iSeoul Museum of HistoryJongno-gu
Taehwagwan: A Space Weaving Together Time
The layered history of one Insa-dong site, from a Joseon yangban residence and royal quarters to a modern restaurant and the site of the 1919 Declaration of Independence.
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On 1 March 1919, the national representatives of the March 1st Movement read out Korea's Declaration of Independence in a restaurant: Taehwagwan, at 194 Insa-dong. A printed copy of the Declaration is here, but the curators care just as much about the rest of the address's life.
You follow the plot through three sections. First the Joseon years, when it was a yangban family's house and then Sunhwagung, a royal residence. Then 1919. Then Taehwa Women's Hall and Taehwa Social Hall, which made it a base for women's education, child welfare and medical aid. Most of what's on the walls is paper: old maps, photo postcards and building plans.
Note the venue: this runs at the museum's branch, the Gongpyeong Historic Site Museum, in the basement of the Centropolis building on Ujeong-ro, not the main building by Gyeonghuigung. The excavated city remains are in the same hall, so finish there. Entry is free, 9:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30), until 7 March 2027.
Look for
The Declaration of Independence
A printed copy of the 1919 Declaration, the text proclaimed at the ceremony held on this site on 1 March.
The Sunhwagung porcelain dish
A white porcelain dish from Sunhwagung, the royal residence that stood on the plot before the restaurant moved in.
The Imun house plan
A Joseon-era drawing mapping the houses and land plots of an Imun gate neighbourhood inside Hanyang's city walls.
The Taehwa building plans
Architectural drawings and photographs of Taehwa Women's Hall and Taehwa Social Hall, including the stone building that later rose on the site.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Nerding Out
- Rainy Days
Skip if
You only want 1 March 1919: it is one of three sections, beside the palace years and the welfare hall.
Also at Seoul Museum of History
On now nearby
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Image credits
9
- Taehwagwan: A Space Weaving Together TimeCourtesy of Seoul Museum of History
- Ilgu Iryuk, Muhan Iryuk: 100 Years of Hangul DayCourtesy of National Museum of Korean Contemporary History
- GanaArt Collection: Beneath Technology — Scenes at the ThresholdCourtesy of Seoul Museum of Art
- SeMA Public Space Project: Dance of Eternal PolaritiesCourtesy of Seoul Museum of Art
- Seoul Museum of HistoryJjw / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- MMCA DeoksugungKimhs5400 (블루시티), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- National Museum of Korean Contemporary HistoryTrace84 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Seoul Museum of Artgypsycrystal, CC BY 2.0
- National Palace Museum of KoreaJinho Jung, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0