Yeongyang Nam Clan Namheungjaesa Temple, Andong

Yeongyang Nam Clan Namheungjaesa Temple, Andong, is a building established to guard the graves of Nam Hwi-ju (1326–1372), who served as jeolli-panseo — a senior third-rank post in Goryeo overseeing the appointment and commendation of civil officials — and Nam Min-saeng (1348–1407), who held the post of gongjo-champan, a senior second-rank post overseeing forestry and agriculture, and to conduct memorial rites for them. The exact date of its founding is not known, but it is said to have been built by converting Namheungsa, a Buddhist worship hall. Judging from the Record of the Repair of Namheungjaesa, written in 1744 by Yi Su-yeon, sobriquet Cheongbyeok (1693–1748) — the sixth-generation descendant of Yi Hwang, sobriquet Toegye, who compiled Yi Hwang's scholarship into the Sequel to the Collected Works of Master Toegye — it is presumed to have existed before the 18th century. Namheungjaesa is a ㅁ-shaped jaesa, a house built to guard ancestral graves and carry out seasonal memorial rites, representative of the northern part of North Gyeongsang Province. A pavilion stands to its right, its front facing west and connected to the jeongchim, the main hall; a distinctive feature is that a gable roof and a hip-and-gable roof are joined together to form a single continuous shape. Old traditional techniques are also well displayed in numerous structural members used in the pavilion — such as the main crossbeam, the bracket supports that ease the joint between beam and column, and the bracket sets — as well as in the yeongssangchang, a paired window with a central mullion post, and the chamfered daecheong columns of the jeongchim, a room set apart for purposes other than lodging or ancestral rites. These features are consistent with the 1744 repair date. Rooms are also arranged according to each occupant's role — the room of the head descendant, the upper room, and the room of the yusa, the person responsible for preparing and conducting the rites — spatially embodying the practice of Confucian ritual in the Joseon period. Since most aspects of the grave-side memorial rite are still transmitted today largely unchanged, this is a valuable piece of cultural heritage through which the memorial-rite culture of the Joseon period can be understood.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산