Gyeongbokgung Palace (1395): Seoul's First Joseon Royal Palace

Gyeongbokgung is the oldest and largest of the royal palaces of Seoul, built as the main palace of the new Joseon dynasty after it moved its capital to Hanyang. Begun in late 1394 and completed in 1395, it stood at the symbolic and political centre of the city for two centuries. Burned in 1592, rebuilt in the 1860s and badly damaged again under Japanese colonial rule, it has become a national symbol of Korean history and resilience.

Background: a new dynasty needs a capital

In 1392 the general Yi Seong-gye overthrew the Goryeo dynasty and became King Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty. The old capital, Kaegyeong (modern Kaesong), was full of Goryeo loyalists and aristocratic families, so the new king looked for a fresh site that would mark a clean break.

After considering several places, Taejo chose Hanyang on the Han River. The site suited the principles of pungsu, the Korean form of geomancy (feng shui): it was ringed by mountains, with Mount Bugaksan to the north, and had a river to the south. It also lay near the centre of the peninsula, with good river access for collecting grain taxes. The court formally moved to Hanyang in 1394.

Building the palace

Work on the main palace began in late 1394 and was completed in the autumn of 1395, together with the royal ancestral shrine, Jongmyo, and the Altar of Earth and Grain, Sajik. The city wall followed in 1396. The palace faced south, as Confucian custom required for a ruler’s seat, and lay at the northern end of a broad avenue lined with government offices.

The scholar-official Jeong Do-jeon, chief architect of the new state’s ideology, chose the names of the palace and its halls. He took the name Gyeongbok from a line in the Chinese classic, the Book of Songs, praying for “great blessings” for the ruler. The main throne hall was named Geunjeongjeon, the “Hall of Diligent Governance”, reflecting the Confucian ideal that a king’s first duty was conscientious rule.

The original palace was modest in size compared with what came later. Its plan followed a classical Chinese model of an outer court for official business and an inner court for the royal family. Later kings expanded it. Under King Taejong, the Gyeonghoeru pavilion was built over an artificial pond in 1412 for royal banquets and the reception of foreign envoys.

Design and symbolism

Every element of the layout carried meaning. The main buildings were set along a single north–south axis, with a series of gates and courtyards that visitors had to pass in strict order of rank. In the courtyard before the throne hall, rows of stone markers showed where officials of each grade stood during ceremonies, civil officials on the east and military officials on the west.

Compared with the imperial palace in China, Gyeongbokgung was deliberately restrained. As the ruler of a kingdom that recognised the Ming emperor as overlord, the Joseon king used fewer and smaller halls and avoided certain imperial colours and decorations. Korean builders also adapted the plan to the landscape, letting the mountain behind the palace frame the throne hall rather than levelling the ground into a perfectly flat site.

The buildings themselves were made of timber on stone foundations, with heavy tiled roofs and painted brackets in the decorative style known as dancheong, using green, red and blue pigments. Wood construction made the palace beautiful but vulnerable, and fire was a constant danger throughout its history. Stone guardian animals, including the mythical haetae believed to protect against fire, were later placed near the gates.

Life at the centre of Joseon

The palace’s early years were turbulent. In 1398 a bloody struggle between Taejo’s sons, the First Strife of Princes, was fought around the palace, and Jeong Do-jeon was killed. The court moved back to Kaegyeong for a few years, and when King Taejong returned to Hanyang in 1405 he built a second palace, Changdeokgung, which many later kings preferred.

Gyeongbokgung nevertheless remained the main palace through the fifteenth century. King Sejong (reigned 1418–1450) based his royal research institute, the Hall of Worthies (Jiphyeonjeon), within its walls, and scholars working with him produced the Korean alphabet, Hangul, announced in 1443 and published in 1446. Astronomical instruments and a water clock were also installed at the palace in Sejong’s reign.

Destruction in 1592

In 1592 Japanese armies under Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, beginning the Imjin War. As the invaders approached Seoul, King Seonjo fled north, and Gyeongbokgung burned along with the other palaces. Korean records indicate that the fire began amid unrest in the abandoned capital, while other accounts blame the Japanese troops; historians still discuss who was responsible.

For roughly 270 years the palace lay in ruins. The court lived instead in the rebuilt Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung palaces, and Gyeongbokgung’s site became an overgrown reminder of the war.

Rebuilding in the 1860s

In 1865 the Heungseon Daewongun, regent for the young King Gojong, ordered Gyeongbokgung rebuilt on a grand scale to restore royal prestige. The work, completed in 1867, produced a vast complex of halls, gates and pavilions. It was financed by heavy taxes and new coinage that caused inflation and public resentment.

The rebuilt palace soon witnessed dramatic events. In October 1895 Queen Min, later known as Empress Myeongseong, was assassinated within its grounds by a group of Japanese agents and Korean collaborators. King Gojong fled to the Russian legation in 1896 and never returned to live there.

Colonial period and restoration

After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, most of the palace’s buildings were demolished or sold off. Between 1916 and 1926 the colonial authorities built the massive Government-General Building directly in front of the throne hall, and the main gate, Gwanghwamun, was moved aside. After liberation, the building served various government and museum purposes until it was demolished in 1995–1996.

Since 1990 the South Korean government has run a long-term restoration programme to rebuild many of the lost structures. Gwanghwamun was returned to its original position and rebuilt in 2010. Today Gyeongbokgung houses the National Palace Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum and is one of Seoul’s most visited sites.

Key buildings

• Gwanghwamun: the main southern gate.
• Geunjeongjeon: the throne hall, used for coronations and great ceremonies; a National Treasure.
• Sajeongjeon: the king’s office for daily state business.
• Gangnyeongjeon and Gyotaejeon: the king’s and queen’s living quarters.
• Gyeonghoeru: the banquet pavilion on its pond, first built in 1412; also a National Treasure.

Timeline

• 1394: the Joseon court moves to Hanyang; palace construction begins late in the year.
• 1395: Gyeongbokgung is completed and named by Jeong Do-jeon.
• 1398: First Strife of Princes in the capital.
• 1412: Gyeonghoeru pavilion built under King Taejong.
• 1443: King Sejong announces Hangul, devised by scholars working with him.
• 1592: the palace burns during the Japanese invasion.
• 1865–1867: rebuilt under the Heungseon Daewongun.
• 1895: Queen Min is assassinated in the palace.
• 1926: the Government-General Building is completed in front of the throne hall.
• 1995–1996: the colonial building is demolished; restoration continues.

Why it matters

Gyeongbokgung was planned as the physical expression of the Joseon state: a Confucian monarchy ruling from a carefully chosen capital. Its destruction and repeated rebuilding mirror Korea’s history of invasion, colonisation and recovery, which is why the palace holds a special place in Korean national memory.