Pungpaejigwan Guesthouse, Jeonju

A gaeksa was a guesthouse built in every county during the Goryeo and Joseon periods, also called a gwansa or gaekgwan, an official residence for guests. Guesthouses existed from the early Goryeo period, and when foreign envoys visited, they lodged there and banquets were also held. During the Joseon period, spirit tablets were enshrined in guesthouses, and on the first and fifteenth day of each month officials paid respects there facing towards the royal palace; the guesthouses were also used to lodge envoys. In regions in contact with Ming China, envoys from Ming as well as Korea's own envoys stayed there, so maintaining the buildings was said to have posed great difficulty. When affairs of state arose, the common people and the local government office performed ceremonies together. Records state that Pungpaejigwan Guesthouse in Jeonju was rebuilt using material left over after the Jeonju Historical Archive was built, when the Seouiheon hall was renovated in 1471, the second year of King Seongjong, indicating that the guesthouse itself was built even earlier than this. The main gate of Pungpaejigwan originally had an inner, middle and outer three-part gate in front of the main hall, but the grounds have since been reduced to within the original inner gate. In the gamsil, the chamber where the spirit tablet was enshrined, a tablet inscribed with the character for 'palace' was kept; rites were performed there facing the royal palace, and when envoys arrived from the royal court, they lodged there while conveying the king's orders. At Pungpaejigwan Guesthouse in Jeonju, the main hall stood at the centre with many buildings around it, including the east and west wings, the maengcheong and the musinsa, but today only the main hall, the west wing, the east wing and the caretaker's quarters remain. The east wing originally matched the west wing in appearance, but part of it was cut away during the Japanese colonial period when a road was built connecting the south and north gates; only some of its foundation stones survived, and the wing was restored in 1999. On the front of the main hall hangs a plaque reading 'Pungpaejigwan', meaning that Jeonju was the place of origin of the Joseon Dynasty.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jeonju, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물