palace-hopping on seollal
The following is a post from dosasanddiamonds.com. Check out the original here.
A young boy frolics atop browned grass. He continues across the bridge over the pond, circling to hide behind the tree at the edge of the grounds. He chortles as he makes a mockery of his teacher, whom he observes is a dozen’s dozen paces behind him. The boy seizes this chance to run to the building at the edge of the wall that surrounds his home. In the back corner dangles the rope he left the last time he climbed atop. He scales the wall and pulls himself onto the roof. The archery master, spotting him, calls for him aghast, “young prince!” The man looks no bigger than a teacup from where the prince stands. He pushes the image of his teacher out of his mind, looking beyond him to the rest of the palace grounds. His playground stretches far, but not as far as his imagination travels.
Every winter, the streets of Seoul bear witness to a rare sight: silence. Shops close, speakers cease to blare, apartments are vacated. Most have travelled out of the city to visit their extended family in their hometowns, as is customary on Lunar New Year.
Lunar New Year, or Seollal, as it is known in South Korea, is celebrated either in January or February of the Gregorian calendar year, depending on when the second new moon following winter solstice appears. In other Eastern and Southeast Asian countries, Lunar New Year incites major celebrations — festivals and parades line the streets as people gather to watch firework displays and performances. In Korea, however, Seollal is a quiet holiday. Families gather and enjoy each others’ company, pay their respects, and receive a token of love from their guardians and elders.
If you have Korean relatives here or make friends with any Korean natives who invite you to spend Seollal with them, definitely accept. I spent one morning with close friends making ddeokguk (rice cake soup) and exchanged gifts. It was a warming way to spend my morning, being so far away from my own family.
On the other hand, given that most Koreans will travel out of the city (and out of the country), Seollal is a great time to check out some local tourist sites and monuments that are ordinarily too crowded to bask in. This year, I spent two days with friends checking out Seoul’s grand palaces: Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, and Gyeonghuigung (gung meaning palace).
To our very pleasant surprise, all of the palaces were providing free entry to individuals because of the holiday. Ordinarily, entry to each palace costs anywhere from 1000 to 10000 won if you purchase tickets separately. You also have the option of purchasing a combination ticket which gives you entry to all the same locations and saves you about 4000 won.
Gyeongbokgung
As news of the Japanese victory in Chungju spread to the palace gates, the King ordered his Commander-in-chief to defend the capital, retreating north to Pyeongyang. Unfortunately for the royal family, the Japanese army continued on their conquest and eventually landed at the grand palace. Japanese militia, along with disheartened citizens, who felt their kind had abandoned them, burned and demolished the palace grounds.
Since the Imjin Wars of 1592–1598, Gyeongbokgung has been rebuilt twice. It was left abandoned for two centuries following King Seonjo’s abandonment of the capital, eventually reconstructed by Prince Regent Heungson, only to be destroyed again in the 20th century by Japanese soldiers. Even today, the palace continues to undergo repairs and renovations, with hopes it will eventually replicate its original 1395 form when it served as the first palace and main symbol of the Joseon dynasty.
Gyeongbokgung is the largest and arguably most famous of the Seoul grand palaces. If visitors only get a chance to visit one palace during their stay in Seoul, I’d recommend this one. Not only is it the most magnificent, it is also close to the National Palace Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum of Korea, allowing visitors plenty of chances to learn about all of Seoul’s grand palaces and history.
The palace itself is relatively easy to find. There is a subway station on Line 3 (orange line) named after the palace and Exit #5 will lead you right into it’s walls. (Be sure to walk through the gates of eternal youth as you exit the subway station!)
If you’re lucky enough to visit the palace during a day with good air quality, you’ll probably catch a stunning glimpse of Bugak Mountain (북악산) in the background of the palace gates.
If you exit through the east feeder roads of the palace walls you can walk through the streets of Insadong, Samcheon-dong or Buam-dong (popular cultural and traditional entertainment hubs in Seoul) & Seochon and Bukchon Hanok Villages (Seoul’s most tourist-famous traditional villages) and eventually curve to meet the East Palace.
Changdeokgung and Changgyeongung
From here, she couldn’t hear the princes’ quarrels. Standing here, alone at dawn, with only the sound of birds singing and and leaves rustling, she felt as though the lotus pond, spring foliage and the pavilions of the Secret Garden all belonged to her. Of course, this wasn’t true. Huwon (후원) belonged to the royal family whom she served alongside the rest of the palace women. Soon, she’d have to go wake the young princes and tend to their clothes. But in this moment, while the palace was still asleep, she could pretend that the sights in her eyes and the peace in her mind’s was hers alone.
East of Gyeongbokgung lies the East Palace (동월), misleadingly nicknamed because it actually comprises of two separate palaces: Changdeokgung and Channggyeongung. Both of these served as secondary palaces to the royal family on multiple occasions. Both, while smaller, rival Gyeongbokgung in terms of beauty and decor.
Changgyeongung’s beautiful architecture is juxtaposed by its bloody history. It remains home to the murder of Crown Prince Sado. Sado, who was born with a mental disability and displayed violent tendencies, worried the royal family who were concerned with his ability to rule. His own father, the King at the time, starved Sado to death by locking him in a rice chest. The royal family kept the incident a secret for years, until Sado’s wife disclosed it in a memoir decades later.
Changdeokgung also harbours a secret, though one much less horrific. 후원, or Huwon, the Secret Garden, is one of Changdeokgung’s treasures. Originally open only to the royal family and the palace women, it is home to over 26 000 species of plants, which in the spring and fall blossom to create stunning foliage, illustrating to visitors why this palace is known for symbolizing harmony with nature. Tours of the Huwon Garden are available for visitors through online pre-booking in various languages — a must-do if you are planning to visit this palace.
During the months of April to October, Changdeokgung also offers moonlight tours, where visitors can enjoy a guided tour after hours.
Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung
When you stand at the palace gates after dark, some have reported catching a glimpse of a lady standing to their left. She is said to follow visitors around as they walk through the night-stained palace, beckoning for them to leave, hoping to save them from the horror of being forever trapped within the palace walls, as is her horrific fate.
- Dark Side of Seoul Tour
My friends and I were originally planning on skipping the last of the two palaces. However, we stumbled upon them one night as part of a walking tour we signed up for (check out the Dark Side of Seoul Tour on Google!).
Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung, while less often visited offer visitors more modern experiences compared to the other three palaces. Deoksugung stands near one of Seoul’s busiest intersections perfectly reflecting the mix of tradition and contemporary that comprises the current city of Seoul. Some of its halls were also built with European influence in mind.
Gyeonghuigung, the second palace of the west (석월), was of considerable size for most of its existence, but majority of it has been destroyed during Japanese occupation. Today, it remains under construction, like many of the other palaces and monuments that bear the scars of years of colonization by invaders.
Whether you choose to visit one or all of Seoul’s grand palaces, you are in for a treat. As you walk the paths of the palace grounds, it is astounding to remember that the entire grounds once belonged to a single family. A yard for the children to learn archery. A school inside the walls to learn calligraphy and the arts. While many of the walls are closed off, the architecture and art that are visible paint a very lively picture for visitors to see.