Hwaseong Wall

Part of Hwaseong Wall, a photo by kiki5253 on Flickr.

Today I went with my friend on a field trip to Suwon. We stopped by some royal tombs (pictures in the next post), had lunch and then moved to the Hwaseong Fortress. This fortress surrounds an entire village.

The palace was built by the 22nd king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Jeongjo in order to honor his father Crown Prince Sado (his father had been ordered to death by being locked in a rice chest over party strife and was posthumously titled King Jangjo).

The Hwaseong is primarily built of large stones and hardly any brick. The brick that you do see there had been imported from China at the time, because Koreans didn't know how to make bricks during that time period.

I learned a lot even though I was in a tour group for Koreans. The guide, who is a professor of Korean Culture and History, gave the group an excellent background on the sites we visited...I wish I had been able to understand more of what he said. My friend had to do most of the translation for me and I'm sure I missed quite a few things since she was busy listening too.

Ah well, it's a beautiful area and I had never been. I'm glad my unni invited me to come along on this field trip.

-Cheers!