Throughout the Lunar New Year holiday, four palaces in Seoul and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty will open without an admission fee. Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung are all included, and the royal tombs will open as well. At Gyeongbokgung, 6,000 copies of sehwa, paintings said to ward off the misfortunes of the new year, will be handed out, and traditional hands-on programs will run alongside.
Sehwa are paintings that used to be put up on the first day of the year. In the Joseon court, paintings were made at the new year and given to officials, and those paintings were pasted on gates and doors, guarding the doorposts for twelve months. The paper was thin and the pigments were red and deep, and when the colors faded after the summer rainy season, they were replaced with new ones the following year. Because they were consumables swapped out each year, few survive today.
The 6,000 copies to be handed out this time will go to visitors to Gyeongbokgung. Since the quantity is fixed, they are likely to run out early in the holiday. With traditional hands-on programs added, a walk around the palace turns into a chance to touch seasonal customs that have been fading from memory.
The reason for opening the palaces during the holiday lies in more than visitor numbers. Seollal was originally a holiday observed at home, and as cities have grown, people with nowhere in particular to go spend a few days of the holiday downtown. In the winter palaces, with no leaves on the trees, the outlines of the halls and the lines of the roof tiles show plainly, and the smell of dry earth and pine hangs low in the courtyards. A palace looks closer to its original use when people are coming and going than when it is empty.
The more the gates are opened, the more there is to bear. The stone paving slabs have been trodden for ages and their edges are round, and the wooden floors of the timber halls are vulnerable to shoes and dust. Free admission is a decision that returns the palaces to the public as their own space, and for those managing them it is also a decision that adds another day's worth of wear. It reads as a choice to carry both.
No fees will be charged at either the palaces or the royal tombs. The sehwa are limited to 6,000 copies, so it is better to go early. In the winter palace courtyards the shade lingers long and the wind is cold.
Even without a gate to paste it on, a single sehwa can be folded and carried home. The paper is thin and the red will fade once a year has passed, and that fading was the purpose of the painting to begin with. If half a day opens up during the holiday, a walk toward Gwanghwamun is worth it.
Event Information
Dates: Lunar New Year holiday period
Venues: Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung palaces, Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty
Admission: Free of charge throughout
Programs: Distribution of 6,000 copies of sehwa at Gyeongbokgung, traditional hands-on programs
