Umul in Sagok-ri, Jeungpyeong

Sagok-ri in Jeungpyeong, where this well is located, lies within Sacheong village, on low hill terrain about 2 km east of downtown Jeungpyeong, in Sagok 2-ri, Jeungpyeong-eup. Facing north at the foot of a hill, the village is shaped like a sailing ship (haengju-hyeong, a traditional geomantic village form), its main lane running in a straight line from the entrance to the far end of the village; the well sits at the centre of the village. This well, the village's communal well, is an old well that has stood alongside the village's history, and at about 1.5 times the size of an ordinary well, it is unusually large. At the very bottom, four sections of large curved willow logs were set up to form a hexagonal frame, on top of which a stone wall was built up. The floor is bedrock, and there are three large water holes among the willow logs. Even now, centuries later, the willow has not rotted, though it has softened enough to give slightly when pressed by hand. The stonework combines natural stones whose edges interlock with dressed stones, laid in a coursed-masonry technique. The water depth is 2.8–3.0 m, and the water level remains constant through every season regardless of drought or the monsoon rains; a distinctive feature is that the water is warm in winter and cold in summer. The well lies past the village hall, on the right side of the road. To its left stands a commemorative stone recounting a legend foretelling the end of an age, and to its right stands a stone inscribed with a precept on fulfilling one's duty to one's parents. The well is known as the "Doomsday Well" (malse umul), after a legend that around 1456 an old monk, having been given water fetched for him from ten ri away (a traditional distance unit, roughly 4 km), found the site of this well in gratitude and told the villagers that when it overflowed three times, the end of an age would come and they should leave the village. The well is presumed to date from 1456. Part of the well's stone wall was repaired in April 1947, and in 1979 a roof was installed and the well was connected into the tap-water supply, but after repeated problems it was restored to its original state. In May 1996 the wooden log railing around the rim was replaced with a marble one, and in July 2007 the upper stonework was repaired using coursed masonry, while the railing was restored to its original form using preservative-treated timber. This well is connected to the village's place name, and, standing where groundwater is well suited to rise to the surface, is presumed to have existed alongside the village's history since 1456; it is a communal well larger than an ordinary one. Villagers still believe today in the legend of its power to foretell national crisis, and they hold a ritual of devotion twice a year. As a well embodying the village's solidarity and the symbolism and history of foretelling troubled times, it has undergone considerable later repair, yet it largely retains the original form of a Joseon-period well, making it valuable material for the study of wells.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jeungpyeong, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물