Are the Statues in Front of Gwanghwamun Really Haechi? The Case of the Stone Guardians
Two haechi statues stand in front of Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Really? Probably not. There's almost a 100% chance they're lions. Let's take a look.
Paintings of Chickens, Dogs, Lions, and Tigers
Ji Gyusik was a *gongin*, a person who supplied goods to the royal family and government offices. He traveled between Saongwon’s Bunwon (a kiln) in Yanggeun, Gyeonggi Province, and Jongno Street in Seoul, selling pottery to merchants. The Bunwon was originally a state institution, but in the 19th century, it was privatized and transformed into a company that exclusively supplied products to the state and privately produced pottery. The reasons for this are boringly pathetic, but let's talk about it another time.
On July 20th, 1891 (lunar calendar), Ji Gyusik received a letter from a friend in Seoul. His friend, Yi Cheonyu, wrote, 'Please buy and send me paintings of *jangpanji* paper, chickens, dogs, lions, tigers, and the like.' (Ji Gyusik, *Hajae Diary*, July 20, 1891)
These animals, *gyegyeonsaho* (鷄犬獅虎 - chickens, dogs, lions, and tigers), were believed to ward off evil spirits. People would attach these paintings above doors where they thought evil spirits passed through. They are called *munbaedo* (door paintings). Chickens guarded the central gate, dogs the storage door, lions the kitchen door, and tigers the main gate. They were also attached to attic doors.
A passage from the *Hanyangga* (*Song of Hanyang*), a shamanic song from the mid-19th century, reads: 'Various paintings are hung in shops under Gwangtong Bridge / Chickens, dogs, lions, and tigers on the attic wall, carp leaping through the dragon gate on the door / Painted with vibrant colors, their splendor is immeasurable.' (Hansan Geosa, *Hanyangga*) This means that there was a high demand for *gyegyeonsaho* paintings in the private sector, and they were sold in large quantities in Jongno. Among the photographs of private houses taken during the colonial period, there are some houses with lion paintings hung on the kitchen door. Perhaps they weren't effective at warding off evil, as Ji Gyusik's friend Yi Cheonyu died two months after receiving the painting as a gift. (*Hajae Diary*, September 24, 1891)
The lion that guarded the kitchen or attic has drooping ears, bulging eyes, and a large bell on its collar. Red flames rise from its body and legs. Sometimes, these lions appear in pairs, playing with their cubs. The *Gyegyeonsahodo* owned by the Guimet Museum in France humorously depicts the four animals.
Throughout history and across cultures, lions have also been symbols of power. At the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing, built during the Ming Dynasty, stand bronze lion statues. In fact, there are lion statues everywhere. Stone lions sit in front of Tiananmen Square. All of them wear collars with bells and sometimes play with their cubs. The ears, which usually droop, sometimes stand up straight. The stylized mane, like a whirlwind, is magnificent. In this way, the lion is an apotropaic animal that avoids fire and an authoritative animal that symbolizes power.
The lion statue, which was originally a plain folk style, merged with Buddhist culture on the Korean Peninsula, resulting in humorous lions with circular patterns on their bodies. In particular, many lions with circular patterns are seen on the insignia worn by military officials.
About Haechi
In 1659, a month after King Hyojong died and King Hyeonjong ascended the throne, Minister of Personnel Song Siyeol submitted a memorial to the king: 'The horn of the haechi is extremely sharp. Why do you consider that sharpness to be a disease? I humbly ask that you punish me for my sins in response to the people's words.' (June 5, 1659, *Hyeonjong Gaesu Sillok*) This was a memorial stating that he was stepping down because he was hurt as if he had been stabbed by the horn of a haechi when his political opponent, Hong Yeoha, exposed his corruption. King Hyeonjong did not allow it.
The symbol of the haechi is its single horn. It is an animal from ancient Chinese legends. This animal 'uses its horn to ram the person who is not righteous when it sees people fighting, and bites the person who is not righteous when it sees people arguing.' (Yang Fu, *Yiwuzhi*. Kim Young-gyun, op. cit., re-quoted) The haechi was thus an entity that distinguished right from wrong and punished falsehood with its sharp horn.
Haechi statues excavated throughout China, whether stone, wood, or bronze, all have horns that are long and sharp like spears. The same is true of the Qing Dynasty bronze haechi statues in the Forbidden City. Without this horn, it cannot punish evil beings.
That haechi symbolized law and justice in successive Chinese dynasties and the Joseon Kingdom. Therefore, Joseon followed Ming Dynasty etiquette and stipulated that the Grand Censor (*daesaheon*) should have a haechi embroidered on his insignia (December 10, 1454, *Danjong Sillok*). The haechi insignia worn by military officials after the Imjin War invariably depicted an animal with a long horn rising from the crown of its head. Since King Wen of Chu, Chinese officials enforcing the law were required to wear haechi hats with long, horizontal horns pinned like hairpins. The Judicial Research & Training Institute and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea have statues of this haechi installed. All of them have one horn.
The Identity of the Stone Beasts at Gwanghwamun
In February 1870, King Gojong, who had become king at the age of twelve without any royal education, said, 'Sternly tell the Ministry of War not to ride horses inside the haechi.' (February 12, 1870, *Gojong Sillok*) This is an order prohibiting horse riding inside the stone statues now known as haechi statues. Eight months later, he became angry again. 'Haechi were erected at the palace gate to set boundaries. When I went out of the palace a little while ago, I saw an official riding a horse inside. Is this acceptable?' (October 7, *Gojong Sillok*)
These stone statues, erected during the reconstruction of Gyeongbokgung Palace after King Gojong's ascension to the throne, are boundary markers for dismounting (*hama*). Since King Gojong, who became king at the age of twelve without any royal education, called these statues haechi, these beasts became haechi. There is no record of these stone statues being mentioned in the *Sillok* (*Annals of Joseon Dynasty*) or *Seungjeongwon Ilgi* (*Diaries of the Royal Secretariat*) except for these two instances.
Those who have been claiming that these stone statues are haechi statues argue that 'haechi were erected in front of palace gates since the Chu Dynasty' and that 'officials were made to stroke their tails to shake off the dust in their hearts.' This is a distortion.
According to Kim Young-gyun's 2023 doctoral dissertation mentioned above, this is a distortion of a Japanese scholar's book stating that 'Chinese emperors and officials' 'straightened their clothes' 'when passing in front of lion statues.' Not officials, but emperors. Not haechi, but 'lions.' There is no record of Joseon officials touching the tails of these stone statues. Does it have horns? No. Does it have a collar? Yes. Does it have a bell? Yes. Then is that beast a haechi or a lion?
Some argue that it is a haechi expressed like a lion. They say that unlike the single-horned prototype, it is expressed with two spiral protrusions like sheep's horns. They claim that 'in accordance with the will not to tolerate anything that goes against royal authority and is contrary to ideal Confucian politics,' 'a new image of the haechi statue was created to distinguish it from the Chinese haechi placed in royal tombs.'
Horns, Bells, Patterns, Lions, Haechi
At the end of the balustrade on the elevated platform behind the Gwanghwamun stone statues is a divine beast (*shinsu*) with horns. The horns are clear. The head of the so-called haechi statue has round patterns that look like sheep's horns. However, the elevated platform's divine beast also has the same patterns. The two divine beasts sitting on either end of the Gwanghwamun gate tower also have horns and the same spiral patterns engraved on them. Next to Yeongjegyo Bridge at Geumcheon Stream behind Heungnyemun Gate inside Gyeongbokgung Palace, there is also a divine beast *gongbok* with horns, which also has the same pattern next to its single horn. If this pattern is a horn, then these beasts have three horns. This pattern is not a horn, but a *yeouidumun* (如意頭文 - *ruyi* head pattern) seen in Buddhist art.
So, the stone statues in front of Gwanghwamun have 'no' horns. Instead, they 'have bells on their necks' and 'no horns'. That's it. Due to King Gojong's misconception, which appears twice in the *Sillok*, the public, who thought of lions as apotropaic figures that chased away fire, were also confused, and throughout the colonial period, intellectuals had to waver between lion, haechi, and haetae. In the 21st century Republic of Korea, it has become established as a haechi. The process is described in detail in the Kim Young-gyun dissertation cited at the beginning.
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