Today, I went to Gyeongbokgung, which is one of the five main palaces in Seoul.

  I was mostly interested in Gwanghwamun, which is the main gate of Gyeongbokgung. Gwanghwamun has several unfortunate stories. It was destroyed two times all over the history. The original gate was firstly destroyed during the Joseon-Japan war, but it was rebuilt by Heungseon Daewongun in 1866. It was destroyed again during the Korean War and was reconstructed in 1968 by president Park-Jung-Hee. Moreover, for enhanced quality of Gwanghwamun, president Lee-Myeong-Park repaired the gate with traditional materials in 2010.

 I was also interested in Gyeonghoeru. Gyeonghoeru is a gigantic pavilion. In Gyeonhoeru, people gathered together in order to take a rest and have parties. I was mostly fascinated by its appealing look. I also liked the pond around Gyeonghoeru because the reflection of Gyeonghoeru on the water was such an astonishment for me. For further research, the outer pillars of Gyeonghoeru are square, and the inner pillars are round, since Joseon people believed in Cheonwonjibang. Cheonwonjibang was one of the beliefs that people in Joseon dynasty had. From this fact, I was able to realize that the faith in Joseon people could give an influence to the structure of buildings in a certain period of time.

 From today's class, I was able to think about various kinds of stories related to Gyeongbokgung. I could finally realize the reason why Gyeongbokgung is considered as one of the main 5 palaces in Seoul. I have no doubt about the high reputation of Gyeonghoeru and Gwanghwamun that play significant roles in Gyeongbokgung.