Choseon Dynasty, from many aspects, saw the institutional establishment of its royal palaces in the 17th and 18th century, with 'donggwol (east palace)' as the most representative form in the era. In that period, palaces were managed in the best way t...
Choseon Dynasty, from many aspects, saw the institutional establishment of its royal palaces in the 17th and 18th century, with 'donggwol (east palace)' as the most representative form in the era. In that period, palaces were managed in the best way that fits the royal etiquette and order to maintain the Confucian framework of the times. While the royal palace was the place for the king to conduct state affairs, it was also a compound for the royal family to lead a life in. Since the royal family was also based on the Confucian system, women in the royal palace seldom revealed their existence to outside world. Yet daebi,(a Queen Mother) who was often called 'dongjo,' enjoyed the highest level of honor not only as a member of the royal family but in the hierarchical order of the dynasty. As they often engaged themselves in political affairs, daebi raised their reputation through rites and rituals. So, in the 16th century, they largely used Changgyeong-gung palace in the eastern part of the royal compound since they sometimes had to go out of the royal residence. While it was called 'dongjo' because it was seated in the eastern part, it was also used as a word symbolizing daebi. And, therefore, it has become a general principle of royal palaces to build the palace for daebi in the eastern wing of the compound. However, the residence for daebi was not always built in the eastern part in the 17th and 18th century and, instead, edifices for daebi were sometimes erected in several points within the royal compound. Beside, daebi’s residence in this period had additional spaces for ceremonies since they had a number of official events there.
Construction of daebi’s residences in this era was not confined to the symbolic institutions and they became the peculiar palaces with specific characteristics for official ceremonies of the queen mothers. Consequently, it could be said that the architectural style of dongjo, which was the place of the supreme female in the hierarchical order, stemmed from donggwol where daebi spent the longest time of the royal life.
‘Dongjo’ refers to a queen mother, which implies that they can participate in state affairs. Regency by the queen mother behind the veil was an official national system as one of the direct participating in ruling the nation, which made the queen mother enjoy the highest authority and status in the royal family.
Characteristically, there were often many queen mothers during the reign of a king, and therefore many places were needed for them to live, and respecting all the queen mothers was one of the moral obligations of the king. Respecting ceremonies and external events such as banquets for the queen mothers at a national level, together with daily lives, may have made the residence of Dongjo have a certain set of features as a place and a space. In addition, such situations seem to have had a strong effect on the establishment of the Dongjo architecture in the palace.
Undergoing many political strives over Dongjo, the royal family of the Choseon dynasty began to strengthen formalities for external respect since the 17th century, and the Dongjo architecture required the palace for the queen mother having space for state ceremonies and daily Sieso(a king’s temporary place). Accordingly, presumably the background for construction of Dongjo space and the palace building plan became different. In the 17th and 18th century, the Dongjo architecture was designed to meet the need of a space for official events for the queen mother and built into a certain type of place. Specifically, it is seen that unlike the existing tradition of palace construction of locating Dongjo in East, the palace buildings of the time were different from residences for the empress in the Chinese palace, and had features unique to the Dongjo architecture during the period, different from any buildings of the Changgyeong-gung palace, which had been used as the residence for Dongjo. This article examined the residence for the queen mother resulting from all these backgrounds and characteristics, and confirmed that Dongjo buildings newly built in this period changed the realm of the palace and led changes reflecting trends of the time, establishing the Dongjo architecture having unique forms. The study focused its discussion on under what requirements and needs newly built ‘residences for the queen mother’ of the time as a status of Dongjo became the object of building construction, despite the presence of the Changgyeong-gung palace, which had served as a symbolic palace for Dongjo in the system of the palace.
More than half of the palace area was for daily lives. Due to its nature that housed a number of women, palace buildings brought about changes, conservatively, but continuously, driven by changes in place and space depending on the lives of the women of the royal family, which were likely to change with the passage of time. As a place for women of the royal family, residences of the queen mother are of significance in the study of the palace history, clearly showing the traces of changes.