Japanese colonial period Hall and Surroundings, Yeongdong

The exact date when Iljaejae, a ritual hall (jaesil), was first built is not known, but according to its repair records the hall was rebuilt in 1809 (the ninth year of King Sunjo), 365 years after Bongsagong (personal name Se-ji) of the Nam clan of Goseong settled in Imsan-ri, Sangchon-myeon, in 1445 (the twenty-seventh year of King Sejong). In 1919 the roof tiles, rafters, main beams and plinths, together with the wall and inner gate, were repaired, and in 1969 the roof appears to have been re-tiled and the stone steps repaired. The exact construction date of the caretaker's house in front of the hall is likewise unclear, but a ridge-beam inscription reading "Byeongja, third month" suggests that it was either built in 1876 or that an earlier building on the site was repaired in 1936. The hall (60.6㎡) has a five-bay front and two-bay side elevation, is two storeys at the front, and has a single-eaved hip-and-gable roof. In plan, a one-bay by one-bay heated room called Jonjeodang stands to the left and a one-bay by two-bay heated room called Chuwondang to the right, with a three-bay wooden-floored hall (daecheong) in the centre. The ceiling of the daecheong is an open rafter ceiling, while the heated rooms are finished with a flat panelled ceiling (gomi-banja) laid over boards. A wooden floor was added in front of the right-hand heated room, and a firebox-type stove opening (hamsil-agungi) was built at the rear of each heated room. A gyeja-style balustrade runs the length of the front. Taking advantage of the sloping terrain, the building is two storeys at the front and single storey at the rear, and is entered by passing around both sides to reach the rear of the daecheong. The frame is a five-purlin structure with rectangular purlins: paired short posts stand on the main beam to support a ridge beam and a purlin braced by a horizontal timber (jangheo), and above the ridge beam a trapezoidal strut carries a further jangheo-braced ridge purlin. Around the plaque reading "Iljaejae" at the centre of the daecheong are the rooms known by the alternate names Jonjeodang and Chuwondang, and commemorative repair-record plaques dated 1809, 1919 and 1969 survive. The burial ground holds the graves of three generations of the Nam clan of Goseong popularly known as the "Three Filial Sons of the Nam Clan": Chambonggong (personal name In), Samgoedanggong (personal name Ji-eon) and Champangong (personal name Gyeong-hyo), together with the grave of Cheomsagong (personal name Ji-won), the younger brother of Samgoedang, and that of Chodanggong (personal name Su-yak), the eldest son of Champangong Gyeong-hyo, who held the senior civil rank of Gaseon Daebu. For lack of documentary evidence establishing exactly when the burial ground was first laid out, the precise birth and death dates cannot be confirmed, but the ground appears to have taken shape over some 130 years, from the grave of Chambonggong around 1500, in the mid-reign of King Jungjong, to that of Samgoedang (1507–1566) in 1566 (the twenty-first year of King Myeongjong), that of Champangong (1527–1594) in 1594 (the twenty-seventh year of King Seonjo), and finally that of Chodanggong (d. 1651) in 1651 (the second year of King Hyojong). Iljaejae, standing in front of the five graves including that of Nam Ji-eon (Samgoedang), is a mid-to-late Joseon ritual hall with a distinctive two-storey structure that makes skilful use of the sloping site. Although it is only a ritual hall, it is notable for its scale — a five-bay by two-bay arrangement of wooden-floored hall and heated rooms — and for the accomplished spatial design that requires entry from the rear, reached by passing around the sides. A gyeja-style balustrade runs across the front of the hall, and the old-style fitted floor panels, the gomi-banja ceiling of the heated rooms, and the overall plan and frame structure are all relatively well preserved.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeongdong, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물