Cheonggyecheon history and culture entry
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Gwansugyo Bridge
Gwansugyo Bridge in cheonggyecheon in Gwansugyo Bridge next to Juncheonsa Govt. Office During the Japanese Colonization Era, Gwansugyo Bridge was built by
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Description
Gwansugyo Bridge next to Juncheonsa Govt. Office During the Japanese Colonization Era, Gwansugyo Bridge was built by Japan to connect the Changdeokgung Palace and the Joseon Governor-General Building that was in Namsan Mountain until 1926. Next to the bridge, there was a government office called Juncheonsa that managed the Cheonggyecheon Stream during Joseon Dynasty. Therefore, the bridge was named ‘Gwansugyo’, meaning, ‘looking at the Cheonggyecheon Stream from the Juncheonsa Govt. office’. This bridge was lost during the covering construction, but it was newly built in 2005. King Yeongjo’s dredging construction During the global Little Ice Age of 17th Century, weather in Joseon was so frigid that there were frosts during summer. Thus, Joseon’s people engaged in illegal lumbering to secure fuels, and this caused deforestation around Hanyang. This problem got so aggravated that it is recorded in the King Sukjong’s annals that “The ruffians and the servants of the gentry houses are recklessly cutting down the trees, but they are unstoppable because they would threaten to swing the axe when forest rangers approach.” Since this went on continuously, it resulted in soil erosion of bare mountains. Whenever it rained, soil leaked into the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Thus, even a slight rain would lead to flood, submerging Hanyang. At the period of King Yeongjo, the 21st king of Joseon, this was no longer negligible. After a long consideration, Yeongjo mobilized over 200,000 people in 1760 and undertook 57 days of major dredging construction. The dredged sands were piled up around the Cheonggyecheon Stream next to Dongdaemun Gate, and it is said that the amount of them were as immense as two low peaks. Juncheonsa Government Office After the dredging construction in April, King Yeongjo established a government office called Juncheonsa at where the Gwansugyo Bridge is located today. Juncheonsa was an institution that controlled mountains and rivers in Hanyang, so they were responsible for the dredging of the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Juncheonsa dredged the stream’s bottom once in every two to three years, and undertook the same construction on a larger scale every ten years until 1882.
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Source
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