Studies on the Construction Characteristics of Rear Garden Farmland at Joseon Palace

Abstract

T h i ss t u d ya i me dt oi n v e s t i g a t et h eC o n f u c i a n -o r i e n t e da g r i c u l t u r ep h a s eo ft h eJ o s e o nDy n a s t y , w h i c hw a sr e f l e c t e d a t t h ep a l a c e s , b ya n a l y z i n gc o n s t r u c t i o n a l a s p e c t sa n ds p a t i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i cso ff a r ml a n d sa t t h ep a l a c er e a rg a r d e n s . T h e o b j e c t i v es i t e swe r et h er e a rg a r d e n so fG y e o n g b o kP a l a c e , C h a n g k y u n gP a l a c e , a n dt h eo u t s i d eo fS i n mo o mo o n ( 神武門) T h i ss t u d yw a sb a s e do nl i t e r a t u r er e v i e w s . T h ef a r ml a n d sa t t h ep a l a c er e a rg a r d e nw e r ec o n s t r u c t e dt os e l f -e s t i ma t et h e y e a r ' sh a r v e s t c o n d i t i o nw i t h i nt h ep a l a c e s . I t w a sap a r t o ft h ea g r i c u l t u r ee n c o u r a g e me n t p o l i c yo ng o v e r n i n gt h eg r o u p o fJ o s e o nl i k ep u b l i s h i n gt h eN o n g s a j i k s u l ( 農事直說)a n de s t a b l i s h i n gt h eC h i n g y e o n g n y e ( 親耕禮: k i n g ' so wnc u l t i v a t i o n c e r e mo n y ) a n dK i k o k j e ( 祈穀祭: t h er i t eo f p r a y i n gf o r g r a i n ) . I na d d i t i o n , f a r ml a n d so f t h er e a r g a r d e nw e r eo p e r a t e df r o m t h eb e g i n n i n go ft h es t a t ea l mo s tu n t i lt h eJ a p a n e s ec o l o n i a le r a .T h er e s u l t sw e r es u mma r i z e da sf o l l o w s :F i r s t , G y e o n g b o kP a l a c er e a rg a r d e n ' sf a r ml a n dw h i c hb e g u na tt h er e i g n o f S e j o n g ( 世宗) e x i s t e da t t h ep r e s e n t H y a n g w o n j i ( 香遠池) a r e a . I t w a sc o n s t r u c t e di no r d e r t oc h e c kt h ea d v a n c e da g r i c u l t u r a l t e c h n o l o g i e s . T h er e a r g a r d e n ' sf a r ml a n di nC h a n g k y u n gP a l a c e , w h i c hw a se x e c u t e dd u r i n gt h er e i g no f S e o n g j o n g ( 成宗) , w a sc o n s t r u c t e dr i g h t a f t e r t h ei n i t i a l C h i n g y e o n g n y eo f t h eJ o s e o nD y n a s t y . T h e r e f o r e , i t mi g h t b eu n d e r s t o o da st h ec o n t e x t o ft h ek i n g ' so wnc u l t i v a t i o no ft h eJ e o k j e o n c h i n k y u n g ( 籍田親耕).I n j o ( 仁祖)d u gf o rf a r ml a n di nt h eg r o u n do ft h e G y e o n g d e o kP a l a c e ( 慶德宮)t h o u g ht h e r ew a ss o mes t a yp a l a c e , w h e nh i ss t a yd r a g g e do u tf o rt o ol o n g . T h i sb e s p e a k s t h a t t h o s ef a r ml a n d sa t t h ep a l a c er e a r g a r d e n sw e r eo f g r e a t i mp o r t a n c ei nt h eJ o s e o np o l i t i c a l h i s t o r y . T h ef a r ml a n dn e a r G y e o n g n o n g j a e ( 耕農齋) , w h i c hw a sma d ed u r i n gt h er e i g no f G o j o n g ( 高宗) , i n h e r i t e dp r e d e c e s s o ŕ sw a l k so f t h ep r o mo t i n g a g r i c u l t u r ea n de x h i b i t e ds p a t i a l c o mp o s i t i o n ss u c ha st h er e a r g a r d e n ' sf a r ml a n da t C h a n g k y u n gP a l a c e . S e c o n d l y , i r r i g a...

Sustainable Landscapes in the Traditional Korean Residential Environment: Focus on the Joseon Dynasty

“…The king and public officials managed this farmland to understand the life of the common people in relation to state affairs. The farmland was created by King Sejong (r. 1418-1450), to test agricultural methods, and the paddy field and mulberry field were created by King Seongjong (r. 1469-1494), which were managed from the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty until just before the Japanese colonial period [31,32]. The Donggwoldo painting (which depicts realistic expressions from a bird's-eye view of the palace, hills, ridges, trees, walls, and buildings, with each building bearing a name, making the painting worthwhile as historical material), representing the Changdeokgung Palace (world heritage) and the Changgyeonggung Palace during the Joseon Dynasty, shows rice paddies within the palace grounds (see Figure 1).…”

“…The painting's composition shows 11 rice paddies, a water supply channel and reservoir, lush deciduous trees for relaxation, and buildings for farm workers [31]. It appears that decorative landscapes were not employed; rather, the particular landscape features were established for the productive purpose of agriculture.…”

“…In addition to the rice paddy, the vegetable garden and orchard in the rear garden of the palace were managed for people residing in the palace [31]. The palace's farmland formed the greater part of the land, as this was the foundation of the country's economy, while the vegetable garden was managed by the eunuchs and the maids-of-honor to maintain selfsufficiency in providing food for the palace residents [31]. There were so many vegetable gardens within the palace at that time that a controversy arose over downsizing the number of gardens because of the inconvenience of night soil fertilizer.…”

“…A considerable part of the empty palace where the king did not reside was used for the vegetable garden, reflecting one aspect of productive landscapes found in the palace. The fields around the empty palace, where the king did not reside, could be endlessly extended, and there were many reclaimed fields in the gardens surrounding each building, demonstrating the habit of the people at that time to plant practical crops in a vegetable garden, even if there was only a small amount of land available [31].…”

“…The residence is located in a place where you can have a garden where you can feel the change of the four seasons. This residential location is closely related to feng-shui, and it is a place that satisfies the basic principle of feng-shui, "blocking the wind and obtaining water" [27][28][29][31][32][33].…”