By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
A wooden tablet from Sungnyemun ― more commonly known as Namdaemun or South Gate ― written in Chinese characters narrowly escaped damage from the fire that destroyed all other wooden parts of the structure.
Firefighters rushed to the scene to remove the tablet from the burning structure around 11 p.m. Sunday, two hours after the fire broke out.
The tablet's writing remains undamaged although it sustained minor scratches on its edges while firefighters removed it from the structure with a saw.
On the tablet was written ``Sungnyemun'' by Yangnyeongdaegun (1394-1462), King Taejong's (1367-1422) first son and elder brother of King Sejong the Great.
The tablet has a unique pattern, which is vertically written. Its vertical pattern was believed to have been designed to counter the fiery spirit from Mt. Gwanak in southern Seoul. When King Taejo (1335-1408) constructed the capital city, he believed that fire would reach Gyeongbok Palace as well as the capital city as it faced Mt. Gwanak, which was shaped like the flames of a fire, according to feng-shui (the theory of divination based on topographic principles).
According to Taoistic theories of yin and yang and the five elements, Sungnyemun indicates fire, which is from the harmony of the five elements and if written vertically, the Chinese character looks like a fiercer fire that would provide protection.