• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.134-146
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• 2011

Gyeokgu is a group ball game transmitted into the Joseon Dynasty period as acquiring a great vogue among the royal palace and people in Goryeo Dynasty after being introduced into the country from China. This research aimed through historical investigation to look into the form in which the Goryeo dynasty's kings enjoyed Gyeokgu game, and the historical-spatial signification and the locational characteristics of Gujeong(the ground where play Gyeokgu) which is the courtyard where Gyeokgu game was held centering around the Goryeo dynasty's palace where Gyeokgu was prosperous most. We researched and analyzed the data for research after extracting the records related to Gyeokgu from three historical data of the true records of the Goryeo Dynasty. Upon investigation, twelve among 34 kings of the past generations were concerned with Gyeokgu in Gyeokgu game participation form, and 46 times were recorded in historical records in total. In the participation form, kings participated personally in 9 times among 46 Gyeokgu games, and viewed games in case of 37 times. Among these kings, the 18th generation king Uijong was recorded most as 17 times(36.9%) in Gyeokgu records. Places where Gyeokgu were held were 25 places in total including royal palace, detached palace, Lu-jeong, Buddhist temple, private residences, markets and streets, other outside of the royal court and so on, and 46 time-Gyeokgu games in total were held in these places. 21 time(45.6%)-Gyeokgu games were held in only 5 detached place among these places. So, detached palace were used most for Gyeokgu games. In particular, Gyeokgu games were held most in Suchanggung palace and Jangwonjeong palace among these detached palaces, and all these things were recorded during the reign of King Uijong. Gyeokgu game which was prevalent by the end of the Goryeo Dynasty showed a progression to a national festival which kings, personally coming into streets or Jeoja(an archaic word for "market"), enjoyed with the crowd.