Ch'ilsŏng Gate () is the northern gate of the inner castle of the walled city of

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

(

Pyongyang Castle Pyongyang Castle is one of the National Treasures of North Korea. The castle was attacked by Geunchogo of Baekje in 375. In 427, Jangsu of Goguryeo transferred the Goguryeo capital from Gungnae Fortress (present-day Ji'an, Jilin, Ji'an on the ...

). Located in the scenic Moranbong Park, the gate was originally built in the sixth century as an official

Koguryo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

construction, although present construction dates from 1712. The gate takes its name (which literally means "seven stars") from the seven brightest stars in the Great Bear constellation (also known as the

Big Dipper The Big Dipper (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or the Plough (British English, UK, Hiberno-English, Ireland) is an asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them ar ...

). This constellation was revered in traditional Korean religion - for example, many

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

in Korea contain a "Chilsong shrine" or other similar structure. Ch'ilsŏng Gate is National Treasure #18 in North Korea.

Physical description

The gate's walls are built into the Hill's embankment, piled with trimmed stones built into an arch gate. The walls are about 10 metres apart, with the gatehouse placed on top of them. There is a battlement and a gatehouse on the embankment. The gatehouse has three bays with single gable eaves, measuring 7.38 metres in front and two bays in the rear, measuring 4.36 metres. There are pillars around the gatehouse, highlighting the middle bay; it has wooden floor. The gatehouse contains a spacious room whose ceiling is supported without any beams.

Notes

References

*http://www.vnctravel.nl/northkorea/?City_Guide:Pyongyang:Moranbong_Park {{WikidataCoord Buildings and structures in Pyongyang National Treasures of North Korea Gates in Korea Military history of Pyongyang

Physical description

See also

Notes

References