OK, so finally, I’m posting my photos from Suwon, which I took last Friday. Note on the photos — the reason for my server upgrade was so I could implement Trent Gardner’s Flickr Manager plugin, which makes nice use of Highslide. Enjoy — I particularly like the night shots. Still trying to figure out how to incorporate Flickr captions, though.
And again, sorry for the delay — it’s been busy with the book coming out and a magazine deadline approaching.
Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon is, far and away, the crown jewel of the Joseon silhak movement. Constructed between 1794 and 1796, the imposing fortress utilized the latest engineering and fortification techniques of its day. The massive project was ordered by the reformist King Yeongjo, who intended to move the royal capital from Seoul, an initiative that proved as successful then as it has today. The primary architect behind the project was “Dasan” Jeong Yak-yong, the greatest of silhak thinkers and, interestingly enough, one of Korea’s first Catholic converts.
From Wikipedia:
Hwaseong Fortress was built over two and a half years, from 1794 to 1796 according to the designs of the architect Jeong Yak-yong, who would later become a renowned leader of the Silhak movement. Silhak, which means practical learning, encouraged the use of science and industry and Jeong incorporated fortress designs from Korea, China and Japan along with contemporary science into his plans. Use of brick as a building material for the fortress and employment of efficient pulleys and cranes were also due to the influence of Silhak.
Construction of the fortress was also a response to the collapse of the Korean front line during Hideyoshi’s invasions of Korea. At the time, the dominant model for building fortresses in Korea was to make a simple wall for the city or town and a separate mountain fortress to which the people could evacuate in times of war. However, this fortress was built to include elements of a wall, defensive fortress, and town centre, the four main gates being used as the gates for the town. The arrow-launching platforms built along ramparts with crenellated parapets and battlements were defensive elements of the fortress while the wall also held secret gates for offensive actions.
Unlike the case with Seoul Fortress, which was built with drafted labor, the enlightened King Jeongjo paid the laborers who built Hwaseong Fortress.
The fortress was severely damaged in the Korean War, but Dasan’s detailed blueprints and construction records greatly aided reconstruction efforts in 1970. In 1997, it was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hwaseong Fortress is, visually speaking, one of the most impressive sites in Korea. Its walls, watchtowers, bastions and gates are both functional — well, were functional, anyway — and aesthetically beautiful. The walls and command pavilions offer spectacular views of the city of Suwon and the surrounding hillsides. It makes the perfect daytrip from Seoul — it takes just an hour to get there via Seoul Subway Line 1 (sorry, Mike), and you can walk around the entire fortress in about four hours.
More information on the fortress here.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Love that plug-in. Great set. Good use of ambient light in a few of them. And those night shots are beauties. Nice work.
You HAVE to be losing weight, right?
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