Suokheon(漱玉軒) is a building that stands for the succession of Kyujanggak(奎章閣). ‘Kyujanggak’, which functions as a library, can be an important clue that shows the intersection of tradition and modernity. This is because ‘Kyujanggak’ is a place to st ...
Suokheon(漱玉軒) is a building that stands for the succession of Kyujanggak(奎章閣). ‘Kyujanggak’, which functions as a library, can be an important clue that shows the intersection of tradition and modernity. This is because ‘Kyujanggak’ is a place to store the records of the previous kings and the portraits of the current king, as well as a space to store the latest knowledge.
King Jeongjo(正祖) moved the signboard of King Sukjong(肅宗)’s ‘Kyujanggak’ to ‘Kyujanggak’ at Changdeokgung Palace(昌德宮). This symbolically expresses that his own Kyujanggak succeeded King Sukjong's Kyujanggak.
Heungseon Daewongun(興宣大院君) moved the small building ‘Kyujanggak’ built by King Sukjong to Jongchinbu(宗親府) and had the ‘Kyujanggak’ signboard moved. The reason why Heungseon Daewongun moved 'Kyujanggak' to the Jongchinbu space was a political act to elevate the status of Jongchinbu through the authority of the previous kings.
King Gojong(高宗) paid attention to Kyujanggak before and after his direct reign, and continued to build buildings that succeeded ‘Gyujanggak’ in the palace.
In the process of opposing Heungseon Daewongun, King Gojong ordered the portrait of the current king to be painted in imitation of Yeongjo(英祖) and Jeongjo. Heungseon Daewongun was able to move the ‘Kyujanggak’ and the signboard, but he could not keep his portrait there. This is because it was a special symbolic device that only the current king could do in the name of succeeding the will of the previous king. Just as King Jeongjo built ‘Kyujanggak’ at the back of the palace, Geoncheong Palace(乾淸宮) was newly built in the northern area of Gyeongbokgung Palace(景福宮).
After two large fires broke out in Gyeongbokgung Palace, King Gojong began to build a new building in Changdeokgung Palace(昌德宮) to reflect his intentions. When King Gojong experienced an incident where the relics of the previous kings were damaged by successive fires, he built a library with a fire-fighting function, Jibokjae(集玉齋). Because of this, Jibokjae was built with fire-resistant bricks. However, the part that attracts more attention in Jibokjae is its unique appearance with Chinese architectural style. Jibokjae is a building that shows its will to accept new information through China.
After King Gojong returned to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the portrait of King Gojong was enshrined again in Geoncheonggung(乾淸宮) Gwanmungak(觀文閣). In 1888, King Gojong temporarily moved the portrait of Gwanmungak to another location and ordered the reconstruction of Gwanmungak. Gwanmungak was built with a new exterior design and construction by Russian architect Sabatin.
King Gojong built a non-burning, western-style building in the palace to protect his portraits and records related to the previous kings. However, the portrait could not be enshrined at Gwanmungak due to controversy over poor construction.
The exterior of Gwanmungak, the first Western-style building in the palace, and Jibokjae, a Chinese-style building, clearly showed King Gojong's will for enlightenment. In this way, the new building that succeeded ‘Kyujanggak’ was a space where King Gojong could express his intentions by leaning on the authority of the previous kings. The tradition of 'Kyujanggak', which was built after Sukjong's dynasty, was carried on to Gojong's dynasty, and it appeared in a new shape according to the changes of the times.
Built after the establishment of the Korean Empire, Suokheon was the first Western-style building in Gyeongungung Palace, modeled after 'Kyujanggak'. However, Suokheon could not keep the portrait of the emperor because it was too close to the legations of other countries and only served as a library. After the construction of Suokheon, various Western-style buildings were built inside Gyeongungung Palace.
King Gojong established the Law Correction Center and the Marshal Department as institutions to absolute imperial power, and built the office of these institutions in a western style. Through this, King Gojong wanted to show off his absolute supremacy by Western standards.
In order to show off the emperor's holiness, King Gojong enshrined the emperor's portrait in Punggyeonggung Palace(豐慶宮), built in Pyongyang(平壤). By enshrining the portrait of the emperor produced in a traditional way in the traditional city of Pyongyang, King Gojong tried to implement the same two capital systems as in the modern Western state. In this way, by embracing Western civilization based on the authority of tradition, Gojong tried to visually reveal the absolute imperial power.
However, frequent fires, political turmoil, and unrest in the international situation continued. In the midst of this, it is difficult to say that the continuous civil works in the palace were an appropriate response to the crisis.
Now, let's take a look at the meaning of 'Kubonsincham(舊本新參)' through the palace building. At this time, ‘Kubon(舊本)’ is the authority of the previous kings to strengthen the legitimacy of the current king, and ‘Sincham(新參)’ is new information received from the Qing Dynasty or Europe and America. Through this, King Gojong tried to express that the Korean Empire was a state equal to that of the Western countries while having the same status as the Western emperors. However, excessive interest and expense for the emperor's status and status only fueled chaos in the end.