Dongnakdang House, Gyeongju

Dongnakdang House is the sarangchae (men's quarters) that stands behind Oksanseowon Confucian Academy, which honours the memory of Hoejae Yi Eon-jeok in ancestral rites. It is said to be a building of long history where Yi Eon-jeok (1491–1553) lived after retiring from official life and returning to his hometown. This building, erected in 1516, the eleventh year of King Jungjong of Joseon, stands on a low foundation and measures four bays across the front and two bays along the side; the roof is a hipped-and-gabled paljak roof, which forms the shape of the character 八 (eight) when viewed from the side. The three bays on the right as one faces the house form a spacious wooden-floored hall entirely open at the front, while only the single bay on the left is enclosed to form an ondol (heated-floor) room. However, traces remain showing that the rightmost bay, too, was originally enclosed and used as a room, indicating that the daecheong (wooden hall) originally consisted of only the two central bays. The columns are round, and the ceiling of the daecheong is a yeondeung ceiling, with its structural framework left entirely exposed. In the wall beside Dongnakdang House a window was fitted using narrow wooden slats, allowing a view of the stream in front through the window — a most distinctive arrangement of space. The pavilion standing in the stream behind Dongnakdang House likewise reveals a spatial sensibility seeking to merge with nature.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물