december-2011

PHOTOS MARK PARREN TAYLOR
Both decorative
and useful, these
everyday pieces
around the palace
complex show
what life during the
Joseon Dynasty
must have been like.
S EOUL’S GRAND PALACE
{ 143 }
The best and the worst
The best times, and then the worst,
were yet to come for this palace.
Around 273 years later, the child King
Gojong’s decisions were being made by
the Daewongun (his princely father who
wielded the underage ruler’s power). It
was decided that the Joseon Dynasty
needed a return to its former glory; and
what better way than to return it to its
original seat of power? In rebuilding
Gyeongbokgung, the government was
almost bankrupted (again), but the
15-year-old regent ended up with a
grand new nest to go with his brand
new wife. The vast complex had
almost 5,800 rooms, ample perhaps
to accommodate 3,000 staff, scores
of eunuchs, scholars, soldiers, and
a growing royal family that would
eventually tally over a hundred with
consorts, children and sundry “in-laws”
accounted for.
Gojong’s fi rst consort, generally
known as Queen Min, turned into
his greatest love. But when the two
teenagers married in 1866, she showed
more interest in affairs of state and he
was happier drinking and banqueting.
By all accounts, they were ill-matched
and spent little time together. She was
an intelligent woman and was quick
to grasp the reins of power. She also
built alliances with China, the US and
Europe and — much to Japan’s ire as
well as the irritation of conservative
Korean hierarchy — brought Englishlanguage
schools, military know-how,
economic growth and Christianity to a
fast modernizing Korea.