Hwanghakjeong Pavilion

About this place

Hwanghakjeong is an archery pavilion (sajeong, a pavilion at an archery range) built in 1899 (3rd year of the Gwangmu era) by order of Emperor Gojong to the north of Hoesangjeon Hall in Gyeonghuigung Palace for the practice of archery. After the Gabo Reform of 1894, when the bow was excluded from the standard-issue weapons of the military, archery pavilions across the country nearly disappeared. Regretting this, Gojong issued a royal command to 'promote archery for the training of the people's body and mind,' and had Hwanghakjeong built within the palace and opened to the common people. It is said that Gojong frequently visited this place and personally enjoyed archery. In 1922, when the Japanese demolished Gyeonghuigung, Hwanghakjeong was moved to its present location in Sajik-dong, the site of the former Deunggwajeong. Deunggwajeong was one of five archery pavilions that stood in the upper district (Utdae) below Mount Inwangsan during the Joseon period. The building measures four bays across the front and two bays deep, and is a hip-and-gable roofed house (paljakjibung) whose roof sides are shaped like the character for 'eight' (八). Hwanghakjeong is a model of archery-range architecture; archery events are still held there today, and it is a historic place that carries on the culture of Korean traditional archery (gukgung).