From this posting I’d like introduce you the most beautiful garden in Korea which was listed on UNESCO. It was once known as a secret garden. The reason why they called it a secret garden was related to the location of the garden.
Usually the garden was located in the front yard of the palace in many cases.
But in Korea the garden was located in the back yard. Garden was close to the place of the Queen. Also the garden in private civilian house of Choson dynasty was located in the back yard like the case of the palace.
The house in Choson dynasty was built under the philosophy of Yin-Yan. In this respect the house was strictly divided by two parts, one for men, the other for women.
The front play ground was a space for male and Yan, the back garden was a place for female and Yin.
The front play ground was a open space, so every body could enter into there. But the back garden was a closed area.
Actually the Chang Deok Gung was a second palace at first, the first palace was Gyeon Bok Gung. The first palace was fired when Japan had invade for 1592 - 1598. So after the war against Japan, King decide to move to the second palace.
Since war against Japan, the Chang Deok Gung had became the first palace for nearly 260 years until the Gyeong Bok Gung was rebuilt in 1862.
Since the Chang Desk Gung became the first palace after the war against Japan, the character and the function of the back garden had been changed.
The back garden had been used for the official purpose. The buildings for the official work had been built in the back yard garden, the back yard garden became an open space.
Even though there were some changes, the back yard garden was still the one of the most beautiful garden in the world. The beauty of the back yard garden was remarkable in harmony and balance with Nature.
All of the facilities were built along with the concept of nature friendly. The facilities were build with the harmony of the hills, the slopes and the valleys.
Walking through the back yard garden was strictly controlled. People could enter into the garden only with the designated guide. English, Japanese and Chinese guides were available for your choice in specified time.
The first scene was a pond and the island.
The pond was Quadrangle and island was Round.
In Korean ancient view of the heavenly body, they believed the sky was round and the earth was quadrangle.
This pond and island showed the ancient view of uranography.
Round sky and Quadrangle earth was very unique korean concept which had came from the ancient time.
One thing interesting for me was why they express the earth bigger the the sky.
They made an island meaning the sky inside of the pond expressing the earth.
They have enjoyed expressing the phenomenon with reverse way.
The inversion seemed to be used in the pond and the island.
The inversion and reverse expression was very important key to understand Korean way of living and thought.
Thank you for reading.
(Next posting on the Back Yard Garden to be continued)