Photos

The rear garden of Changdeokgung Palace was landscaped during the reign (1401 ~1418) of the Joseon Dynasty's 3rd king, Taejong. Here the dynasty's kings and princes studied, hunted, practiced martial arts, or offered worship rites to the gods of heaven and earth. Keeping its original state until today, this garden boasts trees more than 300 years old, and a crystal-clear streamlet meanders through it. Alongside the ponds in lush garden are beautiful pavilions in varied shapes and styles of the Joseon Dynasty. The rear garden was formed in the same year the Changdeokgung Palace was built in 1405. In the later colonial period, an organization which was called Biwon, the Secret Garden, was established to maintain it. The garden has been so called ever since. It can be largely divided into three areas centering on Buyongjeong Pavilion and Juhamnu Library, Aeryeonji Pond and Yeon-gyeongdang Manor, and Ongnyucheon Stream. Pavilions, gardens, trees, and ponds are harmoniously tuned with the topographical configuration and surrounding natural settings.

Beyond a steep hill behind Yeon-gyeongdang Manor, at the foot of Chwihanjeong Pavilion, flows Ongnyucheon Stream. At the western hillside from the Chwihanjeong is Eojeong, the Royal Well, covered with a pyramidal capstone, which is believed to gush the most refreshing water inside Changdeokgung Palace. Water from the Royal Well runs down into the Ongnyucheon Stream, whose water is often described as bejeweled with jade-blue beads. In the olden days, the royal family and court functionaries enjoyed reciting poems or songs with cups of wine floated on the stream. It resembles the atmosphere of the Poseokjeong, the ancient garden which is gone now but is marked by its abalone-shaped water course, along which wine cups were floated when royalty and high-ranking officials enjoyed poetry and songs and wine during the Silla Kingdom (57 BC ~ AD 992). Buyongji Pond manifests the zenith of garden landscape in this area.
from Hi Seoul