Feng Shui Landscape Management of the Capital Hanseong and the Journey of Feng Shui Discourse during the Joseon Dynasty Period

The Feng Shui of the Joseon Dynasty Period formed the basis of traditional geography used for spatial arrangement and landscape management of various landscapes and places including the location of Hanseong, the capital. From the early days of the Joseon Dynasty, Feng Shui was recognized as a major national academic field by government officials, and was one of the exam subjects of Gwageo (bureaucratic recruitment) system, and professional bureaucrats were appointed to government posts. Immediately after the Imjin War[壬 辰倭亂], King Seonjo mobilized the idea of Feng Shui as a theoretical basis to restore the main landscape elements of Hanseong destroyed by the war. However, after the late Joseon Dynasty, the idea of Feng Shui was criticized by many bureaucrats and Confucian scholars, and even the king added it. Even harsh criticism from some official historians followed the king for his excessive favoritism of Feng Shui. In particular, during the reigns of king Yeongjo and Jeongjo, critical opinions on Feng Shui arose greatly. After the late Joseon Dynasty, Feng Shui was greatly reduced to the level of Eumtaek[陰宅風水] in charge of the location or relocation of royal tombs. At the same time, unlike the early Joseon Dynasty Period, when the meaning of ‘geography=Feng Shui’ was strong, in the late Joseon period, ‘geography concept with a meaning different from that of Feng Shui’, like the usage examples in King Jeongjo’s ‘Geography Policy Questions[地理策問]’, certainly existed.