Gwanghalluwon Garden

Gwanghalluwon Garden is Korea's finest pavilion garden, expressing the worldview of Taoist immortals and a cosmology of the heavens. Originally, this was the site where Hwang Hui built a pavilion called Gwangtongnu and stayed, in 1419, the first year of King Sejong of Joseon. In 1444, Jeong In-ji, the governor of Jeolla-do, was so struck by the beautiful scenery while strolling through Gwangtongnu that he named it Gwanghan-cheonghubu, after the Lunar Palace where Hang-a, the beautiful woman of the moon, was said to dwell; the pavilion has since been called Gwanghallu. In 1582, Jeong Cheol, appointed governor of Jeolla-do, extensively rebuilt Gwanghallu Pavilion, and in the middle of a pond representing the Milky Way he created the three islands of Bongnae, Bangjang and Yeongju, symbolising the three legendary mountains said to be home to Taoist immortals. He planted crape myrtle on Bongnae Island and bamboo on Bangjang Island, and on Yeongju Island he built a pavilion called Yeongjugak. However, all of this was destroyed by fire set by Japanese invaders during the Jeongyu War, the second Japanese invasion of 1597–98. Lotus flowers, symbolising an earthly paradise, were planted in the pond, and over it was built Ojakgyo, a bridge of love said to allow the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd - kept apart by the Milky Way - to meet just once a year, on Chilseok. This stone bridge has four rainbow-shaped arches that let water pass between its two sides, and it is the most representative bridge in Korean garden design. The present Gwanghallu Pavilion was restored in 1639 by Shin Gam, the magistrate of Namwon. Yeongjugak Pavilion was restored in 1794, and in 1964 the pavilion Bangjangjeong was built on Bangjang Island. Gwanghalluwon Garden is also famous as the place where Yi Do-ryeong and Chunhyang fell in love in the novel Chunhyangjeon, and every year on Dano, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Chunhyang Festival is held here.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namwon, Jeonbuk

Designation

Scenic Site · 명승