Songso Head House, Andong

This is the head house where the descendants of Songso Gwon U (1552–1590) live, built in the late Joseon period. It was long said to be the residence Gwon U himself had built, but a record found on the main beam of the inner daecheong states that it was rebuilt in the 24th year of King Sunjo's reign (1824). Although it has the typical form of a jaesa (a house maintained beside a family gravesite for ancestral rites), a shrine stands on the hill behind it because this house has in fact been used as the dwelling of the head family. Originally, the main house used for ancestral rites stood in the centre of the village, and at some point after this head house was built, that function seems to have been transferred here. The survival in this house of a record called the "Yigyejaesarok" suggests that the house was originally named "Yigyejaesa." A straight, single-range anchae and a "ㄷ"-shaped lower wing face each other to form an open "ㅁ" shape, and the open side is closed off with a wall. Below the house stands "Yigyeseodang," a village school built by the clan. That a house of this jaesa type came to be used as a head house implies some particular circumstance and a question of propriety that still needs clarifying. It is also an interesting building requiring further research to establish whether it was intended, when built, as a residence or as a jaesa. This heritage site is generally open to visitors, but access may be restricted for personal reasons of the owner or others.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산