Head House of the Jinseong Yi Clan, Andong

The Head House of the Jinseong Yi Clan, Andong, is the grand head house of the Songangun branch of the Jinseong Yi clan. It is said that the late-Goryeo civil official Songangun, Yi Ja-su, chose the site of the present head house in Duru Village in the 14th century and spent his old age there; the house was extensively relocated and rebuilt by his seventh-generation descendant, Yi Hun (1467-1538). The head house consists of a main building, a detached pavilion, a shrine, a servants' quarters, a mill house, and an inner three-bay gate. At the very front of the compound the servants' quarters is set slightly to the right so as not to obstruct the view from the sarang (men's quarters), and behind it stands the main building, a complete "ㅁ"-shaped structure with wings on both sides. To the left of the main building is the detached pavilion, Gyeongnyujeong, and to the right is the mill house; the inner gate and shrine occupy the higher ground behind and to the left of the main building. The clear spatial division following Neo-Confucian norms of daily life — separating the sarang and anchae quarters and giving the shrine its own independent area — reflects the layout characteristics that emerge after the 17th century, and the roughly 600-year-old Chinese juniper, a natural monument, in the courtyard in front of the pavilion vividly attests to the head house's history. Documents such as the Bongseonnok and the Jinseong Yissi Sejeon Yurok record various facts relating to the construction of the head house. In particular, the "Gaok Jungsu Taek-ilgi" (House Repair Day-Selection Diary), which records the 1929 repair process, shows that the entire schedule for the ridge-raising ceremony was set with reference to the birth dates and times of every family member — offering a glimpse into the attitude of those who built the house. Many other records also survive documenting the culture of weddings, funerals, and ancestral rites. The Head House of the Jinseong Yi Clan, Andong, is a space preserving historical and cultural material through which the transformation of a family and the changes in rural society can be traced, and it is worthy of designation and preservation as a National Folk Cultural Heritage.

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Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산