Mulchedang House, Yecheon

This house stands in a typical rural village, facing south with a low, wooded hill behind it. Its origins are not recorded in detail; it is said to have been bought by an ancestor eight generations before the present owner, and the name Mulchedang (勿替堂) was taken from the sobriquet of an ancestor seven generations back, Im No-un (林魯運). The house is square-shaped, with the sarangchae, the men's quarters, and the gate quarters forming a single-row block at the front, and a U-shaped anchae, the women's quarters, attached behind. The large sarangbang served as a reception room and the head of household's quarters; a wall niche (byeokgam) was fitted into its rear wall to hold ancestral tablets, while the small sarang was used as the eldest son's quarters and for ancestral rites. This house is a mid-Joseon-period yangban residence; its plan is regular, but it is notable for the enclosed character of the anchae's large wooden-floored hall, rarely seen in square-shaped houses. In particular, traces on the front pillars of the anchae and the crossbeam between them show that a clay wall was once built and a door fitted there, indicating that the front of the large hall once resembled its rear wall. Mulchedang is therefore the only known example still showing this now-vanished form of a large hall enclosed by clay walls and doors, and is valuable material for studying the transformation and development of Korean housing. *Byeokgam - meaning a niche made in a wall: a hollowed-out space in a wall used to enshrine ancestral tablets. This heritage site is generally open to the public, but visits may be restricted for personal reasons of the owner or others.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yecheon, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산