Song Byeong-il’s House, Goesan

The exact date of original construction is unknown. Song Byeong-il, the eighth-generation descendant of Song Si-yeol (also known by his pen name, Uam), built a detached annexe for his father while serving as governor of Chungcheong Province during the Korean Empire period; this was later extended and used as the head house of the family, and it is now used as the Chungbuk Nursing Home. Several buildings are said to have originally stood here, but only the main quarters, the men's quarters, the storehouse, the shrine and the gate quarters survive today. The main quarters and the men's quarters are both open-fronted, U-shaped buildings standing side by side to the east and west, separated by a low wall running between them. In front of the main quarters a long, single-row storehouse stands across the view, so that the whole complex forms an open, roughly square courtyard. Passing through the three-bay gate quarters, one finds the men's quarters facing it directly; the main quarters can be entered only through a side gate set into the wall between the two buildings. This arrangement makes it impossible to reach the women's living quarters without first passing through the men's quarters, a good example of the spatial organisation of Joseon-period scholar-official houses, faithful to Neo-Confucian order. The main quarters is U-shaped, formed by three-bay wings projecting forward from the east and west ends of a seven-bay main block. At its centre are a two-bay principal room and a two-bay hall; to the west of the principal room lie the inner room and the kitchen in sequence, while a small room is attached to the east of the hall. The west wing consists of a three-bay kitchen followed by two heated rooms projecting forward, while the east wing, divided by a narrow veranda in front of the small room, comprises a two-bay room and a one-bay room. A veranda linking the inner room and the small room connects the two. The men's quarters is also U-shaped, like the main quarters, but smaller in scale. Two-bay wings project forward from a six-bay main block; the centre of the main block is divided in two, with an inner reception room of two bays to the west and a hall of two bays to the east. Continuing west from the inner reception room, a small side room lies at the rear and a kitchen at the front, with a two-bay small reception room projecting forward to form the west wing. The room attached to the east of the hall has, in front of the upper reception room, a two-bay wooden-floored room whose front bay is raised a step to form a loft-like floor. The shrine usually has three bays, but here it has four; it has a veranda at the front and a hall in the middle, an unusual plan for a shrine. Dating from the late 19th century, the main quarters was built slightly earlier than the men's quarters, and the men's quarters shows outstanding building technique. Parts of the complex have been lost or altered, so its original scale cannot be established precisely, but as a house of the scholar-official class of the late Joseon period it has considerable value. This heritage site is generally open to visitors, but access may be restricted at the owner's discretion.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goesan, Chungbuk

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산