Seoul - 2.2 The Principle Behind the Establishment of the Capital, Hanseong
| Understanding Korea Series No.4 | ||
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| 1) Seoul Before It Became the Capital | 2) The Principle Behind the Establishment of the Capital, Hanseong | 3) Population Changes in Hanseong |
The Joseon Dynasty, founded in 1392, was ruled by 27 kings for 518 years until it lost its sovereignty in 1910 to Japanese colonial rule, making it Asia’s longest continuous dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty relocated its capital in 1394 for three reasons: First, Hanyang was a propitious site according to the world view based on geomancy; second, its central location in the Korean Peninsula made it easy to rule the whole country; and third, it had excellent nodal links since all cargo vessels in the country gathered there through the Han River and every road of the country converged there (Refer to <Figure 4>).
Fengshui (pungsu in Korean) is a traditional geography that promotes harmony between human lives and the order of mountain and water. A piece of land located where the mountain and water meet in a harmonious way is called a myeongdang (propitious site). The basic geographic elements of a myeongdang include: a perfect, graceful guardian mountain in the backdrop with soft mountains stemming out left and right (‘blue dragon’ in left and ‘white tiger’ on right); an ansan (a low-rising mountain in front of myeongdang) that discretely hides the front, a frontal brook that entwines it; and a josan (ancestral mountain) that protects the city from afar. Myeongdang is a place ‘where the wind is controlled and in possession of water’ so it provides a sense of security and wellbeing to its residents. Lands applicable to this fengshui situation become dwellings of various scale; small ones became villages, larger ones hosted local governments, and the largest one hosted the capital.
According to the construction principle of fengshui applied to Hanseong, Bukhan Mountain and Bukak Mountain are connected to the Baekdu Mountain’s vein; the Jojongsan (the main ancestral mountain) of the Korean Peninsula are the main mountains; Inwang Mountain on the left is the blue dragon while Tarak Mountain on the right is the white tiger, and Mokmyeok Mountain (Namsan) in the south is the ansan. These four mountains make up the four inner mountains. Han River, the outer water, flows from east to west, and Gaecheon (Cheonggyecheon), the inner water, flows from the west to east. These two waters form myeongdang water. The space formed in the gap surrounded by these four inner mountains was the core space of the capital Hanseong, and it was enough to hold about 100,000 residents. Considering the population of the period the space was large enough to function as the capital.
The Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in the center of myeongdang, and Geunjeongjeon, where the king tended most of the state affairs, was placed in hyeolcheo (meridian). The core spaces of the Gyeongbokgung Palace including Gwanghwamun (the main gate), Geunjeongjeon (meeting place for government officials), Sajeongjeon (the king’s public office), Gangryeongjeon (the king’s bedchamber) and Gyotaejeon (the queen’s bedchamber) were placed symmetrically according to geometrical order, and nonessential buildings were arranged asymmetrically according to the geographic formation to realize the beauty of both variation and unity. However, many buildings inside the Gyeongbokgung Palace were demolished during the Japanese Annexation, and the original form was destroyed in 1927 when the Japanese Government-General of Korea Building was constructed in front of Geunjeongjeon. The former Japanese Government-General of Korea Building was demolished in 1997, and through the Gyeongbokgung Restoration Project, 89 buildings including Gwanghwamun, Heongryemun, Gangryeongjeon and Gyotaejeon were restored. These buildings however only comprise one-fourth of Gyeongbokgung’s original size.
Other major urban facilities besides the Gyeongbokgung Palace such as the Jongmyo Shrine, Sajik, markets and streets were arranged in respect of the Confucian traditions following the principles of Jowamyousa (shrine on left and place of worship for the god of earth on right) and Myeonjohusi (government in front and market in the rear) recorded in Zhouli-Kaogongji (the Ancient Chinese Urban Planning Section in the Rites of the Zhou Dynasty). The Jongmyo Shrine, the place where the royal ancestors were enshrined and ancestral rites performed, was placed on the left side of the palace, and Sajik, the place where the worship rites for the god of earth (Sa) and god of grain (Jik) for wishing for good harvest and prosperity of the nation, was placed on the right side of the palace in accordance to the principle of Jowamyousa. From ancient times, it was said, the king must ‘report to Jongmyosajic’ first once he ascended to the throne, and the nation would fall ‘if Jongmyosajic disappeared.’ Jongmyo and Sajic had been symbolic places that served as the nation’s spiritual anchor. The government buildings were placed in the frontal section of the palace in accordance to the principle of Myeonjohusi at Yukjo (Six Ministries) Street. Uijeongbu (State Council), Ijo (Ministry of Personnel), Hanseongbu (Capital Bureau), and Hojo (Ministry of Taxation) were placed in the east, and Yejo (Ministry of Rites), Saheonbu (Office of Inspector General), Byeongjo (Ministry of Defense) and Gongjo (Ministry of Works) were placed to the west of the palace. The market was supposed to be placed in the north but since the palace was placed in front of jusan, the Bukak Mountain, in accordance to the principle of fengshui, it was placed slightly off to the east of the palace. The market was called Yukuijeon (market for six items) because they dealt silk, ramie, cotton, hemp cloth, paper, dried seafood, and hats. The merchants were mobilized whenever the state needed labor for palace affairs such as plastering, repair, sewing, or road cleaning. In return the merchants received exclusive sales rights from the government and were the state-registered merchants. Yukuijeon, also called Unjongga (modern-day Jongno), kept growing and established itself as the central commercial space within the city limit. The shape of street network was largely kept regular unless there were geographical obstacles. The main streets were designed to be 56 cheok (1 cheok=30 cm) wide; mid-size streets were 16 cheok wide and narrow streets were 11 cheok wide in the plan. The streets not only served the function of passage way but also held strong symbolic meanings. They were used as market plazas, and the king used the road. On the other side of these planned streets, there were natural byways and alleys created by waterways. These urban organizational characteristics can be still found today.
| No | Name | No | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samgunbu(Three Armies Command) | 7 | Uijeongbu (State Council) |
| 2 | Jungchubu(Consultative Committee) | 8 | Yejo (Ministry of Rites) |
| 3 | Saheonbu(Office of Inspector-General) | 9 | Ijo (Ministry of Personnal) |
| 4 | Byeongjo (Ministry of Defense) | 10 | Hojo (Ministry of Taxation) |
| 5 | Hyeongjo (Ministry of Justice) | 11 | Hanseongbu (Capital Bereau) |
| 6 | Gongjo (Ministry of Works) |
The fortress walls served as the boundary that distinguishes the inside and outside of the capital city both physically and emotionally; it is synonymous to the four inner mountains in spatial sense. The wall was built along the geographic formation of the four inner mountains, which explains why its shape was neither rectangular nor uniform. It instead formed natural soft curve. ‘Sasangeumpyodo (the Prohibition Order for the Four Mountains)’ strictly banned any quarrying or logging in order to protect the veins of the four mountains. As a result the green area was kept for a long time, and many different places offered vantage points for observing the interweaving curves of the four inner mountains and the inside and the outside of the fortress walls.
Since the fortress walls of Hanyang were not equipped with ongseong (a half-moon shaped protective double wall built outside of castle gate) and jangdae (a type of command post), it may not be suitable to be labeled as a perfect defensive facility. Still, it represented the boundaries of the Joseon Dynasty’s capital and maintained its shape and function for more than 500 years. The fortress walls of Hanyang are known to be the largest in scale among the existent fortress walls of capital cities listed as World Heritage sites. The gate towers (four great gates and four small gates) and the 18.65 km-long original wall constructed of stone are still well preserved so the traditional fortress wall construction methods and repair techniques of each period can be verified.
