and under a gate, (One must bear in mind that Korean gardening
is a lot less geometrically orientated, minimalistic and formal than Japanese gardening, and so in this context a secret garden is not the unkempt, dramatically beautiful wilderness that is an english secret garden, but Piwan is still secret nonetheless). Piwan is situated behind the Ch'angdok Gung Palace complex.
However from the picture one can see that korean gardening is still somewhat formal, with the angular pond and the ornate entertaining or picnic pavillion behind it, where the woman of the court may pass time.
The gate under which one passes to enter Piwan is called Pullo-mun (mun is gate). it is said that passing under it, guarantees 'eternal youthfulness', unfortunately I passed beneath it, and am still ageing by the second. Perhaps this idea comes from the the fact that it was the royal womens' obligation to be as youthful and devastatingly beautiful as humanly possible. Oh I should say that the women or the royal court lived near and within Piwan for the most part.
Piwon is a beautiful place, I saw it in spring, but I've heard that it is autumn it is nothing short of spectacular. It is great to walk past the ponds, and pavillions, or drink coffee (or coke, there is a tuck shop there now I almost forgot to mention) and sit beneath the four and five hundred year
old trees.
