Week 15. My Recent Wikipedia Edits - Jeong seolah (정설아)

  I made several edits to the Wikipedia page for 'Deoksugung'. 

Deoksugung is a former royal palace in Seoul that became the main palace of the Korean Empire in 1897 under Emperor Gojong, who aimed to modernize Korea by expanding the palace with both Korean and Western architecture. After Japan’s colonization in 1910, much of the palace was dismantled or sold off. By 1938, only a few original buildings remained, and the site became a public park. Post-liberation, the palace continued to shrink due to public works. Restoration efforts began in the 1980s, with major plans enacted in 2004 to recover its pre-colonial form.

Below is a summary of the changes I contributed

"its materials recycled" → "its materials were recycled"

 → Added the auxiliary verb "were" to correctly form the passive voice.

"citizen protestors that thought" → "citizen protestors who thought"

 → Used "who" instead of "that" when referring to people.

"Afterwards, a variety of buildings" → "Afterward, a variety of buildings"

 → Changed to American English spelling ("Afterward").

"and poor quality road" → "and poor-quality road"

 → Added a hyphen to form a proper compound adjective modifying "road".

"in 1900 in the east side" → "in 1900 on the east side"

 → Used the correct preposition "on" for describing locations.

"it began to managed" → "it began to be managed"

 → Corrected the verb form to the passive infinitive "to be managed".

"Afterwards, it was leased out" → "Afterward, it was leased out"

 → Adjusted to American English usage ("Afterward").

"rather than attempt to recreate" → "rather than attempting to recreate"

 → Replaced the base verb with a gerund for grammatical consistency after "rather than".

"completed in 1897 but destroyed in the 1904 fire" → "completed in 1897 but was destroyed in the 1904 fire"

 → Added "was" to maintain parallel verb structure and correct passive voice.

"between east section" → "between the east section"

 → Added the definite article "the" before a specific noun.

"at smaller scale" → "at a smaller scale"

 → Added the indefinite article "a" before a countable singular noun.

"new nameboard" → "new name board"

 → Corrected spacing for standard usage ("name board" as two words).

"main gate of the palace and located on the east side" → "main gate of the palace and is located on the east side"

 → Added the verb "is" to complete the clause properly.

"his superiors to not shell the palace" → "his superiors not to shell the palace"

 → Reordered "not" to follow the standard infinitive construction.

"and main gate Daeanmun" → "and the main gate Daeanmun"

 → Inserted "the" to correctly refer to a specific structure.

"make the palace into a symbol" → "make the palace a symbol"

 → Simplified the expression for conciseness and naturalness.

"After the 1884 failed Gapsin Coup" → "After 1884 failed Gapsin Coup"

 → Removed unnecessary article "the" before the year.

"so that it could be use" → "so that they could be use"

 → Corrected the pronoun to agree with the plural subject "facilities"; still needs verb correction to "used".

"Queen Sindeok, second wife..." → "the Queen Sindeok, second wife..."

 → Added the definite article "the" before a royal title.

"National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art" → "the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art"

 → Included "the" before the name of a specific institution.

Here is the link. 

Deoksugung - Wikipedia

2) Any new, interesting, or unusual items learned

I learned that the site of Deoksugung was originally the tomb of Queen Sindeok, the second wife of King Taejo. It was later moved during King Taejong’s reign, which I found quite unusual—it's not common for a palace to be built on a former royal tomb site I also found it interesting that Gyeongungung (the former name of Deoksugung) was once so neglected that it didn’t even appear on several late Joseon maps. This shows how the palace's status fluctuated greatly over time, from being a royal residence to being almost forgotten.

3) Identify at least one question, concern, or discussion angle

When editing historical or formal texts, how strict should we be about grammatical correctness versus preserving original phrasing or style? For example, changing “make the palace into a symbol” to “make the palace a symbol” improves conciseness but might slightly alter the original tone or emphasis.

Is it always appropriate to convert British English spelling or phrasing (like “Afterwards”) to American English (“Afterward”) in articles about Korean history? Should the choice depend on the target audience or platform guidelines?

How can we best handle passive constructions in historical descriptions to balance clarity and readability? Overuse of passive voice can make sentences harder to follow, but is sometimes necessary for neutrality.

When correcting pronouns for number agreement, such as changing “it” to “they” for plural subjects, how can we ensure that verb forms (like “use” vs. “used”) are also adjusted consistently? What systematic approaches can editors use to catch these errors?