‘경주 동궁과 월지’의 성격을 둘러싼 논의와 쟁점

Abstract

There have been many discussions about the nature of the historic site known as “Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju” and its vicinity. As is well known, the most widely accepted view on the historic site has long been that the artificial reservoir named Anapji was also called Wolji during the Silla period, while Donggung Palace, built in 679, was the official residence of the crown princes of the Silla dynasty. Following the widespread adoption of the “Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond” theory, the historic site known as the “Imhaejeon Site in Gyeongju” was renamed as “Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond” in 2011. Ironically, however, divergent opinions to that theory had already begun to emerge by the time the historic site was renamed, in accordance with a new theory established in the 1980s. This latter theory was largely based on the records in The History of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk Sagi) and the text materials excavated in the area around the Wolji Pond. Unfortunately, the researchers who proposed this theory paid little attention to the remaining archaeological features found at the site in question. Another view, which emerged in 1991, held that the area around Wolji Pond was too large to become Donggung Palace, in other words the official residence of Silla’s crown princes, and particularly so when compared with the crown prince’s palace in the subsequent Goryeo and Joseon periods. This was followed by the still new idea that the term “Donggung” referred, as the name suggests, to the “Eastern Palace,” whose precincts contained the crown prince’s residence (Taejagung Palace). The central part of the site, Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju, is represented by a building complex located to the west of the pond. Discussions aiming to connect the central buildings with the crown prince’s residence only began as recently as 2010. This issue attracted the attention of many researchers, although few of them actually undertook a thorough review of the characteristic features of these palatial buildings. Recently, however, some of the structural remains of these buildings were re-excavated together with the ‘Ga’ section situated to the east of Wolji Pond. Accordingly, the achievements of the latest studies and archaeological discoveries have laid the foundation for fresh discussions about the nature of Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju. One of the most important tasks required in the effort to identify the nature of Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju should be to understand the nature of the building that is marked by an absence of inner columns at its center, as well as the background to Wall No. 1, which was discovered due east of Wolji Pond. That is why it has been concluded that Building No. 1 located in the ‘Ga’ section to the east of Wolji Pond, which is characterized by an interior without columns, should be compared with Building ‘A’ located to the west of Wolji Pond, which may well have been related with Silla’s kings. In order to acquire a closer, more accurate understanding of the true nature of Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju, researchers will need - in addition to adopting archaeological approaches - to explore text materials connected with Wolji Pond and the buildings in its vicinity, such as the record in Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk Yusa), according to which the entire fifty rooms forming the palace’s internal quarters were swept away when Dongji Pond overflowed.