Yeongyeongdang Hall of Changdeokgung Palace

Beyond the small ridge that encloses the area of Juhamnu Pavilion and Yeonghwadang Hall lies a valley in which Yeongyeongdang Hall stands; the surrounding setting, with its beautiful woods, ponds and pavilions, forms an ideal landscape. The tall gate on the right, Jangyangmun, leads to the men's quarters; passing through this gate into the men's-quarters courtyard, one finds on the left a wall that turns at an angle to divide the courtyard from that of the women's quarters, with a gate called Jeongchumun set into the middle of the wall. The flat-roofed gate to the left, Suinmun, leads to the women's quarters. Although the men's and women's quarters are separated by a wall, the wall turns once to link them into a single connected complex, and the overall layout is composed as an interlinked swastika shape. The name "Yeongyeongdang" originally referred only to the men's quarters, but today it is used for the whole building complex. To the right of the men's quarters stands Seonhyangjae, which served as a study, and behind it, on a sloping hillside, a flower terrace has been built with Nongsujeong Pavilion set at its highest point. "Yeongyeong" means "the spreading of blessings". The Gungwolji records that the complex was built in the 28th year of King Sunjo's reign with a total of 120 bays, while the Dongguk Yeoji Bigo and the Hangyeong Jiryak record its construction in the 27th year of King Sunjo. Yeongyeongdang was built around 1827-8, the 27th-28th years of King Sunjo, by Crown Prince Hyomyeong out of filial devotion, so that he might hold a banquet in honour of King Sunjo and Queen Sunwon. Immediately after its construction, Crown Prince Hyomyeong used Yeongyeongdang to receive officials in audience and to hold ceremonial performances. From the reign of King Heonjong onward it was used to store the royal portrait and instructive writings of King Ikjong, the posthumous title of Crown Prince Hyomyeong, but in 1857, the eighth year of King Cheoljong, because the site was found to be cold and damp, King Ikjong's portrait was moved elsewhere and the building stood empty for a time. Later, under Emperor Gojong, it was used as an important political space for receiving foreign envoys and holding banquets. The men's-quarters building stands on a platform of long rectangular stones, with square wooden columns set on trapezoidal foundation stones; over the plain columns, beams support the purlins in the round-purlin style. Notably, the women's quarters use square purlins while the men's quarters use round purlins, and both the women's and men's quarters use square-section columns, details that faithfully follow Joseon-period regulations on the separation of the sexes and on housing. In plan, the men's quarters measure six bays across the front and two bays in depth; at the far right is a raised wooden-floored pavilion, and the central four bays are open as an eave-side space, of which the right two bays form the main wooden-floored hall and the left two bays are rooms. Two ondol rooms extending from the women's quarters connect, behind this floor, to one room of the men's quarters. A narrow wooden veranda runs from the west side and rear of the main women's room to the men's quarters, allowing passage between the two, with a wooden door installed at this boundary that can be opened and closed. In terms of plan, there is a single-bay pavilion at the far left, and a half-bay veranda extends across the front of the main hall. Yeongyeongdang, in its layout of buildings and composition of space, applies the Confucian philosophy of its time and represents, within a palace, a scholar-official's residence; it is valuable material for the study of Korean housing history, allowing comparison with contemporary houses. Built with the construction methods and craftsmanship of palace architecture, its refined yet understated detailing shows to good effect the distinctive dignity of palace architecture. As an example of scholar-official architecture within a Joseon-period palace, Yeongyeongdang thus holds outstanding value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물