Gyeongseong

Infobox East Asian
title=Gyeongseong
hangul=경성
hanja=京城
rr=Gyeongseong
mr=Kyŏngsŏng
kanji=京城
kana=けいじょう
kanahist=けいじやう
hepburn=Keijō

Gyeongseong is a Sino-Korean word for "capital city," and was in occasional use to refer to Seoul throughout the Joseon Dynasty, having earlier referred to the capitals of Goryeo and Silla. The term came into much wider use during the period of Japanese rule, because it is also the Korean form of Keijō (京城), the former Japanese name used for Seoul during the occupation.

Seoul was called Hanseong during the Joseon Dynasty, but the city's main railway station opened with the name "Gyeongseong Station" in 1900, which name it retained until 1905. It was called Gyeongseong Station again from 1915 to 1947, when it assumed its current name.

"Gyeong" (경; 京) means "capital" and "seong" (성; 城) means "walled city." Gyeong is still used to refer to Seoul in the names of various railway lines and freeways, including:

*Gyeongbu Line ("Gyeongbuseon" (경부선; 京釜線) in Korean) and Gyeongbu Expressway ("Gyeongbu Gosok Doro"; 경부 고속 도로) between Seoul and Busan (부산; 釜山);
*Gyeongin Line ("Gyeonginseon"; 경인선; 京仁線) and Gyeongin Expressway ("Gyeongin Gosok Doro"; 경인 고속 도로) between Seoul and Incheon (인천; 仁川);
*Gyeongui Line ("Gyeonguiseon"; 경의선) between Seoul and Dorasan (the "ui" comes from "Sinuiju," the Revised Romanized spelling of Sinŭiju (신의주) in North Korea, the line's original terminus on the Chinese border--see the article on the Gyeongui Line for details);
*Gyeongwon Line ("Gyeongwonseon"; 경원선) between Seoul and Shintanni (originally the line went to Wonsan (원산) in what is now North Korea); and
*Gyeongchun Line ("Gyeongchunseon"; 경춘선) between Seoul and Chuncheon (춘천) in Gangwon Province.

ee also

* Korea under Japanese rule
* History of Korea

External links

* [http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/2006-January/005339.html Korean Studies List discussion of the names Gyeongseong and Gyeongin]