CultureSeptember 1395(Lunar)

Gyeongbokgung built

The main palace, Gyeongbokgung, was completed in the new capital; Jeong Do-jeon named it after a line in the Book of Songs.

Geunjeongjeon, the throne hall of Gyeongbokgung (present building rebuilt in 1867)
Brady Bellini · CC0 · Source

The name comes from a line in the Book of Songs: "Drunk with wine and filled with virtue, may the lord enjoy great blessings (gyeongbok) for ten thousand years." Jeong Do-jeon also named its main halls, such as Geunjeongjeon and Sajeongjeon. It was the principal palace, though after the Strifes of Princes kings often preferred Changdeokgung, built by Taejong. Burned during the Imjin War, it lay in ruins for some 270 years until the Heungseon Daewongun began rebuilding it in 1865.

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States and rulers at the time: Joseon — Taejo
Places: Gyeongbokgung

People

Taejo (Yi Seong-gye)1335 – 1408
monarch · Founder and first king of Joseon, formerly a general who fought Japanese pirates and the Red Turbans
Jeong Do-jeon1342 – 1398
participant · Neo-Confucian architect of the new dynasty who named the palace and capital gates; killed in the First Strife of Princes

Before and after

Earlier: 1395 Jongmyo Shrine, Seoul
Later: 1398 Seonggyungwan Built and the State Schools of Joseon

Themes that include this event

Changes in Architecture1200 – 1910
From Geungnakjeon at Bongjeongsa to Seokjojeon at Deoksugung — Goryeo bracket styles, Joseon palaces, walls and multi-storey temple halls, and the Western buildings of the Korean Empire
Seoul18 BC – 1988
From Hanseong Baekje to the June Democratic Struggle — the Han River land every kingdom fought for, and Joseon’s capital for five centuries