Main Hall of Gyeonggijeon Shrine, Jeonju

Jeonju Gyeonggijeon Shrine, a Historic Site, enshrines a portrait of King Taejo Yi Seong-gye, founder of the Joseon Dynasty. The hall housing King Taejo's portrait had originally been called Eoyongjeon or Taejo Jinjeon, before being renamed Gyeonggijeon in 1442, the twenty-fourth year of King Sejong. Gyeonggijeon, first built in 1410, was destroyed by fire during the Jeongyu War of 1597 (the second Japanese invasion) and rebuilt in 1614. In 1872, when a new copy of King Taejo's portrait (the Portrait of King Taejo, a Treasure) was made and enshrined, Gyeonggijeon underwent a general repair. The Main Hall is built in the dapo style, a multi-cluster bracket system, with three outer and three inner bracket projections, a five-purlin frame, a gable roof and double eaves. The oxtongue-shaped tips of its salmi brackets are well developed, and their interior faces are carved with foliate decoration, reflecting the settled style of the mid-Joseon period. The Baeryecheong, or Worship Hall, is built in the ikgong style, a wing-shaped bracket system, with double brackets and a gable roof with double eaves; its gable end forms the front façade of the whole shrine complex. Both the Main Hall and the Baeryecheong stand on round granite plinths topped with gently tapering round columns. Inside, two tall columns 5.8 m high directly support the ridge beam, and the columns on the side elevations are likewise tall columns supporting the main beam, giving the side framework a structure that is simple yet solidly built. The carved interior brackets of the pojak bracket sets, the beam supports, and the delicately carved wave-patterned strut supporting the ridge purlin, together with the coffered ceiling and dancheong, the traditional multicoloured decorative painting, form an elaborate design that sets the building apart in authority from other Confucian ritual architecture. The joints and fittings of the structural members are precise and solid, and the stable structure and well-proportioned members, which faithfully transmit the traditional building techniques of the mid-Joseon period, lend the building considerable architectural dignity. The strict formality of the spirit path and incense path within the inner gate, set to match the function and dignity of the Main Hall enshrining the portrait of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon Dynasty, together with the floor-plan combination of the Main Hall and the Baeryecheong and the structure of the royal portrait chamber, are recognised as giving this building its value as cultural heritage worthy of treasure designation.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jeonju, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물