A Tour of Seoul; Gyeongbokgung History

A Tour of Seoul; Gyeongbokgung History

Palace was bulit

Gyeongbokgung Plalace was built in 1395 by the founder of the Joseon dynasty in the new capital Hanyang, which is present day Seoul. The king actually didn't live at Gyeongbokgung Palace at first.

The second king of the Joseon dynasty moved the capital to Gaesung and lived there instead. The grand palace was used to store food for the army.

In addition, valuable historical accounts were kept in the palacd. After the second kind died, the third king, Taejong rebulit Gyeongbokgung Palace and also constructed Changdeokgung Palce nearby to act as temporary living quarters during the reconstruction.

A Few years later he moved into Gyeongbokgung. The fourth king Sejong expanded Jiphyeonjeon, the royal research institute, in Sejeongjeon, and orated within the Gyeongbokgung compound.

He and his fellow scholars invented Hangul, the Korean alphabet, which is registered as an important world language by UNESCO.

Palace was destroyed and rebuilt

During Imjinweran, the 7 year war between the joseon dynasty and Jaan startingin 1592, the palace was burned. Unfortunately, the palace wasn't used for 300 years.

Time passed and in 1865, the 26th king, named Gojong, ascended to the throne, but because he was too young th tule, his father, Heungseon Daewongun, got all power.

Heungseon Daswongun rebuilt the burned palace to recover the royal family's status. However, there wasn't enough money to fund the restoration so he imposed a compulsory tax and made a new coin that was 100 time more waluable than the original coin used in Korea.

Due to such inflation, the economy crashed. Even though he did a great job, most people opposed the new monetary policies and Heungseon Daewongun lost power in 1872.

Sad history of the Palace

During the reign of 26th's king, Gojong, began to control the country without his fathers help. He tried to modernizethe Joseon dynasty.

He changed many things including the army system. He made a new army called Byeolkikun, which was controlled by a Japanses commander.

Due to discrimination against the new Japanses commander, the army revolted. They attacked Gyeongbokgung Palace, burned Japanese legation, and killed the commander

In 1894, when  the Donghak peasant movement occurred, the Joseon dynasty asked china to suppress the rebellion. This sparked conflict with Japan and in 1894 war broke out between China and Japan. Japan won the war and became a powerful influence in Joseon.

Other counties such as Russia, France and Germany wantedd to prevent Japan from acquiring too much power. To evercome the adverse situation, Japan sent assassins to kill the king's wife, Meungsung Hwanghu, a Russin supporter.

After the brutal assassination in the Gyeongbokgung Palace, King Gojong escaped to the Russian Embassy. About year later, he returned to Gyeongbokgung Palce and proclaimed a new country: Dashanjaeguk.

After these events, Japan started to encroach on Daehanjaeguk's sovereignty. Consequently, in 1910, Daehanjaeguk became a colony of Japan. Then, Japan built a modern government building on the Gyeongbokgung Palce grounds to emphasize their rule.

Reconstruction

After gaining  independence from Japan, the Korean government allowed tourists to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The Japanese government building was  also open to the public as the National Museum; however. in 1995 the Korean government demolished the building and moved the museaum to Yongsan.

In addition, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Kwanghwamun. was restored. The other bulidings damaged during the Japanses colonial era are still under construction.

Korea Land and Climate

Korea Land and Climate

The Korean Peninsula extends southward from the northeast part of the Asian continent. The Peninsula is currently divided into the Democratic People's Republic of korea in the north, and the Republic of Korea in the south.

To the west of the Peninsula lies the Yellow sea, with about 70percent being mountainous, particularly on the east coast. The western and southern coasts are deeply indented, and there are more than 3,000 islands and harbors.

The major rivers on the peninsula include the Amnokkang River and Tuman-gang River in the north and the Naktonggang River and the Han-gang River in the south.

The highest mountain on the Peninsula is Mt. Paektusan; Mt. Hallasan on Chejudo Island and Mt. Soraksan are two of the more well-known mountains in the south.

Korea enjoys four seasons and a variety of different weather types. Spring and autumn are rather short, but very pleasant with crisp weather and many days of sunshine.

Located in the East Asian monsoon belt, the peninsula has hot, humid summers, with the main rainfall occurring during the monsoon season which usually begins at the end of  June.

Winter is cold and dry, with occasional snow,  although spells of cold weather normally alternate with days of warmer weather.

Korea History - Koryo

Korea History - Koryo

the founding monarch of Koryo(918~1392), Wang Kon, was a general who had served under a rebel prince of Shilla.

Choosing his native town Songdo, the present-day Kaesong(located about 60km north of Seoul), as the seat of his kingdom, he proclaimed a policy to recover the lost territory of Koguyo in Manchuria. Therefore he named his kingdom Koryo, form which the modern name Korea is derived.

Form the outset, the royal court of Koryo adopeted buddhism as the state religion. It flourished greatly, stimulating temple construction and the carving of Buddhist images as well as icon paintings.

But temples and monks came to wield excessive power, and during the kingdom's later years, conflicts between scholarofficials and warriors and between Confucianists and Buddhists weakened the kingdom.

the Mongol incursions which began in 1231 resulted in their occupation of Koryo for nearly a century.