Gyeongbok Palace (Gyeongbokgung)
Gyeongbok Palace, or Gyeongbokgung, was the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty and is the largest and most recognizable of Seoul's Five Grand Palaces.
Its name translates to “Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven”. As the primary, or legal, palace (Beopgung), it was the most important, serving as the symbolic heart of the nation from its founding in 1395 by King Taejo. The palace’s design is a physical manifestation of Confucian ideology, drawing inspiration from ancient Chinese texts like the Rites of Zhou. Its layout is one of strict, symmetrical order, with all major gates and halls arranged precisely along a central north-south axis.
The main gate, Gwanghwamun, opens to the grand courtyard of Geunjeongjeon, the Imperial Throne Hall. This imposing two-tiered hall is where the king held coronations, granted formal audiences, and conducted state affairs. Within the palace, his throne sits before a distinctive painted screen known as the Irworobongbyeong (Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks Screen), where the sun symbolized the king and the moon represented the queen.
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Behind the formal state area are the royal residences. These buildings contain a unique architectural detail: the king’s quarters (Gangnyeongjeon) and the queen’s quarters (Gyotaejeon) are the only two main halls in the palace that lack a top roof ridge, known as a yongmaru (dragon ridge). This was an intentional choice, as the king himself was considered the dragon, making a symbolic dragon on his roof unnecessary. Behind the queen’s quarters lies Amisan, a small, man-made garden built using the soil excavated from the creation of the pond for the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. This massive pavilion, used for state banquets, was also believed to be protected by a bronze dragon placed in its pond for fire prevention — a belief confirmed when the dragon was discovered during a dredging of the pond in 1997.
Gyeongbok Palace’s history is one of destruction and rebirth. It was burned down during the Japanese invasions of 1592 and left in ruins for 273 years. It was finally rebuilt in 1867 by the Prince Regent Heungseon, father of King Gojong. In 1873, Gojong built a separate, more private residence in the northernmost part of the palace called Geoncheonggung Residence, in part to be free from his father’s influence. This residence became the site of a national tragedy when Empress Myeongseong was assassinated here by Japanese agents in 1895. It was also, notably, the birthplace of electricity in Korea; in 1887, technicians from the Edison Electric Light Company installed the first electric light bulbs in East Asia here, preceding developments in China and Japan.
