• Journal of architectural history
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.25-42
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• 2008

The Gyeongbok Palace was completed during the reign of King Taejo and King Sejong in the early Joseon Dynasty. The most remarkable spacious feature of the palace is that it has an inner palace wall without an outer palace wall. The absence of the outer palace wall had its origin in the palace of the late Goryeo Dynasty which did not provide the outer palace wall. Gwanghwamoon was the main gate of the palace, and the office buildings of the Six Ministries were arranged on the right side in front of the main gate. A wide road called Six Ministries Avenue was made between the builidings. The avenue was completed during the reign of the third king of Joseon, Taejong, and it was assumed that this arrangement was influenced by the government office arrangements of Nanjing, the early capital city of the Ming Dynasty. Gwanghwamoon held national rituals as well as the civic and military state examinations nations in front of the gate. The avenue was decorated with flowers and silks when kings and the royal families, or Chinese envoys enter the gate, and the civilians watched the parade, Because there was no outer palace wall, all the events held at Gwanghwamoon and the Six Ministries Avenue ware opened to the public, it was the unique feature of Gyeongbok Palace that the palaces of Goryeo dynasty and China did not have.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.38-55
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• 2021

Cherwon Castle is located in Pungcheonwon, Cherwon, in the center of the Korean Peninsula. Currently, it is split across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas. It attracts attention as a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation and as cultural heritage that serves as data in making important policy decisions on the DMZ. Despite its importance, however, there has not been sufficient investigation and research done on Cherwon Castle. This is due to the difficulty involved in investigation and research and is caused by the site's inaccessibility. As a solution, the current investigative methods in satellite and aerial archeology can be applied to interpret and analyze the structure of Cherwon Castle and the features of its inner space zoning. Cherwon Castle was built on the five flat hills that begin in the northern mountainous hills and stretch to the southwest. The inner and outer walls were built mainly on the hilly ridges, and the palace wall was built surrounding a flat site that was created on the middle hill. For each wall, the sites of the old gates, which were erected in various directions , have been identified. They seem to have been built to fit the direction of buildings in the castle and the features of the terrain. The castle was built in a diamond shape. The old sites of the palace and related buildings and landforms related to water drainage were identified. It was verified that the roads and the gates were built to run from east to west in the palace. In the spaces of the palace and the inner castle, flat sites were created to fit different landforms, and building sites were arranged there. Moreover, the contour of a reservoir that is believed to be the old site of a pond has been found; it lies on the vertical extension of the center line that connects the palace and the inner castle. Between the inner castle and the outer castle, few vestiges of old buildings were found, although many flat sites were discovered. Structurally, Cherwon Castle is rotated about nine degrees to the northeast, forming a planar rectangle. The planar structure derives from the castle design that mimics the hilly landform, and the bending of the southwestern wall also attests to the intention of the architects to avoid the wetland. For now, it is impossible to clearly describe the functions and characters of the building sites inside the castle. However, it is believed that the inner castle was marked out for space for the palace and government offices, while the space between the outer and inner castle was reserved as the living space for ordinary people. The presence of the hilly landform diminishes the possibility that a bangri (grid) zoning system existed. For some of the landforms, orderly zoning cannot be ruled out, as flat areas are commonly seen. As surveys have yet to be conducted on the different castles, the time when the walls were built and how they were constructed cannot be known. Still, the claim to that the castle construction and the structuring of inner spaces were inspired by the surrounding landforms is quite compelling.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.80-100
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• 2024

This paper investigated the major history and reality of iconological composition for Jagyeongjeon Hall's flowered wall in Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was controversial in terms of preservation and management of cultural heritage. While analyzing the moment and cause of the flowered wall's renovation as it is now, modified or disappeared patterns were identified, and meaningfully misinterpreted congratulatory phrases were reviewed. The research results can be used as meaningful basic data when discussions are made for the restoration of the wall in the future. Jagyeongjeon Hall's flowered wall has reached the present day with large and small changes, but the inflection point that had a significant impact was the Joseon Expo (朝鮮博覽會) held at Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1929. This is because the wall that remained in the Jagyeongjeon Hall area was demolished to build an exhibition hall while preparing for the expo, and it was restored after the end of the event. It is highly likely that the modification or disappearance of the patterns constituting Jagyeongjeon Hall's flowered wall was also due to the restoration process carried out after the expo. There is a view that was transformed into its current state in the process of repair work carried out after the Korean War, but it is difficult to find any meaningful circumstances and evidence. Currently, character patterns known as 'Seongnidori(聖人道理)' are arranged on the inner wall of the section from Gyeongdomun Gate(擎桃門) to Yeogangmun Gate(如岡門), but considering the design form and example, it can be read as 'Seongjasinson(聖子神孫)'. The inner wall of the section from Yeogangmun Gate to Yeonsumun Gate(燕壽門) was originally made in the form of a flowered wall, and the phrases presumed to be 'Gyegyeseungseung(繼繼繩繩)' and 'Cheonse(千世)' were arranged. In the case of the section from Yeonsumun Gate to Hamgyumun Gate(含奎門), the inner wall where the pattern has disappeared is originally composed of geometric and character patterns, and there were also phrases specified as 'Cheonsu(千壽)' and 'Mansemansu(萬世萬壽)'. On the outer wall of the section from Yeonsumun Gate to Hamgyumun Gate, there is a possibility that the phrase known as 'Nakgangmanse(樂彊萬歲)' can be read as 'Cheonsemanse(千歲萬歲)'. In addition, the current outer wall was composed of one drawing board, but in the past, two drawing boards were composed separately.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.114-159
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• 2012

The Northern Song Dynasty Period (北宋時代) was a drastic transitional era in all aspect of Chinese society including the politico-economic system, ideology and cultural trait. These changes that began in the late Tang (唐) Dynasty Period accomplished in the Northern Song Dynasty. In this phase, the fundamental change influenced in all institutional area; and among them, the capital city planning and its associating building technology to pile stone walls shows one of the significant change of those time. Based on the geographical factor, confluences of many rivers, the Kaifeing (開封) area where the BianLieng palace had developed as a political and economical centre since the Tang Dynasty when the Grand Canal was constructed. According to archaeological researches, the central city structure of Dongjing Walled Town was begun to plan in the late Tang Dynasty and formed in Five Dynasties. The fundamental functional change of city completed in the Midnorthern Song Dynasty. In spite of the relatively late beginning of archaeological investigations to Kaifeng Walled Town and Dongjing Walled Town due to unfavourable natural environment, excavations inaugurated since 1981 have achieved the significant investigations including the actual measurement and excavation to the outer wall, the preliminary excavation to the inner city area, the investigation and excavation to the royal palace of Song and the survey to the royal palace of King Zho in the Ming (明) Dynasty. These surveys have provide important data to reconstruct the 변량 palace, and elucidate the characteristics of city plan in the Dongjing Walled Town and the institutional change of capital city plan of the Northern Song Dynasty. The basic layout of Dongjing Walled Town reflect the realisation of ideality of the late Chinese medieval capital city structure that establish the commercial and economic centre based on the intensification of emperor's power by means of the organisation of ethical institution and the development of commercial economy. Firstly, the central place of the Kaifeng area is encircled with triple walls. This emphasise the authority of emperor located on the summit in the hierarchical ethic system succeeding to the main capital city plan of the late phase of ancient China. Secondly, the location of Dongjing Walled Town was decided by the transport network and the commercial function and defence function. Thirdly, this site shows the change of city structure and landscape of the Northern Song Dynasty. The closed Fengri (坊里: block) system transferred the open Jiexiang (街巷: road) system. Fourthly, the capital city was characterised by the free market trade and the diversification of market place. Fifthly, a convenient transport network in the Bian River, a centre of the Grand Canals, enabled to construct the Kaifeng Walled Town. Therefore, the Northern Song Dynasty continuously accomplished the developed water system as concerning about the utilisation of waterways after the construction of city.