8 - The First Day (Ninth Day of the Intercalary Second Month)

Summary

THE GRAND MARCH STARTS FROM CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE AT DAYBREAK

ALL THE PREPARATIONS were completed, and the day of departure, the ninth day of the intercalary second month, finally arrived. The departure time was set at myosi, sometime between five and seven o’clock in the morning.

The king appeared at Yeongchunheon Hall in Changdeokgung Palace and said, ‘First, I must have an audience with my grandmother.’ He then went on horseback to Sujeongjeon Hall to greet his grandmother, Queen Dowager Jeongsunhu Kim, the second queen consort of King Yeongjo. She was fifty-one years old at that time and therefore ten years younger than Lady Hyegyeong. Jeongjo was not on good terms with his grandmother as she had been involved in the death of his father, but as a king, he had to fulfil his filial duty of greeting her before embarking on his journey. Jeongjo had decided to take only his mother and his two sisters – Princess Cheongyeon (1754-1821) and Princess Cheongseon (1756-182) – to Hwaseong, leaving his grandmother and his wife, Queen Consort Hyoui (1753-1821), at the palace in Hanseong.

When the drum beat three times at around six forty-five that morning, Jeongjo arrived at Donhwamun Gate, the main gate of the palace, in an open palanquin, dressed in military attire and wearing a hat with a plume. He then descended the palanquin and entered a tent to wait for his mother. Lady Hyegyeong, also riding a palanquin, passed through ten gates before finally reaching Donhwamun Gate. Jeongjo exchanged greetings with his mother, then started the trip on horseback.

According to the banchado illustration of the Wonhaeng uigwe, the king was accompanied by 1,779 people and 779 horses. However, according to the retinue list from the Wonhaeng uigwe, as many as 6,000 people were actually mobilized for the royal procession. Of course, not all members of the retinue followed the king’s palanquin; many of them made up advance parties waiting for the king in Hwaseong or on the way to the destination. About 4,500 out of 6,000 people were soldiers of the Five Army Garrisons, 3,000 of whom also belonged to the Royal Guards Garrison.