Seonjeongjeon Hall of Changdeokgung Palace

'Seonjeong' (宣政) means 'to spread governance and education widely', and Seonjeongjeon Hall was the pyeonjeon, the king's official office for conducting state affairs. The pyeonjeon was where the king and his officials discussed government affairs and studied Confucian classics and history; the sessions held here between the king and his officials were called sangcham. Only officials of the third rank or above, known as danggwan, were permitted to attend sangcham. Perhaps because of this important function, unlike other palace halls its roof is covered with blue glazed tiles, known as cheonggiwa. This technique was introduced from China, and it is said that the blue tiles were fired using an expensive imported pigment called hoehoecheong. Seonjeongjeon is the only hall remaining in the palace with a cheonggiwa roof, which survives today after several rounds of repair. The present Seonjeongjeon was rebuilt in 1647, the 25th year of King Injo, using the Gwangjeongjeon Hall dismantled from Ingyeonggung Palace, which King Gwanghaegun had built at the foot of Inwangsan Mountain; it is a fine and representative wooden building of the mid-Joseon period. When the king and his officials discussed state affairs in Seonjeongjeon, court historians recorded the proceedings on either side of the king; these records were called sacho. Based on the sacho, after a king's death the succeeding king would compile the annals of the reign - these compilations form the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty as it exists today, an unbroken record spanning 473 years that has been designated a UNESCO Memory of the World.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물