NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA

tunnel from the subway to the museum

     Subway Line 3's Gyeongbokgung Station is directly connected to The Gyeongbokgung Palace. The tidy bricks, posters that look like real paintings and pillars of the tunnel from the subway to the palace will make you feel like you're in a museum. This is because at the end of the tunnel is the National Palace Museum of Korea. I was very impressed with their idea of making the tunnel look like it's already a part of it.

     Across the entrance of the museum is the breath-taking view of the Gyeongbokgung Palace entrance. It's like I'm dreaming the moment I saw it. I also expected to see this in 2012 but it didn't happen. I was so into the moment that I nearly lost the feeling of wanting to go into the museum. Good thing my husband poked me to wake up and start our museum tour.

     Inside the National Palace Museum of Korea is a huge collection of about 900 artifacts from the 500-year history of the Joseon Dynasty.

     Tour starts from the second floor, where the lobby is, then to the first floor and the basement.

     On the second floor are artifacts related to the history and records of Joseon Dynasty and household items that show the private lives of the Royal Family.

     I have this knock of describing things in a quirky and hilarious way especially when I'm with people I'm close to, so let me describe what I first saw. I saw a lot of square items which look like a block made of brass or jade with carvings of animals on them. Each are attached to a long, thick cord with a tassel. So, I dumbly said to my husband, "Those medallions are ridiculously huge! How are they gonna wear them?" Good thing nobody around understood what I said (or that's what I want to believe), because, guess what they actually are? They are the official seals of the Royalties! I was so humiliated even to myself. My brain often drops on the floor when I'm hungry. The seals on the photo are smaller than the other seals made of brass.

     We passed by a throne with a lot of intricate jade carvings 
which looks small to be a throne. I'm just not sure what the height of the Royalties were. The Royal Library is very simple with its shelves that look like racks, but it's impressive with its documents and scriptures on them. It's like we're walking in a Korean Drama set. There are paint brushes on it's rack, small tables for painting and a lot of furnitures that were used by the Royal family.

The Royal Throne

Royal Library

     Artifacts from different parts of the palace are also exhibited. The stone sculpture on the roof, marble stones and sculptures on the stairs and the carved ceiling of the palace and the throne.

     In the adjacent room are fabrics used for the clothing of the Royalties and their actual traditional attires. The large collection of accessories, extravagant robes they use for different occasions, even the Royal Childrens' clothing are all there. The blue robe with pheasant pattern, which is the most attractive and most royal-looking among the collection, is the ceremonial robe worn by the queen and crown princesses during the most important ceremonies. This was the highest ranking ritual vestment of a woman. The children also wore very colorful and embroidered  robes and socks even during their playtime.

Ceremonial Robe

Royal Childrens' clothing

The queen's hairpins

     The collection of hairpins is surprising because I thought the queen gets to pick which one to use each time, until I read the description that they were all worn at the same time! That's a lot of hair accessory to wear!

         

     Next are a lot of "girly" items for the royal women.These made

Vanity mirror and jars of powder
and blusher

me smile seeing that even at that time, women cared a lot about their looks. There is a vanity mirror with small jars of what they used as pressed powder and blusher that time and different kinds of purse which are very unique. I have to say, I love these angular purse! There is also a separate purse for their perfume. They look like the chinese purse that tourists buy for souvenirs from the souvenir shops in China and Hongkong.

But they are so small which made me think of what they put in them.

perfume purse for the royal women

angular purse for
the royal women

     Another item, which is not too girly if you ask me, is this big headdress worn by the queen. I felt sorry for her when I saw this. I wonder how heavy that was! It looked like it's made of wood with a long braided wig. I guess that's one of the sacrifices they had to make as royalty.

     Moving to the first floor, we immediately saw two royal vehicles. These were the Queen's and Emperor Sunjong's vehicle, produced by General Motors from U.S.A. by special order, which is the fanciest vintage car I ever saw yet. 
     The first room we checked is a little  solemn, nearly all beige, cream, light gray and white in color. We saw a long display of urns and big structures which look like tombs. From the posters and labels, we've read that they're all part of the State Rites of the Joseon Dynasty.
     Emperor Gojong's portrait is on the second room we went in. Emperor Gojong is the 26th Joseon King, the first sovereign of the Korean Empire and the father of Emperor Sunjong. This room shows the evolution of the Korean Military from their  uniforms to their weapons.
       The third room amazed me. There's this big glass window that gives you a view of a very colorful, huge and intricately designed device which looked like an ancient house or storage for me. I immediately checked the museum brochure for directions on how to go there and see it closely. The device is on the basement, where tourists can view it closer and check on the touchscreen monitor about what it does and how it works. 
     When we approached it, it got even more sophisticated, in my opinion. The details are amazing! It even has a balcony, has jars of different sizes, dolls on the other side, stairs and a small window. The monitor says it's a water clock. Such a humongous clock! And how can water be it's source of power?
     A few clicks and we found out. This was closely attended to so as to check the water levels on the jars. The drops of water continuously travels from the jars to the middle part of the clock on the containers, travels up the vertical wood and back down, then to the anterior part. That's why there is a slant platform. When a specific amount of water is received inside, a small doll will come out of the window and show how much time has passed during the day. The small statues you see up the platform create sounds or chimes which correspond to the doll. This could have been the inspiration to the grandfather's clock, just a thought.
     

Water Clock

Water Clock

     This, by the way, is a restoration of the original self-striking water clock of King Sejong.

     On this level are a lot of significant paintings. The folding screen of the Sun, Moon, and Five Peeks is here. This was placed behind the throne of the Joseon King.

        Interesting carriages and percussion instruments are also here. 

     The carriages are quite small similar to the throne we saw on the second floor. Two of them doesn't have any protective walls nor roof like the others that royalties used during travel. These only has a chair and long wooden handles. These were used by the royalties during wars when they join the cavalry.

      Some of the percussion instruments will make you wonder what they are from their appearance compared to the traditional drums we see on T.V. One is very colorful like most Korean artifacts and even has a crane wood carving on top. The other is shaped a container with a cover with a hole at the middle.

percussion instrument

percussion instrument

     The chimes are of different materials but the ones made out of jade are more popular among tourists since we usually see bells and chimes made of metal. Jades were used because they are not affected by temperature changes, making them efficient tuners for all traditional Korean instruments.

     Cameras are allowed inside the museum but flash photography and tripods are prohibited.

     If you happen to starve after the tour, there is a cafe on the 1st floor but we preferred to go around Gwanghwamun area and explore a little while looking for something else to eat. We ended up having lunch at Quiznoz with other foreigners in a building just across the south gate of the palace. We had a nice sub and, of course, a cappuccino. A nice tour is always paired with a good cup of coffee.

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 How to get there:

Gyeongbokgung Station, exit 5

Admission Rates:

Free

Operating Hours:

9am to 6pm

     *closed on Mondays, except on National Holidays