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A study on the change of East palace and character of Imhaejeon in Silla

  • The Review of Korean History
  • 2017, (127), pp.5-54
  • Publisher : The Historical Society Of Korea
  • Research Area : Humanities > History

Jeon Deogjae 1

1단국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the character and its changes of Silla’s East Palace, as well as the construction time, place and the features of Imhaejeon. Among the Samguksagi’s records that describe the period before the 19th year of King Munmu’s reign(679), no information about Three Kingdoms’ East Palace can be found. For the first time, the East Palace was built in Silla in 679. Donggunga and Donggungkwan were installed in the 11th year of King Gyeongdeok’s reign(752). Until 752, the East Palace was recognized as just one of the secondary palaces that were located on the east side of the main palace. In 752, King Gyeongdeok newly established the organizations under East Palace which centered around the Donggunga, Eoryongseong and Setaek offices. He also moved some government offices to Donngungkwan including Woljijeon, which was previously under the management of Naeseong. These measures were implemented to strengthen his royal authority by stabilizing operations of the Crown Prince System. Consequently, the East Palace institutionally became a guaranteed Crown Prince’s space. As the Crown Prince System worked normally in the late 9th century, awareness that East Palace was a Crown Prince’s place spread widely. However, until the closing years of Silla, the East Palace was still regarded as a complex space due to the coexistence of the residence and office of Crown Prince such as Sajeongdang and Ugung, and the spaces that included buildings as Imhaejeon where King’s banquets were held. There are three buildings that are placed on the North and South side of Imhaejeonji. Considering some factors as the fact that name of Imhaejeon’s main gate was ‘Imhaemoon’, which was built on the west side of Wolji, and the similarities between the building arrangements of Daimyung Palaces Indeokjeon and those of Imhaejeon, it is highly likely that people called those three buildings altogether by name ‘Imhaejeon’ around the 19th year of King Munmu’s reign(679).

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.