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Published: March 7th 2009
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So today we were determined to see a Palace. We tried to go last weekend but they were all closed we were told. We went today. It was bitter cold and windy which made it worse. The only saving point to keep us all from freezing to death was that the sun was out and shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Gyeongbokgung is the oldest palace of the Joseon Dynasty(1392-1910). It was built in 1395 as the main palace. It is the most comprehensive and grandest of the five palaces of this period. In 1592 it was reduced to ashes from a Japanese Invasion. For the next 273 years, the grounds were left untouched and kings stayed in other palaces. It wasn't until 1867 that its restoration took place. In 1911, the land was transferred to the Japanese Government-General, where more than 90% of the buildings were torn down. The restoration of the Palace has been ongoing since 1990, all the Japanese buildings were removed, all buildings were restored to their original states. (Complements of the Guide book.)
We went on a tour which talked a lot about how the people lived. The king and the queen
lived separately, in an open room with servants that lived with them from the age of 7 or 8 until their mid 40s or 50s. The king/queen lived very short lives because they worked from 4 in the morning until midnight every day with no holidays. They couldn't exercise or get out and the stresses of work took a toll on their health. Most lived just over 40 years. Even back hundreds of years ago they heated the buildings with heated floors. That's why they sat on the floor to eat and study... the warmth from the floor kept them warm.
On the buildings, the names of each is written in Chinese. That was because for a while the Korean language was only spoken and they didn't have letters. Even when there were letters they kept it in Chinese because it was considered an aristocratic language... only the "rich and famous" so to speak could understand it.
Something that I thought was pretty interesting was they talked about why the walkways and stones were uneven. It's very hard to walk on them because they aren't flat and smooth. They built them that way so that 1. the leather
Inside the palace
Inside the palace, the gate to get to the king's quarters. I was standing on the bridge where water would run underneith it to protect it from people trying to get in. shoes people wore would not slip on the rocks, and 2. so that the sun didn't reflect off the stones and make it ahrd to see. There was a walkway for processions with three sections, the middle was raised. The middle, raised section was for the King and Queen. To the left was for the military and the right for the officials. Where the crowd would stand on either side to watch, there were pillars which distinguished ranks. The highest ranks stood in the front, the lower ranks in the back.
I got a picture with the Dragon. Because I was born during the year of the dragon. It is apparently a good year to be born,many people try to have children that year they say its very luck (woo hoo) But they say its hard to get into a good school if you were born that year because there are SO many other born the same year. Maybe that's why I got rejected to so many schools...hmm.
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