Namhansanseong Emergency Palace

Haenggung, or “palace of temporary stay”, is a Korean word referring to a royal palace built at a strategic location outside the capital and used by Joseon rulers as a temporary residence in times of emergency, as a holiday residence, or simply as a place to stay when they visited a tomb of their ancestor(s).1 More than ten such palaces existed during the Joseon Period (1392-1910), including those in Suwon, Ganghwa, Jeonju, Uiju, Yangju and Onyang. Of these, the palace at Namhansanseong was built in 1625, when the latter was comprehensively renovated for use as a temporary shelter for Joseon kings in times of war until the arrival of reinforcements from regional areas. 2 When the Manchus invaded Joseon ten years later, King Injo (r. 1623-1649) took shelter at the temporary royal palace at Namhansanseong and fought against the northern invaders for forty-seven days, from December 14, 1636 to January 30, 1637. In subsequent periods, the fortified palace continued to serve as temporary accommodation for his successors, including Kings Sukjong, Yeongjo, Jeongjo, Cheoljong and Gojong, whenever they visited Yeongneung, the tomb of King Hyojong. Namhansanseong Emergency Palace is the only royal palace located outside the capital to contain Jwajeon, literally hall on the left (or a Royal Ancestral Shrine) and an Usil, literally room on the right (Altar for deities of earth and grain), suggesting that it was not intended for use as an ordinary royal residence but rather as the hub of a temporary capital in times of crisis. 

The Oehaengjeon, the office quarters of the king at Namhansanseong, was built in 1625 together with the Naehaengjeon, the king’s living quarters, as the central building of the lower section of the palace. Just like its counterpart in the upper section, the structure of palace building consists of seven bays at the front and back and four bays at the sides, although the total floor space is slightly smaller than in the Naehaengjeon. According to contemporary records, King Injo held a feast at the Oehaengjeon during the Byeongjahoran (Second Manchu Invasion of Korea), in an effort to raise the morale of the troops guarding his fortified palace against the Manchus. The records also state that the king had to move to the Naehaengjeon after the Oehaengjeon was struck by a projectile fired by the Manchu-Qing forces from nearby Hanbong Peak. In peaceful times the building was used as the office of the Yusu of Gwangju. A photograph of the original building printed the in Joseon Gojeokdobo (Illustrated Report on the Korean Cultural Heritage) shows that three of its front columns were hung with long wooden plaques

This building was originally built as a local administration hall in 1829 by Yi Ji-yeon (1777-1841), then serving as the Yusu of Gwangju. The building, whose name is derived from Iljangsan (currently, Cheongnyangsan) Mountain, has been renovated into a special administrator’s office furnished with reproductions of contemporary office items.

This building was originally built in 1817 by Sim Sang-gyu (1766-1838), then serving as the Yusu of Gwangju, and used as his office. He named it Jwaseung (literally meaning “winning victories even while seated”) as he wanted it to be a center of strategies for beating Joseon’s enemies. The site of the building was prepared by demolishing the wall dividing the Naehaengjeon and the Bukhaenggak, and moving the latter to a separate location. According to a contemporary record, on the western wall there used to be a “moon gate” leading to an observation tower, from which was hung a plaque bearing its name, Yuchasallu.

This pavilion was originally built in 1817 by Sim Sang-gyu (1766-1838), then the Yusu of Gwangju, who used it as part of an archery range. The background history to the pavilion is provided by a rubbing of the inscription on the Iwijeonggi (Record of Iwijeong Pavilion) plaque, and by the Jungjeongnamhanji. According to the records, the text of the commemorative plaque was composed by Sim Sang-gyu and handwritten by Kim Jeong-hui, a great calligrapher of the late Joseon period. The governor was 51 years of age and the calligrapher 31 when the pavilion plaque was made.

The royal ancestral shrine, or Jwajeon, located outside the northern wall enclosing Namhansanseong Emergency Palace was built in 1711 by Kim Chi-ryong (1654-1724), then serving as the Buyun (Magistrate of the Administrative Unit) of Gwangju, to store the spirit tablets of the royal ancestors of the Joseon Dynasty in times of emergency. The existence of the Jwajeon at Namhansanseong Emergency Palace shows that the palace was not just one of many ordinary palaces set up outside the capital of Joseon, but rather a special establishment designed to make the fortress containing the palace function as a temporary capital. The name of the shrine was coined by combining the character Jwa (“left”), which refers to its location on the left-hand side of the palace, with Jeon (“palatial hall”).

 The palace also contains the Usil, literally “Room on the Right,” which was originally built in 1711 together with the Jwajeon as a shrine honoring the state deities. The location of the two shrines was determined based on the tradition established during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE), by which the royal ancestral shrine is placed on the left, and the altar for state deities on the right, of the central royal palace.

This palatial building used as the king’s living quarters is a seven-bay by four-bay structure whose central three-bay space forms the daecheong (main hall), flanked by two rooms, one furnished with the traditional ondol heating system, the other with a wooden floor, and verandahs on three sides. It has the same floor plan as that used for the royal residences of the Tongmyeongjeon, Hwangyeongjeon and Gyeongchunjeon Halls in Changgyeonggung Palace, Seoul. The two rooms have been refurbished as bedchambers for the king and crown prince, and contain reproductions of various pieces of furniture and other items.