and 128 meters east and west, and if you walk around, you can see the image of Bukak Mountain and Inwang Mountain reflected in the pond.

Not long after this Pavilion was built, people who were finishing the roof construction fell into the pond and died. Therefore, it was rumored that the souls of the dead supported the foundation of this building. Yes, it is a beautiful place where even these days many foreign tourists wearing Korean traditional costumes gather and cheerfully chat. However, Although I love the pond and the pavilion, my first impression of this area was some kind of sadness and felt something sinister was afoot.

There were many rumors that the location of the palace was an ominous place due to the political upheavals took place there and various subsequent tragic events of royal family members, as well as the former presidential residence, Blue House, which is just behind this palace. I was very interested in these claims and conducted investigation myself and found out some literatures stating that some feng sui experts of Joseon Dynasty era thought the location of this palace was not good and even haunted in the first place. There is also a record mentioning that, at the time of the construction of this royal palace, the politician Ha-ryun argued that the location of the palace would let the king captured by evil forces and king’s descendants were to be destroyed as the mountains were trapped and the water dried up by negative energy. Considering what had happened to former kings and presidents lived in this area, it is very understandable that some people think such theories seriously.

Last year, newly elected president moved residence from Blue House to somewhere in Yongsan. Regardless of my political leaning, I hope new location of presidential residence will do some good. All’s well that ends well!