Cheokseojeong Pavilion, Damyang

Cheokseojeong Pavilion (滌暑亭) in Damyang is a pavilion built in the late Joseon period. It is one of the earlier-founded musil pavilions within a village - a type with no enclosed room, left entirely open inside - and served as a space for social exchange and education. Architecturally it is a three-bay, hip-and-gable (paljak) roofed building, displaying an antique character in its joinery methods, including chungnyang (inclined beams), naturally shaped foundation stones (deombeong jucho), round pillars and fan-shaped rafters (seonja-yeon), and in its use of naturally shaped timber members. Whereas other pavilions built during the Joseon period mostly served scholars as centres for poetry and garden culture and stood at scenic spots such as riversides, Cheokseojeong is located in the middle of the village, functioning as a kind of clan meeting hall and exchange space. This is the feature that most distinguishes it from other pavilions. Although minor alterations have followed changes in society and culture, there are signs of an effort to preserve the original form, such as repairing by adding to the original pillars while leaving them in place. In particular, its location and character are valuable as a venue for regional cultural exchange and education, and, taken together with its surrounding space, it is expected to contribute to the preservation of a distinctive local cultural setting. Cheokseojeong faces south and is a musil-type pavilion with a frontage of three bays, a depth of two bays, and a hip-and-gable roof. Round pillars were set on natural, unhewn foundation stones (deombeong jucho) placed on a single low platform. Above the pillars, boaji (bracket arms) and danyeo (short purlins) were laid crosswise, and on these the daeryang (main beam) and nap-dori (rectangular purlin) were placed. The judu (column-head blocks), soro (small blocks) and jangheo (long tie timbers) commonly seen elsewhere do not appear here; a pandaegong (plank king-post) was placed on the main beam, carrying the ridge purlin. The chungnyang of the two side bays are hung on the main beam at the inner end and joined to the pyeongju (ordinary columns) at the outer end. The ceiling is left open, showing the roof structure (a yeondeung ceiling), and commemorative writings hang in several places. The floor is a raised board floor (umuljang) woven from long and short floor-frame timbers, some of whose joints have loosened; there is a low sill board only at the rear, and no ventilation openings. The roof is a single-eaved, hip-and-gable roof, and some of its tiles have been replaced. The building shows a natural beauty in its chungnyang, rafters and fan-shaped rafters, and maintains an antique character throughout. Some pillars are said to be of bush-clover wood, and signs of an effort to keep the original form can be seen in repairs to rafters and other members, in pillars reinforced with props, and in added members joined by extending mortise-and-tenon joints. Inside hangs a signboard reading "Cheokseojeong" together with ten plaques of poems and commemorative writings. Among these records are two poems by Ya-eun Yi Jeong-tae (1595-1669), which may be the earliest surviving poems on Cheokseojeong; a poem by Yi In (born in the Jeongyu year, 1657), handed down as the original rhyme; a commemorative writing of 1849 by Yi Dong-uk (1789-1849); and a plaque recording a poem and commemorative writing from 1893. Judging from these records, the pavilion's origins date to the 17th century, and it was repaired several times, including in 1827. A record (the Gwangju Town Gazetteer, 1879) also states that Ganghojeong was renamed Cheokseojeong, suggesting that the pavilion was originally called Ganghojeong before later becoming known as Cheokseojeong.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Damyang, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산