Seoul City Wall Time Machine

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Office of the Royal Family

The Office of the Royal Family, called Jongchinbu in Korean, was an administrative bureau of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) which managed affairs relating to the royal family. Among its responsibilities were record-keeping of the royal genealogy, storing portraits and seals of the king, taking care of the official robes of the king and queen, and dealing with matters relating to the official titles and government posts of the relatives and descendants of the royal family.

The royal family of the Joseon dynasty consisted of the kings and their offspring, i.e. the princes and princesses, who all belonged to the Jeonju Yi clan, as well as their female consorts (i.e. the daughters-in-law), who belonged to other clans but whose descendants would be born into the Jeonju Yi clan. Any male or their daughter who was born to a descendant of the founding king of the dynasty, Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo) was thus considered a royal relative. The sons-in-law of the family, who married the princesses, were not officially considered a royal relative, as although their wives belonged to the Jeonju Yi clan, their children would be born into a different clan. However, they were nonetheless important to the royal court, and were thus managed by a different office, called Uibinbu, which was located next to the Office of the Royal Family.

The Office of the Royal Family was located across from Geonchunmun, the eastern gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was the only gate of the palace which the royal relatives and court ladies were permitted to use. The office consisted of three main buildings: Gyeonggeundang, meaning “Hall of Respecting Close Relations,” and Okcheopdang, meaning “Hall of the Jade Letter,” which was another name for the royal genealogy, and Iseungdang, meaning “Hall of ???,” as well as various gates and auxiliary buildings. These auxiliary buildings and Iseungdang Hall were demolished during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). In 1972, the remaining two buildings were designated as Seoul Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 9, and in 1981, they were moved to the premises of the nearby Jeongdok Public Library due to the construction of a tennis court. In 2013, they were returned to their original location on the premises of today’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art - Seoul.

An office for managing the royal family was first established during the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392) under a different name. The bureau was given its current name in 1430. In 1867, the office was built anew, and it is the buildings from this reconstruction that remain today. The office was closed in 1907, shortly after Korea was illegally forced into a becoming a protectorate of the Japanese Empire in 1905, and its responsibilities were taken over by the Kyujanggak Royal Library. In 1928, the Japanese colonial authorities opened an affiliated hospital of the Keijō Imperial University Medical College on the premises of the Office of the Royal Family. This hospital was later used as the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital before being renovated for use by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in 2013. The various extant records and artifacts once produced and stored at the Office of the Royal Family are now kept at institutions such as the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, the Jangseogak Archives, the National Palace Museum, and the National Museum of Korea.

Artifacts of the Royal Family

• Portraits of kings
• Costumes of kings and queens
• Excavated artifacts such as placenta chamber monuments and jars