During the winter freeze, the ice skating pond is there. There are two small islands(當洲, dangju) in the pond. A lot of kids are skating around the islands. On the Independence day (15th Aug.) commemorative reception, the third regime government of the Republic of Korea invited diplomats under the pavilion floor. For standing buffet, I know, they let the pavilion below rather than floor.
In Gyeongbokgung(景福宮) they have opened a drawing contest. Children enjoy drawing the Gyeongheoru, but it is too large on too small of a canvas for elementary school children to do an adequate job.. Even if it is completed, the drawing composition will not be good. No one could be awarded with a prize in this contest.
Gyengheoru is the foremost pavilion in Korea. Compared with Choksungru of Jinju city, Yongnamru of Miryang city, and Gwanghanru of Namwon city, Gyeongheoru is the eldest brother.
The big pond, the high stone pillar and the large roof are the first impression a viewer receives of the pavilion. For more than 50 years I have been able to see the pavilion. It was dredged a few years ago, where pumping the water out of the big pond occurred completely. Bronze bulgasari (a symbolic animal that fights a fire) was nearby. According to an old story, another one placed the wells after digging near Kwanaksan peak. It means that they wished to prevent the evil fire from Mt. Kwanaksan to spread, according to the fungsujirisul(風水地理說).
50 years ago, each individual roof tile differed in color. Now it has been changed, to improve the tile, and all the roof tiles have the same color. There are 11 japsangs(11 each) above four churyemaru (on where the four corners of the roof exist). Therefore, total 44 japsangs are on the roof. The pavilion has the most number of japsang units in a Korean building type domain. It means the pavilion has received a rating of the highest position. Japsang does means it has an image for Goku(孫悟空) and Samjangbeopsa(三藏法師) and they hold it well. Japsang has a commanding statue of a monkey wearing a hat in front of colleagues following behind. It means seeking to overcome a crisis as exorcisms.
There are 48 units of stone pillars. Around the pavilion there are 24 stone pillars of rectangular shape, while inside there are 24 in a rounded form. These pillars have been reduced to a section higher from ground. Eight stone pillars made seven spaces (kan) from the front viewpoint. Inside the viewpoint, six stone pillars make 5 spaces. People thought the space (universe) symbol is round and the earth symbol is rectangular (天圆地方). So, round stone pillars designate the space, and rectangular stone pillars are related to the earth.
Why they made the pavilion, the construction (造營) message that was meant to be conveyed was one of to communication of the earth and the space, and also the builders wanted to establish synergy.The 24 stone pillars around the pavilion denoted to each 24-directions, and inner stone pillar related to 24 seasons. There is a connection to the geumgangsong(金剛松) column on the floor that is on top of the stone pillars.
The top of the rounded stone pillars belong the same type of a fine column, and a rectangular stone pillar supports the same type of a fine one. Currently the pavilion was re-built by Daewongun(大院君) about 150 years ago. Fortunately it survived the Korean War from 1950-1953.
There is a stairway on the east and west but it has a fast slope. The floor has a different level of three types. The lower level of floor laid the outer lounge(外陣), middle level floor is the inner lounge(內陣), and the highest level floor has called the most inner lounge(內內陣). The most inner lounge is subsequently divided into three spaces. It means three objects, such as the space, the earth, and human. And also the most inner lounge has 8 opened walls (kan) between columns including 8 units. It means 8 trigram(卦), that is gun(乾), tae(兌), lee(離), jin(震), son(巽), gam(坎), gan(艮), and gon(坤).
The inner lounge includes 12 floors, it means that each unit floor relates to a month of the year. Also they have 16 opened walls (kan), each kan has 4 doors, so that 64 doors are there, meaning 64 trigrams. Not able to handle the door so high from floor to ceiling, half the height of the upper part function in the gangchang(光窓) as a lighting window. Looking north from the floor is Baekaksan (Bukaksan). Westward is Inwangsan. Southward is Namsan. There is golden section (ratio) frame by vertical column and horizontal bar, with beauty in every visible direction. This frame is called a changbang. Every frame is decorated with arabesque(唐草文樣) and Luoyang style sculpture(洛陽刻). A Changbang message is visible to us whenever you look out from the pavilion lounge in the form of a paradise like ideal village(武陵桃源).
Under the churyemaru, which is in the corner of the roof, the rafters intersect each other. The roof is so large that it requires many long rafters. The rafters alternate from those in the horizontal and vertical position, ,it's spectacular. The rafter are cut in an absolutely precise method. More than 30 rafters are in an orderly manner from the rafters. "We met not by chance, but by it was the universal (the space) order” is the message this contains.
Why is the pavilion located on one side not by the center of a large pond horizontal 128meters and lateral 113meters There are two islands in a big pond with a rectangular (dangju). Usually there is a round island the palaces, but why is the dangju is rectangular shape and so large What does the distance between the two islands signify Why is there a pine planted on dangju
South and west of the pond water surface in the pavilion the sunlight and moonlight beam are cast on the gangchang. During the full moon rise it has mirrored on the pond’s south side, moonlight and reflected the moon mirroring light put on gangchang by projecting. In the early evening, when the moon has rose but still remains near the ground, the reflection of the moon is displayed on right side of southern ganchang. And also, the sun above Inwangsan’s peak at the western part of the pavilion, reflected and mirrored the water of the pond, and the wave surface from wind, beams on the western part of ganchang in real time in a live situation. Brilliant and miraculous light was displayed on gangchang in the later afternoon. It seems like a video show.
As such, it seems sitting in the inner lounge that a show is being played courtesy of the sun and moon. This explains the location of two of dangju and it has a distance to each other, while pines are planted there during the sunlight video show, so as to prevent loss of the sunlight beam energy and also it can also play a role in the aperture.
Solar video has shown us thereby that the screen shifted slightly move from left to right when it’s just after the vernal equinox(春分) and until the longest day of the year(夏至). Then, the screen turns back to the center of gangchang during the autumnal equinox(秋分), proejcting the moving surface of the pond. Never do the sun and moon shine privately (日月無照).
Notice to those who put this message conveys to the King. When Gyeongbokgung was re-built, the architect in charge of design was struck with designing the reconstruction while combining the space, human and the earth and nature solar video system that he must have admired deeply.
By communication with the space, they have promised that the space order must be obeyed. The Kingdom wished to avoid an accident of domestic riots and foreign threats. Understanding that public sentiment is the same to the space so that would never deceive or harass to the people. The conclusion is that Gyeonghoeru(慶會樓) has been constructed to implement the governance of the confucianism philosophy rather than for a leisure facility.
There was not a banquet on the purpose of the pavilion. The people wanted the pavilion to be in the center for communication and made consensus of the space, human, and the earth so that the nation would attain sustainability and survival forever. The pavilion used to the next generation of leaders from the passing public examination were also encouraged by the King, and encouraged the young elite for the future of the country.
