Sajeongjeon Hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace follows the traditional principles of palace architecture handed down since antiquity — jeonjo-huchim ('court to the front, sleeping quarters to the rear') and sammun samjo ('three gates, three courts') — and is broadly divided into the outer court, the administrative court, and the residential court, each fitted out with halls suited to its function. In the administrative court stands Geunjeongjeon Hall, the main hall of Gyeongbokgung Palace, behind which are Sajeongjeon Hall, Mancheonjeon Hall, and Cheonchujeon Hall. Sajeongjeon Hall was where the king normally resided and attended to state affairs; it stands directly ahead when one passes through Sajeongmun Gate behind Geunjeongjeon Hall, with Mancheonjeon Hall to its east and Cheonchujeon Hall to its west. Together with Mancheonjeon Hall and Cheonchujeon Hall, Sajeongjeon Hall served as a pyeonjeon, a hall for the king's daily attendance to state affairs; Sajeongjeon Hall itself has no underfloor heating, while Mancheonjeon Hall and Cheonchujeon Hall do, so it is presumed that in the cold winter months state affairs and royal lectures were conducted instead in Mancheonjeon Hall and Cheonchujeon Hall. The main gate of Sajeongjeon Hall, Sajeongmun Gate, connects to Geunjeongjeon Hall; to its left and right are corridor buildings comprising storerooms named, from west to east, after the sequence of characters in the Thousand Character Classic — from Cheonjago to Woljago — which served to store the palace's goods. Sajeongjeon Hall was built in 1395, the fourth year of King Taejo, when Gyeongbokgung Palace was first constructed, and was rebuilt after burning down in 1553, the eighth year of King Myeongjong. It was then lost, along with the many halls and gates of Gyeongbokgung Palace, during the Japanese invasion of 1592, the twenty-fifth year of King Seonjo. The present building, rebuilt in 1867, the fourth year of Emperor Gojong, together with Geunjeongjeon Hall, Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, and Sujeongjeon Hall, retains the appearance it had at the time of that reconstruction. During the Japanese colonial period, at the Joseon Products Exhibition held in 1915 to mark the fifth anniversary of colonial administration, Sajeongjeon Hall was converted for use as an exhibition hall called Bagaegwan, Mancheonjeon Hall as a guard post, and Cheonchujeon Hall as a judging room. Mancheonjeon Hall was later destroyed during the Korean War and was restored again in 1988. The name 'Sajeong' means 'to reflect on good governance' and was given by Jeong Do-jeon; it conveys the idea that the principles governing the world can be grasped through careful reflection but lost without it, and thus urges the king to govern only after deep reflection. The name plaque of Sajeongjeon Hall was written by Jo Seok-u, who served as Minister of Personnel at the time Gyeongbokgung Palace was rebuilt. In plan, the hall measures five bays across the front and three bays along the side; the central bay is nearly twice the width of the side bays, and the central bay on the side elevation is likewise made considerably larger. The platform is built of three courses of long, dressed stone blocks; a staircase flanked by stone slabs is set at the central bay; and the column plinths are circular. The timber frame is of the dapo (multiple cluster-bracket) type, built on a two-tall-column, seven-purlin system; the projecting ends of the thick architrave are carved into cloud-shaped brackets to support the flat band above. At the corner columns too, the projecting ends of the eaves beams are joined by decorative brackets that wrap around the architrave and the flat band, giving the structure a lavish appearance. The bracket sets are arranged with two intermediate clusters at the central bay on all four sides, and one each at the side bays and outer bay; the ox-tongue bracket arms are shaped in an upward-curving form, and the bracket assemblies inside the hall are all lavishly carved with cloud patterns. The ceiling is a coffered ('well') ceiling, richly decorated with dancheong patterns. The roof is a hip-and-gable roof with double eaves; the main ridge and sloping ridges are finished with lime plaster, and are set with ridge-end ornaments, dragon-head finials, and rows of guardian figures. The doors and windows on all four sides are four-panel folding doors with lattice patterns, above which are transom windows. The floor is laid with coffered wooden flooring, and the interior forms a single space with no partitions; however, two tall columns are set up at the centre to support the king's throne, and above them is a wall bearing murals. Sajeongjeon Hall, the pyeonjeon where the king normally resided and conducted state affairs, is, together with the main hall Geunjeongjeon Hall, one of the important buildings of the administrative court. Its exterior, dating from the 1867 reconstruction, is well preserved, and it retains, relatively intact, both the overall structural style — including bracket work that conveys the dignity of a pyeonjeon — and the spatial arrangement suited to its function, making it a building of high historical and architectural value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물