Taewonjeon Hall is to the north of Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. It was a place to keep portraits of the king and the caskets of the king and queen. Before moving the casket to the royal cemetery, it had to be kept in the hall for five months.
Taewonjeon Hall was built in 1867 during the reconstruction of Gyeongbokgung Palace under the reign of Emperor Gojong. After Queen Sinjeong, Empress Myeongseong was also enshrined here. Since the proclamation of the Korean Empire, the hall has continued to be used as a mortuary before moving the tablets to Gyeongsojeon Hall of Deoksugung Palace. After that, it was demolished, and its restoration work has been performed since 2006.
In the Joseon Dynasty, Confucianism was the main idea. It is believed that when a person is alive, the spirit and body are managed by hun and po, respectively, whereas hun refers to yang energy and po refers to yin energy. Thus, when a person dies, it is said that the hun and po have dispersed into heaven, and po returns to the earth. This brought home the idea that while the physical body may perish, the soul lives on. Because of this, both a physical burial place and an ethereal shrine were constructed.
Furthermore, on the way from Taewonjeon Hall to Gyotaejeon Hall, there was a pavilion called Mungyeongjeon Hall. It served as a memorial hall where the ancestral tablets of the royal family were enshrined. Before Taewonjeon Hall served as a mortuary, the historical record showed that it was also used to keep portraits of the king. The first royal family to use this place as a mortuary was Grand Royal Queen Dowager Sinjeong.
Currently, visitors are allowed to take a tour of Taewonjeon Hall, along with Sinmumun Gate and Jibokjae Hall. Let’s explore more mysterious historical stories from the Joseon Dynasty!