This gate’s name means that great virtue of king lighten
whole of the country.
It is the south
gate of Gyeongbokgung palace(경복궁) where kings of Joseon dynasty(1392-1897)
lived and ruled the country as the primary old main palace. Gwanghwamun square (광화문광장) is in front of this gate. It is also starting point to measure the
distance between Seoul and other local cities in this country.
It has three arched
gates(Hongyemun;홍예문 middle
one for king, others for officials), a pair of Haetae(해태) sculpture looking southward and mythical
symbolic paintings on the ceiling with different one.
It was destroyed two
times when Japanese invaded in 1592 and Korean war(1950) was broken out. It has
gotten several disassemble and restoration through multiple periods.Despite of
various hardships through long history, now it stood again in 2010 in a
dignified manner just like Korean peoples’ spirit after being equipped with
historical accuracy.
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| The Haetae(Haechi) |
A pair of Haetae (or called by Haechi),symbolic guard animal, protect the palace
from the fire. This is regarded as the fire guard which has a small horn on its
forehead and a bell on its neck and symbol of justice and law also. So king
wanted that officials resemble after this spirit and deal with the law without
favour on the side of the angels.
You can see the Patrol changing ritual of the
royal guard who wore the traditional guard uniform. Also there is a small place that you can
experience firsthand for wearing their clothes inside the gate.
 |
| Experience of wearing the uniform of royal guard |
As if it was
there as long as ever along with Korean history this priceless gate is going to stand
now and after forever.
How to get there ; take off Gyeongbokgung (Seoul subway line3) Exit #5
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