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The National Palace Museum of Korea (Director: Kim In Kyu), an affiliate of the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, has selected “Map of the Northern Palace” as its “Curator’s Choice from the Royal Treasures” for the month of December. It will be displayed in the Joseon Palaces Gallery located on the second floor of the museum. It will also be presented online in a YouTube broadcast on the channels of the Cultural Heritage Administration and the National Palace Museum of Korea starting December 1.

* Cultural Heritage Administration YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/chluvu

* National Palace Museum of Korea YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/gogungmuseum1100

The Map of the Northern Palace is a two-dimensional floor and plot plan of Gyeongbokgung Palace made during the late Joseon Dynasty. Nearly all of the buildings within Gyeongbokgung Palace were lost in the Japanese Invasions of Korea that began in 1592. The palace then remained empty for some 270 years until a reconstruction project was launched during the reign of King Gojong (the twenty-sixth monarch of the Joseon Dynasty) as part of his attempts to revive the dynasty. However, most of the reconstructed buildings were destroyed once again during the Japanese colonial era. This map is an important record that shows the palace before it was dismantled by Japanese authorities.

The map was drawn in black ink on gridded paper ruled at ten or eleven millimeters, presenting the buildings in a simplified manner on a 1:1200 scale. The floor plan is complemented by inscriptions describing spaces such as 房 (bang, chamber), 廳 (cheong, wood-floored main hall), 退 (toe, narrow wooden porch), and 樓 (nu, attic). Other details are recorded, including the name, style, and size of the buildings and the number and height of the pillars, providing an approximation of the elevation. Moreover, the drawing indicates the direction a building or a door faced through the direction in which the writing was applied. This map is one of the greatest architectural drawings of the Joseon Dynasty and captures detailed information on Gyeongbokgung Palace within a single plane.

*房 (bang), 廳 (cheong), 退 (toe), and 樓 (nu): Gangnyeongjeon Hall, which housed the sleeping quarters of the king and queen, is labeled with 房 (bang) in the eastern and western bedchambers, 廳 (cheong) in the wood-floored main hall, 退 (toe) in the narrow wooden porch, and 樓 (nu) on the attic or areas on a raised platform.

The National Palace Museum of Korea houses a wide array of items related to palace architecture from the Joseon Dynasty. In addition to the Map of the Northern Palace, other items such as the painting The Eastern Palaces and the book Records of the Royal Palaces can be viewed in the Joseon Palaces Gallery. Moreover, this month’s Curator’s Choice will be presented virtually through a video with Korean and English subtitles on the museum’s website (gogung.go.kr) and on the YouTube channels of the museum and the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea. These can be enjoyed by anyone without even visiting the gallery.

* The Eastern Palaces (Donggwoldo): Painting depicting a bird’s-eye view of Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces

* Records of the Royal Palaces (Gunggwolji): A book recording the locations of buildings in Joseon palaces and the significant events that occurred in them