Seoul in the Middle Ages

During the Goryeo Dynasty, the name of Seoul was "Namkyung."
Domination of Goryeo: AD 898 ~

Wang Geon, who attributed Silla to Hubaekje and unified the Later Three Kingdoms, established the country under the name Goryeo, meaning the successor to Goguryeo. At that time, Seoul was called Yangju, but it was promoted to Namgyeong, one of the highest positions in the Goryeo embankment system in 1067, due to favorable natural geographical conditions such as convenient transportation and abundant products. After that, it was downgraded to Yangju again and then upgraded to Namkyung, but from 1101 to the end of Goryeo, it was promoted to Namkyung and took an important position.

At the time of King Gongyang at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, when the dynasty became confused, the capital was relocated to Seoul, which was called "Hanyang" at the time, but the political situation became more unstable, resulting in the confusion of relocating the capital back to Gaegyeong in six months. Seoul will be reborn as the capital of Joseon as Lee Seong-gye established Joseon and named Hanyang as the capital.

 

Seoul Becomes the Capital of Joseon
Hanyang, capital of Joseon, Cheondo: AD 1394 ~

Taejo Lee Seong-gye founded Joseon in July 1392, and in 1394, Hanyang was confirmed as the capital of Joseon. With the completion of Gyeongbokgung Palace, Jongmyo Shrine, and Sajikdan Shrine in 1395, and Changdeokgung Palace was completed in 1405, the actual 500-year history of the Joseon Dynasty centered on Hanyang began. Joseon built about 18 kilometers of fortresses along Baekbaek (Naksan Mountain), Naksan Mountain, Mokmyeoksan Mountain (Namsan Mountain), and Inwangsan Mountain to protect the capital Hanyang, and built Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, and Gyeongungung Palace as the king's living and governing palace. This place is called the Five Great Palace of Joseon, and Changdeokgung Palace is the place where the king of Joseon lived the longest.

Injeongjeon Hall of Changdeokgung Palace
During the Joseon Dynasty, the governing body consisted of special institutions such as Uijeongbu, Ijo, Hojo, Yejo, Byeongjo, Hyeongjo, and Gongjo, and today, Yukjo was gathered in Sejong-ro in front of Gwanghwamun, and it was called Yukjo Street. Seoul was the center of Joseon's politics and administration in name and reality, with Sungkyunkwan, the highest department in today's national university, and the fourth department school, which can be seen as a secondary education institution, also located in the four gates. Currently, Jongmyo, Korea's historical site No. 125 and UNESCO World Heritage Site, held a ritual every year, and Sajikdan Altar, located at the foot of Inwangsan Mountain, west of Gwanghwamun, held a ritual to pray for a good harvest for the grain god.

The scene where you dance the eight-day dance in Jongmyo Grand Festival
During the Joseon Dynasty, Cheonggyecheon Stream was called Bukchon in the north and Namchon in the south. Bukchon refers to the area of Gahoe-dong, Jongno-gu, where aristocrats lived together, and Namchon lived with poor scholars and ordinary people around Pil-dong, Jung-gu. In the middle of it, there is Jongno, which served as the center of the metropolitan economy as there was a marketplace where merchants were doing business in Jongno. Now, the Han River, the center of Seoul, played a major role in transporting taxes collected from all over the country to Seoul, and when it was necessary to inform the urgent news, it smoked at Namsan Beacon Fire Station to deliver the news. Due to its geographical location in the center of East Asia, Joseon maintained close external relations with Northeast Asian countries, and accordingly, there were diplomatic spaces in Seoul. The Chinese envoys stayed at Taepyeonggwan (now located in Seosomun Branch of Kookmin Bank) and Mohwagwan (now located in Yuhye-dong, Seodaemun-gu), while Japanese and southern envoys stayed at Dongpyeonggwan (now 192 Inhyeon-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu), and Manchurian Yeojin stayed at Bukpyeonggwan (now located at Ewha Womans University Hospital).

 

Seoul in the late Joseon Dynasty, overcoming the ruins and blossoming of culture.

The Seven Years' War (Imjin Japanese Invasion), which began with the Japanese invasion in 1592, left a scar of a great war on Joseon. The damage caused by the war was very great, with Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, and Changgyeonggung Palace all burned down and 70-80% of the private houses of the people in the four gates burned down. Subsequently, with the outbreak of Yi Gwal's rebellion in 1624 and the Manchu Invasion in 1636, Seoul suffered a lot of damage, and the city was empty due to the Qing army's plunder. Since then, Joseon has put its heart and soul into correcting the scattered public sentiment, and was the first to reorganize the military system and repair the city. During the reign of King Sukjong, the defense system of the city was more firmly established, such as contracting the collapsed part of the city and building Bukhansanseong Fortress. Meanwhile, the Joseon royal family rebuilt Changdeokgung Palace and Changgyeonggung Palace first instead of Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was burned by war, and kings in the late Joseon Dynasty lived between Changdeokgung Palace and Gyeongdeokgung Palace.

In the late Joseon Dynasty, commercial areas will be expanded to the Cheonggyecheon Stream area in Jung-gu, Dongdaemun Ihyeon and Namdaemun Chilpae markets, away from the Sijeon Shopping Center in Jongno. In addition, the activities of Gyeonggang merchants centered on ports such as Yongsan, Mapo, Seogang, and Songpa of the Hangang River were also remarkable. Seoul, which has been the center of politics and economy since the early Joseon Dynasty, was also the largest handicraft complex in the country. The handicraft complex was mainly concentrated in Jongno-gu and Jung-gu, where there were senators who used to make royal clothes and saongwon where they used to make food and food containers, and George Seo who used to make paper outside the window. This area of handicraft industry expanded outside the capital in the late Joseon Dynasty, revitalizing the Joseon economy and becoming a driving force for Seoul to develop into a commercial and industrial city in the late Joseon Dynasty.
In this atmosphere, Silhak, which pursues new and practical studies, began to be formed around young intellectuals, and a Bukhak school was created to accept the advanced culture of the Qing Dynasty. Due to the rise of Silhak, Western science and technology entered Joseon and Catholic ideas were spread together. Early Catholicism was studied at an academic level and gradually developed into a faith, but it was eventually persecuted due to the doctrine that denied the Neo-Confucian worldview, and many Catholics have now been executed at Jamdubong Peak next to Yanghwa Bridge.

Another thing that changed significantly in the late Joseon Dynasty was the status system. As industrial activities diversified and economic life progressed, status transfer and status differentiation between social classes became active, and farmers were frequently promoted to aristocrats and the liberation of slaves began in earnest. Depending on the rapidly changing situation of the times, many changes have also appeared in literature and art. Heo Gyun's Hong Gil-dongjeon, which criticizes political corruption and social contradictions, Yeonam Park Ji-won's Yeolha Ilgi, which expressed realistic language, were published, and Jingyeong Sansu painting style, which depicts Korea's mountain streams, was popular. Folk paintings depicting the lifestyles of ordinary people and the lives of women were also very popular, and representative folk painters include Danwon Kim Hong-do and Hyewon Shin Yoon-bok.

Source: Seoul City Hall