Huijeongdang Hall (희정당)

Located inside Changdeokgung Palace, Huijeongdang Hall is a one-storey structure built in ikgong style (bird wing-shaped eaves placed on top of the pillars) with a hip tiled gable roof. It has 11 kans in the front and 4 kans to the sides (kan: a traditional unit of measurement referring to the space between two columns that is roughly 6 to 8 feet). During the latter period of the Joseon Dynasty, the hall was used as the king’s workplace. It is situated right in front of the palace’s residential hall called Daejojeon Hall. Originally built upon the foundation of Changdeokgung Palace, Huijeongdang Hall was destroyed by multiple fires during the battles of the Imjin War (Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592). It was rebuilt in 1834 but was burnt down again in 1917. The current structure is the one reconstructed in 1920. The frequent destruction and restoration of the hall account for the many changes that occurred in terms of the size and purpose of the building. The 9 kans in the front and 3 kans on the sides have been decorated into a living room with a Korean-style reception room on the left and a western-style reception room on the right. The rest of the building was used as hallways and other small rooms such as bathroom and cubicles. The hall's interior is decorated with foreign-made furniture as a result of the western influences at the time. The electricity installed in and outside the rooms is a change that took place during the last phase of the Korean empire. The original structure, however, had been strictly constructed according to the original palace building standards.