Hyangdan House in Yangdong, Gyeongju

Situated on a low hill, Hyangdan House is a mid-Joseon-period building constructed by the Joseon Neo-Confucian scholar Yi Eon-jeok (1491-1553) while he was serving as governor of Gyeongsang Province. It has an unusual floor plan compared with ordinary upper-class houses of the time: following the principles of geomancy (pungsu jiri), the main body of the house is shaped like the character 月, and by adding a straight, single-row servants' wing together with a partition, the whole is made to form the character 用. As a result, the servants' wing, the inner quarters and the men's quarters are all combined into a single structure, giving the distinctive arrangement of two separate courtyards — one used as the inner courtyard and the other as the servants' courtyard. The servants' wing measures nine bays across the front and one bay along the side, and behind it the main house consists of two blocks of the same scale placed front and back. Since the centre and both ends of these blocks are each linked by rooms, the whole building is arranged so as to resemble a single structure in the shape of the character 日. This building occupies the most conspicuous position in the whole village and presents the most striking appearance, and it also boldly departs from the conventional formality of upper-class houses, showing an excellent spatial organisation aimed at making everyday life more rational.

AI Translation

Visiting

Visitor information: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 1

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물