Introduction
[Edit this paragraph]
English: Sungnyemun(Soongryemoon) -- the Great South Gate of Seoul (Namdaemun)
Latitude and longitude: 37 degrees 33 minutes 38.26 seconds N 126 degrees 58 minutes 34.57 seconds E
Sungnyemun Gate is located at No. 9, Namdaemun-ro 4th Street, Jung-gu, Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It is the No. 1 national treasure of South Korea. It's called the South Gate. The South Gate is the largest among many city gates. There is an arched entrance in the center of the stone steps made of smooth boulders. There are pillars and roofs on the stone steps, which are divided into upper and lower floors. There are also doors on the east and west sides that can communicate with each other. There are green lawns on both sides of the stage, marking the traces of the city wall that no longer exists. At the same time, it is close to the civilian Namdaemun Market, which is an important landmark in Seoul and South Korea. Sungnyemun Gate was the largest of the four gates in Seoul in the early years, and it is also the oldest remaining wooden building in Seoul.
History
[Edit this paragraph]
Unlike other gates, the plaque of Sungnyemun has the words "Sungnyemun" written vertically. . When King Taejo (1335-1408) built the capital, he thought that Ansan or Gwanaksan Mountain in Seoul looked too hot from Feng Shui and thought it could spread to the capital or even Gyeongbokgung Palace, causing a fire. The word "rite" in Sungnyemun Gate belongs to fire in the five elements of yin and yang. If it is placed vertically with the word "Chong", it looks like a roaring flame. At that time, it was believed that fire could overcome the fire of Guanyue Mountain, so the plaque was written vertically. The inscription on the plaque of Sungnyemun Gate is both solemn and elegant, powerful and beautiful. This is a very famous book written by Rangning Dajun (1394-1462), the eldest son of Emperor Taizong (1367-1422). Sungnyemun Gate is located in the middle of the road, so tourists cannot see it up close, but it is easy to see it from a car or on the roadside. Especially at night, the mercury lamp under the city gate illuminates the south gate brightly, and you can appreciate its beauty even more at this time.
After the first establishment in the 7th year of Taejo (1398), Sungnyemun was extensively renovated in the 30th year of King Sejong (1448). Later, when the Imjin Japanese Rebellion and Byeongja Rebellion occurred, the south gate was not damaged. In 1962, Sungnyemun Gate was designated as the No. 1 National Treasure according to the Cultural Property Protection Act. The plan of the building is that the upper and lower floors have five rooms on the front and two on the side. The ground floor of the lower floor inside the building is hauni, except for the spring well floor in the upper center room, the other rooms have earth floors, and the upper floors have wooden floors. There are several opinions about the person who wrote the plaque, but according to "Zhifeng Leishuo", it is recorded that Lord Ning wrote it. The reason why the plaque of Byeonmun is written horizontally and Sungnyemun is written vertically is because the two characters of "Sungrye" mean sparks, in order to suppress the fire of Gwanaksan Mountain opposite Gyeongbokgung Palace. Namdaemun is the largest among many city gates. It is a typical multi-pack style building and uses solid wooden construction techniques. It is one of the important buildings in the history of Korean architecture.
It was first completed in 1398 during the Joseon Dynasty and underwent major reconstruction in 1448. In 1908, the colonial government during the Japanese occupation demolished the city wall to "improve transportation", leaving only the city gate. During the Korean War, South Gate was damaged by war, and restoration projects were carried out in 1962.
Accident
[Edit this paragraph]
At around 8:50 pm on February 10, 2008, a fire broke out at Sungnyemun Gate, National Treasure No. 1. The fire started in the wooden pavilion on the second floor of Sungnyemun Gate. The fire brigade initially believed that the fire was caused by a leakage in the lighting device. However, they later discovered that there were no wires or other devices around the two-story wooden pavilion, so it is now suspected that the fire was caused by arson. It continued to burn for 5 hours. At about 2 a.m. on February 11, the first and second floor pavilions of Sungnyemun Gate collapsed and turned into ashes.
South Korea’s Joint Investigation Headquarters, which is responsible for investigating the Sungnyemun arson case, said on the 12th that it arrested the suspect Cai on Ganghwa Island on the evening of the 11th. The 70-year-old Cai confessed to the crime. Choi had a history of arson. Due to land compensation issues, he deliberately set a fire at Changgyeonggung Palace in April 2006, causing property losses of 4 million won. Therefore, he violated the Cultural Property Protection Act and was sentenced to 18 months in prison with a suspended sentence. Two years to implement. Based on this clue, the police listed Cai as a major crime suspect. The police also found ladders, fuel and other crime tools at Cai's residence.
The letters that the police searched from Cai and his confession showed that Cai believed that the land he owned was developed but did not receive adequate compensation from the construction company, and reported this to the relevant departments several times, all of which were No satisfactory results were obtained. As a result, he became dissatisfied with society and decided to set fire to Sungnyemun Gate in revenge. Cai also confessed that in order to commit this crime, he visited the Sungnye Gate twice in July and November last year, learned about the building structure and security deployment of Sungnye Gate in advance, and prepared ladders and dilutions in advance. Agents and other criminal tools.
Reconstruction plan
[Edit this paragraph]
The South Korean government officially announced on May 20, 2008 that the destroyed Sungnyemun Gate would be renovated in January 2013. Restore the original appearance on the old site. The Korean Cultural Heritage Administration announced the "Basic Plan for the Restoration of Sungnyemun Gate" at the scene of the Sungnyemun Gate fire.
May 20, 2008 was also the 100th day since Sungnyemun Gate was burned down. The South Korean government specially chose this day to announce a detailed plan for the reconstruction of Sungnyemun Gate. The site of this press conference was located at the Sungnyemun Gate site.
The Korean Cultural Heritage Administration stated that the site cleanup and preparation work will be completed by the end of May 2008, and the investigation, excavation, research, and design work will be completed by December 2009, from January 2010 to December 2012. Carry out restoration projects.
In 1961, Sungnyemun Gate was rebuilt. Various photos and design drawings about Sungnyemun Gate at that time are now well preserved, and it will not be too difficult to restore the Sungnyemun Gate Tower itself. However, experts pointed out that since the burned Sungnyemun Gate must be completely rebuilt, there will be certain difficulties in raising a large amount of pine wood for the reconstruction of Sungnyemun Gate.
It is reported that the cost of rebuilding Sungnyemun Gate is estimated to be 25 billion won, equivalent to approximately US$23.9 million. Kim Dong-hyun, a member of the Korean Cultural Heritage Committee, said that Sungnyemun Gate is the spiritual sustenance of the Korean people, and the Korean government will definitely restore it to its original appearance no matter what the cost.
The South Korean government has established a 10-member expert team to be responsible for the reconstruction of Sungnyemun Gate.
A senior official said: "Sungnyemun Gate was burned down to only four large pillars, which will definitely be used in the reconstruction. However, the fire burned 95% of the tiles, I think We need to prepare at least 25,000 tiles of the same classical style.”
When the South Korean government rebuilds Sungnyemun Gate, it will install modern infrared detectors, smoke detectors and automatic sprinklers. At the same time, the entire reconstruction process will also be open to the public.
The reconstruction work of Sungnyemun Gate this time will not only be limited to restoring the original appearance before the fire, but also strive to restore it to the way it was when it was built in 1447. However, since the outer wall of Sungnyemun Gate was destroyed by Japanese colonists in 1907, the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration can only restore the original appearance of Sungnyemun Gate with the help of original photos and related data in the archives.
To warn future generations, the Korean government will also build a reconstruction memorial next to the new Sungnyemun Gate.