• Korean Security Journal
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• no.21
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• pp.35-52
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• 2009

The guard system in the last period of the Joseon Dynasty, established at the time of the struggle of invading world powers and the loss of the Dynasty rights, was strengthened to protect the Royal family and the Dynasty from the attacks of foreign powers. While investigating both the military system and the guard system from the beginning of King Gojong's direct royal governing to the time of Japanese annexation of Korea, we realize that the Joseon Dynasty not only lost the support of the public but also had little power to cope with the aggression of foreign countries. The reformation and strengthening by Daewongun, King Gojong's father, was made in preparation for King Gojong's direct royal rule. Nevertheless, the intervention of foreign countries in the domestic affairs of the Joseon Dynasty got worse. As opposed to their intervention, Queen Minbi had engaged in politics, which resulted in murderous attempts on her. The Joseon Dynasty had tried to reform and intensify the guard system. New names such as Muwiso, Chingunyeong, and Siwidai, had been given respectively. Such reformation and intensification had little effect because of two successive victories at the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War of Japan. Japan occupied the Joseon Dynasty by force after all. The guard system of Daehan-jeguk(the Empire of Korea) was eventually incapacitated; an army in the cause of justice was raised instead. However, The state of things and the guard system at that incapacitated period gives a good lesson for the establishment of a modern guard system at the present day.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.126-149
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• 2021

The reign of King (later Emperor) Gojong of the Joseon dynasty (later the Korean Empire), which lasted from 1863 to 1907, was a period of turmoil caused by political and social instability at home and military incursions by foreign powers. It was also a period in which Joseon was proclaimed as the Korean Empire and, accordingly, the royal seals of the dynasty underwent a major change. Records show that some 135 seals were produced during the reign of Gojong. The present study of the makers and styles of the royal seals aims to reveal a wealth of information on the seals, which typically had handles in the shape of either a turtle or dragon. Among the seal makers of this era, Jeon Heung-gil was particularly highly regarded as a Golden Royal Seal Artisan (Geumbojang) because he was highly skilled at making both turtle and dragon handles. Kim Eun-seok, a master Jade Royal Seal Artisan (Okbojang), also excelled in the production of turtle and dragon handles for his jade seals. Another master Jade Royal Seal Artisan, Yi Jung-ryeo, is noteworthy because he developed a new style of jade royal seals, which eventually became the dominant style after 1890, when Kim Eun-seok was not active. Furthermore, after the 1890s, his style was also applied to the production of the gold royal seals and developed as the dominant style. Regarding the dragon handles adopted after the proclamation of the Korean Empire, both the golden and the jade royal seals were made in the same style by the same artisans in the service of the Joseon dynasty. They adopted the style of Chinese imperial seals when they began making seals with dragon handles for the Korean Empire, although the basic shapes of both handle and dragon were copied from those made during the Joseon period. As a ceremonial object symbolizing the authority and legitimacy of the royal or imperial family, the style of the royal seals was influenced mainly by changes in the political situation at home and abroad. As Gojong's reign was a period in which more royal seals were made than in the reign of any other ruler, the seals originating from his reign constitute a richer source of information about the efforts of the dynasty to preserve the tradition while effectively dealing with the changes of the new era.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.61-78
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• 2010

Old Russian Legation(1890) has been attracted public attention in terms of politics and foreign affairs than architectural style because of conditions of location and historical incident. Though it was heavily damaged during the Korean war, and only the tower has been restored, it is very important in architectural history in Korea, because it is the oldest western style brick building which is existing with the old bishop's house in Myeong-Dong. But it has been impossible to reveal exactly the original form as there has been few reliable materials(picture, drawing, document) and it's remains were nearly destroyed owing to development of the surroundings. Recently the decisive document(site outline map) was found, and new research on the architect Sabatine was studied. So I can get into close with the original form by the results. In this study, I tried to conjecture the original form of the old Russian legation(the size, style, plan and indoor space, arrangement of attached facilities) and I checked the location and structure of the room where King Gojong stayed when he took refuge, and the use of the passage in the basement.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.15
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• pp.66-77
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• 2014

A gujangbok is a king's silk ceremonial robe embroidered with nine symbols that represent the essential virtues that a king needs to govern his country. The National Museum of Korea currently own a gujangbok worn by King Gojong in the late Joseon Dynasty. The robe is painted with various colors, including red, yellow, blue, green, and gray. μ-XRF and analysis was conducted on the pigments, and it was found that the red color was made from cinnabar, the yellow color was gold and brass, the blue color was a blue organic pigment and white lead, the green color was a synthetic pigment composed of copper and arsenic, and the gray color pigment was silver. Also, the pigments were compared to those used to make the patterns of a queen's ceremonial robe and a front cloth panel, both made around the same time and also owned by the National Museum of Korea. The comparative analysis revealed clear differences and similarities between the various pigments. The resulting data expect to serve as a useful foundation research for future studying of the pigments used by the Joseon royal court in the late nineteenth century.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.20-49
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• 2009

This paper explores the Korean royal tombs steles such as monumental steles and tombstone marks (神道碑, 表石) that are broadly fallen into the following three periods ; the 15~16th centuries, 17th~18th centuries, and 19th century. As a result, the royal tombs steles were built, unlike the private custom, on the heirs to the King's intentions. During the 15~17th centuries the construction and reconstruction of the monumental steles took place. In the late Joseon period, monumental steles had been replaced with a number of tombstone marks were built to appeal to the king's calligraphy carved on stone for the first time. During the Great Empire Han(大韓帝國) when the Joseon state was upgraded the empire, Emperors Gojong and Sunjong devoted to honor ancestors by rebuilding royal tombstone mark. Based on these periodical trends, it would not be exaggerated that the history of establishing the royal tombs steles formed in late Joseon. The type of royal tombs monuments originated from those of the Three Kingdoms era, a shapeless form, the new stele type of the Tang Dynasty (唐碑) has influenced on the building of monuments of the Unified Silla and Buddhist honorable monuments (塔碑) of the Goryeo Dynasty. From the 15th century, successive kings have wished to express the predecessors's achievements, nevertheless, the officials opposed it because the affairs of the King legacy (國史) were all recorded, so there is no need to establish the tombs steles. Although its lack of quantity, each Heonneung and Jereung monumental steles rebuilt in 1695 and 1744 respectively, is valuable to show the royal sculpture of the late Joseon period. Since the 15th century, the construction of the royal tombs monumental steles has been interrupted, the tombstone marks (boulders) with simpler format began to be erected within the tomb precincts. The Yeoneung tombstone mark(寧陵表石), built in 1682, shows the first magnificent scale and delicate sculpture technique. Many tombstone marks were erected since the 1740s on a large scale, largely caused by King Yeongjo's announce to the honorific business for the predecessors. Thanks to King Yeongjo's such appealing effort, over 20 pieces of tombstone marks were established during his reign. The fact that his handwritten calligraphic works first carved on tombstones was a remarkable phenomenon had never been appeared before. Since the 18th century, a double-slab high above the roof(加?石) and rectangular basement of the stele have been accepted as a typical format of the tombstone marks. In front of the stele, generally seal script calligraphic works after a Tang dynasty calligrapher Li Yangbing(李陽氷)'s brushwork were engraved. In 1897 when King Gojong declared the Empire, these tombstone marks were once again produced in large amounts. Because he tried to find the legitimacy of the Empire in the history of the Joseon dynasty and its four founding fathers in creating the monuments both of the front and back sides by carving his in-person-calligraphy as a ruler representing his symbolic authority. The tombstone marks made during this period, show an abstract sculpture features with the awkward techniques, and long and slim strokes. As mentioned above, the construction of monumental steles and tombstone marks is a historical and remarkable phenonenon to reveal the royal funeral custom, sculpture techniques, and successive kings' efforts to honor the royal predecessors.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.141-154
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• 2010

In the beginning of the Joseon dynasty, the Royal Astronomical Bureau (觀象監, shortly RAB) was established. After the double RAB had settled down by King Sejong (世宗), it continued to function until 1907. Before the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, the Joseon court had the Inner RAB in the Gyeongbok Palace (景福宮) and the Outer RAB in the Northen District Gwangwha-Bang (北部廣化坊) at the western side of the Changdeuk Palace (昌德宮). In the reign of King Sukjong (肅宗) the double system of the RAB was transformed into the Geumho-Gate (金虎門) Outer RAB and the Gaeyang-Gate (開陽門) Outer RAB. During the reconstruction of the Gyeongbok Palace in the early reign of King Gojong (高宗), the Gaeyang-Gate Outer RAB was replaced by the Yeongchu-Gate (迎秋門) Outer RAB in 1865. All RAB had the Royal Astronomical Observatory (觀天臺, RAO hereinafter), so called the Soganui-platform (小簡儀臺) on which the Soganui (小簡儀) has been put. The Soganui (小簡儀) is a small simplified armillary sphere. While the Gwangwha-Bang RAO handed down from the reign of King Sejong still exists, other RAOs, such as Gyeongbok Palace RAO, Gaeyang-Gate and Yeongchu-Gate RAOs, do not remain. According to our study, the Changgyeong Palace (昌慶宮) RAO was not indeed the RAO with the Soganui.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.73-82
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• 2013

This study aims to find architectural characteristic of Nam-kwan-wang-myo as known as Nam-myo, Especially focusing on difference between before and after it's reconstruction in 1899. Nam-kwan-wang-myo is a shrine for Kwan-woo who was warlord in ancient china. Belief of Kwan-Woo was introduced to Korea in Japanese invasion of 1592 and the shrine was built in 1598. Belief of Kwan-Woo diffused for the late Joseon, during the reign of Gojong, many people have faith in Kwan-Woo including the king. There was four Kwan-wang-myo around the Hanyang at that time. In 1899 a fire of unknown cause broke out at Nam-kwan-wang-myo, so the main buildings burned down. The king instructed reconstruction of the shrine even though there was in financial difficulties, it had done in the midst of a national crisis. The buildings almost restored as before. The buildings in the shrine has strong characteristics of Chinese architecture because it made by people of the Ming dynasty. Two side-by-side roofs, accumulated brick exterior are important architectural feature, but also all the buildings in the mail hall area Surrounded by the closed-connected fence is hard to find examples in Korea traditional architecture. And Nam-kwan-wang-myo just had maintained architectural characteristics including layout of buildings, shape of the each building until it's reconstruction(1899).

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.11b
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• pp.10-10
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• 2002

The first record of buckwheat in Korea was revealed from an old Korean book, “Hyangyakguguebbang(향락구급방)” written in the era of king ‘Gojong’ who governed the country from AD 1236 to 1251 in the Korea dynasty. Buckwheat in Korea has been known to be introduced from China in 5th - 6th century. One of the most famous buckwheat noodles, ‘Naengmyeon’ had been used popularly among the people in the Korea dynasty. It is true that buckwheat noodle had been cooked and sold in temples during the Korea dynasty, and was regarded it as one of the temple foods at that time.(중략)

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.105-115
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• 2018

This paper presents an investigation into Cheollik based on 288 records about it at the homepage of The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty on the Internet. Cheollik was called in diverse names and worn by various social classes from kings to common people, but it was solidified as clothes for military officers toward the latter half of Joseon. Not only did it serve the purpose of clothes, but it also was used for a royal grant, diplomacy, shrouding a corpse, and royal coffin. It served the diplomatic purposes a lot especially during the reign of King Sejo and King Seongjong. Cheollik was usually made of cotton, hemp, silk, and mixed fabric with silk used most. Its major colors include white, green, red, blue, black, purple, grey, and yellow with white used most. The fabrics and colors of Cheollik became simplified toward the latter half of Joseon. Silk was most used in Cheollik for a royal grant, shrouding a corpse, and royal coffin. White was most used in Cheollik for kings' visit to royal tombs or their participation in ancestral rites. There were limitations with the selection of materials according to the social status and situations. It was stipulated that only Sa and Ju were used to make Cheollik for Dangsangguan and Danghaguan. Cheollik made of silk was banned for country residents and merchants. The color of Cheollik for Danghaguan was changed to blue and then red. Of military officers, only those who had a Gonsu title or higher were allowed to wear Cheollik made of silk in various colors. In the end, Cheollik was abolished for its low convenience and efficiency during the rule of King Gojong.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.69-80
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• 2022

This study explains details on Heungbokjeon during the reconstruction of Gyeongbokgung Palace in the 19th century for the first time in 273 years. Hence, the construction of a palace with more than 7,000 Kan(間) made possible in a short stretch of time. Given the fact that its existing architecture was recycled. The antecedent of Heungbokjeon(興福殿) was the Hamiljae(咸一齋) of Changuiggung(彰義宮) which served as the residence of King Yeongjo before he was enthroned. On the other hand, the Changuigung was the outset of Inpyeongwi-gung(寅平尉宮), which was built for the princesses. During the reign of King Hyojong the princess who got married must depart from the Inpyeongwi-gung. This study corroborated the undertaking of modification of its architecture frombeing asymmetrical house to symmetrical most primarily the inner part of the palace through the innovation of Changui-gung and the restoration of Hamijae to Heungbokjeon. Hence, it was confirmed that the Heungbokjeon was the only inner part of the palace that was not burned down by the 2 consecutive fires during the reign of King Gojong, to be more specific these fire happend on his 10th and 13th year of rule. Consequently, the research process of Gyeongbokgung Heungbokjeon can escalate the possibility of considering not only the reconstruction of Gyeongbokgung in the 19th century, as well as the construction of the capital city in the 17th century.