The Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven

September 25, 2009
After another round of lectures our hosts allowed the invited speakers out of the Hilton for an afternoon of sightseeing. In the lowest picture are the 4 foreign invited speakers-two of us were from the United States and two were from Belgium. Lest there be any doubt that we are/were "foreign", we traveled in a minivan expressly labeled with the sign "foreign tourists on board." When I asked what was the purpose of the sign, our guide, Cindy, said that sometimes it gives an advantage in traffic or parking. The traffic in Seoul is unbelievable and makes Boston, even on its worst days, seem empty. We spent most of the afternoon at Gyeongbokgung (translation=Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven), which was originally built in 1395 by the Joseon Dynasty. The location was selected because it is surrounded by 4 mountains and one river. It was the center of the capital city until burned to the ground by the Japanese in 1592. In 1867 the palace was rebuilt, and eventually comprised 330 buildings, only to be destroyed once again by the Japanese occupation of 1910-1945. What we saw today was the result of an authentic 1990 restoration. Although not "original" the site and its many buildings were quite impressive. The middle photo shows the royal throne. I also liked the figures on all of the roofs. They apparently commemorate figures from a Korean book that was very popular in the 1800s. The ultimate irony, however, was that the site was overrun by Japanese tourist groups. Interestingly, the conference at which we spoke was also the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the joint Korean-Japanese Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. After I heard about the occupation I understood why all of the older Korean doctors were able to speak fluent Japanese with the visiting Japanese obstetricians.