Government Office Site, Miryang

The place where a local magistrate handled public affairs is called a gwana (government office). The Milju Guji (Old Gazetteer of Miryang) records of Miryang's government office that "the buildings inside and out, including the east and west halls and separate rooms, numbered over a hundred kan (bays), but were entirely destroyed without a trace during the Imjin War, and were rebuilt by Magistrate Won Yu-nam in the sinhae year of the Wanli era [1611]" — suggesting that when Miryang's town wall was built, the government office itself was likewise constructed with about a hundred bays. The original buildings were entirely burned down in the fourth month of 1592, the 25th year of King Seonjo, during the Imjin War. Afterwards, in 1599, the 32nd year of King Seonjo, the magistrate at the time, Yi Yeong, first built a thatched house within the grounds of Yeongnamnu Pavilion to carry out official business, and in 1611, the third year of King Gwanghaegun, Magistrate Won Yu-nam took up his post and rebuilt the government office on its original site. Dongheon, the office's central building, where the magistrate conducted administration, was called Geunminheon; auxiliary buildings such as Seoheon (West Hall) and separate rooms also existed, though their exact uses are unknown. The Milju Jingsinnok and other records, however, note separate buildings called Naedongheon (Inner East Hall) and Oeseoheon (Outer West Hall), stating that Naedongheon was where the magistrate's wife resided; this suggests the buildings served as the magistrate's private quarters (Naesil, also Bukbyeolsil), his study (Chaekbang, also Maejukdang), a kitchen, and storehouses. Rebuilt in 1611 and used as a government office for some three hundred years, the complex is said to have included, in the late Joseon period, besides Dongheon, Jeongcheong, Maejukdang, Bukbyeolsil and the inner three-gate, further buildings called Yeonhundang, Jeonwoldang and Sindang, though their exact locations and scale can no longer be determined. In 1895, the 32nd year of Emperor Gojong, the office was renamed a gunchong (county office) under a reorganisation of local administration, and when a new Miryang County Office was built and the administration moved to Sammun-dong in 1927, the site's original use ended. The buildings were subsequently used in turn as the former Miryang Eup Office, the former Miryang City Hall and the former Naeil-dong Office, before the government office was restored in April 2010. Among the buildings of the old office, several retain clearly recorded names. Maejukdang (Bamboo-and-Plum Hall), the study, was one of the office's separate rooms, occupied by the clerk in charge of the magistrate's secretarial affairs and also used by the magistrate's children for reading; the original building, rebuilt after the Imjin War, later fell into disrepair and was rebuilt again in 1775, the 51st year of King Yeongjo, by Magistrate Jeong Jon-jung, and toward the end of the Joseon period it was also used as the magistrate's office. Heolso, located just outside the main gate, was the place where anyone wishing to pay respects to the magistrate, or to see him on public or private business, had to state their name and wait; it was also called Heolsukso or Heolsocheong. Eunghyangmun, the office's main gate, was a two-storey structure with a drum hung on its upper floor, said to have been sounded each morning and evening when the gate was opened and closed.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Miryang, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물