Keri and Korea: Something old, something new 오래된 뭔가 새로운 것을

It was a blustery day, but that didn't stop us from seeing the biggest palace in the city, Gyeongbokgung! How's this for walking in the front gate?

This palace was rich with history! It was originally built in 1395, but it was later destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion of 1592. It was reconstructed in 1867, only to be destroyed again during the Japanese occupation of 1910-1945. Efforts to restore the palace began in 1990, and work is still ongoing.
Find an aerial view here, to help you see how large the grounds are.

The name means "the new dynasty will be greatly blessed and prosperous". Hmm, let's see what else I can pull from this 25 page pamphlet .... There really is so much to see, and everything had a purpose and a meaning and a name, and it's beautiful! It's quite the attraction (tons of foreigners and field trips).

First walk through the gate, and then another gateway, and you are left feeling so small and intimidated by the above view.

That's the king's building to handle his royal affairs like meetings, receptions, and other important ceremonies.

See his throne? And just look at the colors all over the walls and ceiling!

ceiling above the throne

spot the looney

grrr

And there are numerous animal "guardians" around this building by the steps of the terrace. Here Jane models the white tiger, and I honey-up to the rooster. Other figures include monkey, sheep, rat, rabbit, ox, horse, black tortoise, blue dragon, and vermilion phoenix.

bwok

Beyond the next wall were three more buildings for the king, for him to "think deeply before deciding what is right or wrong". These even have heated floors!

spot Jane

Moving onward, to the ladies quarters.
By this area we came across the English guided tour, so we jumped in. The guide was clothed in her traditional dress. She explained how the king and queen rarely saw each other. Because it was so crucial to have a healthy, intelligent baby boy to grow up and rule the country well, their advisers would calculate and speculate the luckiest day and take into account the health of the family, and the weather, and the mountain, and the blossoms .... and I'm sure much more. But, there was room for concubines! Actually the queen had a lot of duties when it came to running the palace, over 3,000 people lived/worked there. (I didn't get any photos of the queen's house because we followed the guide!)

At least she had her own garden behind her house, and it has seasonal flowers to represent each season.

See these chimneys? They are originals when the queens quarters were constructed around 1440. They are still lovely today!

spot our guide in her pretty hanbok

Here is another pretty garden, and our guide finished up her wealth of information, even explaining how electricity was introduced to the grounds with generators, and how the queen was murdered there during the Japanese invasion in 1895.

flowery design on the wall to indicate
it's a lady's dwelling

There's more!! We breezed through the National Folk Art Museum, and next found the pond and pavilion.

Spot Keri

And the outdoor "kitchen" where they are making (for real) bean curd paste, chili paste, maybe vinegar and other fermented items

I'm in here too

And this building!
Couldn't really see inside, but this pamphlet tells me it was a library and reception hall.

Ok, we just didn't have time to see it all! But as we walked out the Northern gate, we could see the Blue House right across the street! That's where the president lives. It's neat that the current lady-in-charge lives practically in the same place the historical leaders did.