I mentioned the Hwaseong Culture Festival at the start of last month but didn't write anything about the subject after that. I did make it to the second day of the festival, though a mix-up on the bus meant that I ended up at a mountain outside of town rather than attending the event that I had most wanted to see.

On my return to the subway station at the end of the evening I was able to take a decent photo of Paldalmun (팔달문), the southern gate to the old city walls of Suwon. According to Wikimapia the name means "open roads in every direction" and was wide enough to allow the king's procession to enter the city accompanied by horses and sedans. It took a fair bit of waiting to get a shot without cars in the foreground, but this is what I ended up with:

Suwon Citizens festival Civil Service Exam Suwon South Korea from Derekwin

This weekend will see Suwon host the "Suwon Citizen's Festival", which doesn't sound all that exciting based on just the name. However, after exchanging messages with Derekwin and checking the festival website it turns out there will actually be a variety of events going on -- including several of historical significance. The one that initially caught my attention is a reenactment of the Civil Service Exam from the period of King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty (r. 1776-1800). The event is divided into three parts and begins at 10:30 in the morning at Hwaseong Haenggung, Bongsudang. For those interested in traditional calligraphy there will be a contest dedicated to the subject later in the day that may also be worth seeing.

Another event that I'm interested in involves Jeongjo's mother, who wrote The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong (한중록, 閑中錄) detailing her life as the crown princess and the murder of her husband by his father, King Yeongjo. Her son, King Jeongjo, moved the royal capital to Suwon and built Hwaseong Fortress - a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site - as acts of filial piety toward his deceased father. Having read The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong before coming to Korea I'm looking forward to a couple of the events centered around the former crown princess. In particular, the 60th Birth Anniversary Banquet and the State Wedding Ceremony between Lady Hong of Hyegyeonggung and Crown Prince Jangheon.

One aspect of the festival has already started, namely the 24 Martial Arts Performance that will continue through Monday. On Sunday it will be augmented by the Jang Yong Yeong Nighttime Military Drill that starts at 18:00 near Changryongmun Gate. Derekwin has some great photos from previous editions of the military drill that include skirmishes and some nice displays of horsemanship. I'd like to include more of his photos in this entry but only asked for permission to use the one. However, you can check out some of his photographs from the Hwaeseong Culture Festival / Suwon Citizen's Festival via Flickr here, here, and here. I've linked to the festival website above, but for easy reference this page contains directions on how to reach the various festival grounds.

Image from the official site's page on the Anniversary Banquet for Crown Princess Hong of Hyegyeonggung.

I posted my last entry about Sunchangwon a little prematurely, as I wanted to check with a coworker concerning a term I came across in a Korean article related to the tomb of Crown Princess Gong Hoebin.

The term that caught my attention is '일제', which has a couple of meanings based on differing Chinese characters (hanja). One of these translations is "Japanese imperialism" from the hanja '日帝', which is a portmanteau of the words 'Japan' (日本) and 'imperialism' (帝政) -- which didn't fit the story presented in the article. However, an additional meaning comes from the hanja '一齊' and means 'all at once' or 'simultaneously', which makes a lot more sense given the context.

Getting back to my story, while looking up information on the site at Sunchangwon I came across this online article, which mentions an attempted grave robbery at her tomb back in 2006. If I have the facts straight - never a sure thing when I'm the one translating - an administrative team working at Seooreung tombs found evidence of the thief's work on the morning of January 18th, with a research team from the National Cultural Properties Research Institute confirming that the excavation was of a high quality -- suggesting the work of a professional grave robber.

Scene of the crime. Image from 씨오이오 넷

The grave robber managed to dig 2.7m underground before abandoning the site, as shown in the photo above. The reddish-brown clay (적갈색 흙) at Sunchangwon is packed tightly enough that the thief didn't have enough time to break into the burial space before the threat of being caught was too great. I've done a very brief bit of reading about the burial tombs of the Gogoryeo and Silla Dynasties and the archaeological discoveries found within, but haven't heard anything about what might lay inside the tombs of Joseon rulers.

Of course, this should hardly be surprising given that the dynasty stretches back 500 years and only ended in 1910 with the Japanese invasion of the Korean peninsula. The old(est) generation was still alive for the rule of King Gojong, and I can understand if they'd feel uncomfortable breaking open the graves of his relatives. Joseon kings may not have ruled through a divine mandate from heaven like the absolute monarchs of western Europe, but there was obviously a division of power that created a social hierarchy within society. Keep in mind that we're also talking about a culture with multiple special days dedicated to performing ancestral rites for the deceased members of one's family and you can see how digging up a Joseon king's ancestors wouldn't necessarily be a priority.

Increased patrols were introduced following the attempted grave robbery in 2006 but I don't know if those are still in effect now. With the Joseon royal tombs named as UNESCO World Heritage Sites they may be seen as more tempting targets for privateers, or the assumption of heightened security might be enough to keep international grave robbers at bay. Here's to hoping local criminals are dissuaded from making any more attempts as well.

While it wasn't next on my itinerary, the tomb at Sunchangwon will be the next one I mention on account of the fact that I only have two decent photos from my time there. Within the Korean nomenclature for royal tombs, a 릉 (reung or neung in English depending on the preceding letter) is reserved for kings and queens, while 원 (won) is used in the names of tombs for the king's birth mother (if not a queen), princes, princesses, and the crown prince's wife. The third category of tomb, 묘 (myo), refers to graves of civil servants, nobles, and pretty much everyone else in society. Of note, King Yeonsangun was (posthumously) dethroned and is thus buried in a myo.

Sunchangwon is the tomb of Crown Prince Sunhoe (順懷世子, 1551-1563) and his wife, Crown Princess Gong Hoebin (恭懷嬪, ?-1592) of the Yun family. Sunhoe is the son of King Myeongjong (明宗; r. 1545–1567) and his consort Queen Insun of the Shim clan (인순왕후 심씨, 1523-1575). Sunhoe was named crown prince at the age of seven and a marriage was arranged with the daughter of Hwang Daeim before the bride's poor health led to the wedding's postponement for more than a year and eventual abandonment. In 1559 the Crown Prince was married to Gong Hoebin -- who, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration page for the tomb, was the daughter of Yun Ok. Sunhoe died in 1563 at the age of 13, but I haven't seen any explanation regarding the cause of death.

The throne eventually passed to Prince Hassong, who would rule under the name King Seonjo (宣祖; r. 1567-1608). While King Myeongjong is listed as the thirteenth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, he assumed the throne at the age of 12 and most of his reign was actually carried out by his mother, Queen Munjeong of the Papyeong Yun clan. Myeongjong took control of the kingdom upon her death in 1565, but passed away just two years later.

Continued in Part Two ...