Bupyeongdohobu Government Office

This is the former government office building of Bupyeongdohobu, now standing in a corner of the grounds of Bupyeong Elementary School. Records show that the Bupyeongdohobu government office was repaired in 1677, the third year of King Sukjong, but the exact history of its original construction is not known. During the Goryeo period the area was raised to Annamdohobu in 1150, the fourth year of King Uijong, and to Gyeyangdohobu in 1215, the second year of King Gojong of Goryeo; then, in the Joseon period, Bupyeongbu was elevated to Bupyeongdohobu in 1413, the 13th year of King Taejong. All the circumstantial evidence suggests that construction of the government office began when the area was raised to Bupyeongdohobu, and was completed about five years later, in 1418, the 18th year of King Taejong. This is consistent with the age of a protected ginkgo tree standing beside the government office, apparently planted at the time as an ornamental tree, which is roughly 600 years old. According to the Bupyeongbu eupji (gazetteer of Bupyeongbu), besides the Dongheon (the magistrate's main hall), Bupyeongdohobu once comprised many buildings, including the Guest House, the east and west three-bay gates, the Geunmindang, wing corridors on either side, the office of the constables, the local gentry hall, the police bureau, the Hunmudang, and the government storehouse. The scale of this government office surpassed that of Incheondohobu, which is thought to reflect Bupyeong's status, dating back to the Goryeo period, as a major regional seat of government (ungbu). Until fairly recently, many buildings still stood here, including the Dongheon, the Guest House, the Geunmindang, and the Naea (the magistrate's private residence). However, when the elementary school was built on the site, most of the buildings were demolished, and only the surviving building was moved to a corner of the school playground. At the time of that move it was an L-shaped building set on a 1m-high stone platform; when it was moved again in 1968, the stone platform and the wing were removed, and it was changed into a straight, rectangular building — a hipped-and-gabled (paljak) roofed dori structure with six bays across the front and two bays deep. Judging from its former shape, this building is presumed to have been either the Dongheon or the Naea, the magistrate's private residence. In architectural style it is a gulddori (round-purlin) structure with a hapgak (gable-and-hip) roof, six bays across the front and two bays deep, without any pojak (bracket-set) work. The most striking features of this building are its three-tiered platform of long dressed stones with gomagi (base infill), its square foundation stones, and a square pond called Yogeunji, built using long dressed stones. After ascending the throne, King Jeongjo moved the tomb of his birth father, Crown Prince Jangheon (Sado), to Hwasan in Suwon, and paid a formal visit to it once a year. In 1789, he first paid formal respects at Jangneung Royal Tomb in Gimpo, then visited Hyeollyungwon, the tomb of Crown Prince Sado. On this occasion, King Jeongjo is said to have stopped in Bupyeong, received the local magistrate in audience, practised archery, and washed his hands at this Yogeunji pond. Building platforms with long dressed stones and making ponds square in shape are typical construction techniques of the Joseon period. Together with the surviving traces of the stone platform, the foundation stones, and the round columns, these features suggest that the building dates from the 17th century. The technique of building a stone platform more than 1m high, and the L-shaped layout, are also characteristic of mid-Joseon architecture.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeyang-gu, Incheon

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산