The Effects of Japan's Colonization on Changgeong Palace

 When we went to the Changgeong palace today, sure, it felt beautiful. The Dancheong, tiled roof, and the carvings on the stones¡¦ yes, they all looked so beautiful. However, when I stepped through the gates today, something NOT beautiful at all came to my mind. A period of 36 years that turned the beautiful palace into a monkey filled zoo. Do you think you know what I¡¯m talking about? If you¡¯re thinking of the Japanese colonization, you¡¯re definitely correct. The Japanese had once turned this beautiful palace into a zoo full of animals! So today, I would like to tell you about the effects the Japanese Colonization had, on this beautiful Changgeong palace.

 Well, let me start off with a question; who rebuilt the Changgeong palace? The Korean government? Volunteer organizations? No, no, no. Let me just tell you, you would never even think about this answer. The answer to my question is; the Japanese government. Why, why in the world would they do that? The answer is simple. They wanted to affect our history and culture. In order to do that, they changed some stuff during the reconstruction in the Changgeong palace. Let¡¯s take a look to see some of them.

 First of all, they modified the structure of the Changgeong palace. Do you remember at the first paragraph when I said, ¡®However, when I stepped through the gates, something NOT beautiful came to my mind¡¯? I meant literally, when I stepped through the gates. When you step through the gates, and if you look closely, you can see that the roads and the gates are not straight and are slightly twisted. The Japanese purposely did that, and it symbolizes that the Japanese will twist the spirit of Chosun by twisting the main road of Chosun¡¯s palace.

 Second, they miniaturized the scale of some buildings such as Myungjun-jun and Hamin-jung. The purpose was to minimize Chosun¡¯s powers and show that Chosun is weak.

 Lastly, they mixed up many of the artifacts. Did you see the wind measurer at the top of the hill along with some other artifacts? Well, actually, they were not there at the first place. The Japanese mixed up things when making the zoo, and erased the books about where the artifacts were. Now, it seems like it is impossible to restore and put those artifacts back to where they were.

 So, now you know what effect the Japanese Colonization had on the Changgeong palace. As a same Korean, I think we all feel bad about what they did to our beautiful palaces and other many cultural remains. Now, since the Korean government doesn¡¯t have enough ¡®money¡¯ to restore the damaged palaces, it¡¯s up to us, the future of Korea, to reconstruct and remember the long history and culture of our proud nation; Korea.