Hamyang Simwonjeong Pavilion

Simwonjeong was first built as a thatched-roof pavilion in 1558 by Donam Jeong Ji-yeong, slightly upstream of its current location near Deokchu Falls, but it burned down during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). His descendants rebuilt it in 1770, but it was later destroyed by wind and flood damage. In 1845 his seventh-generation descendant Jeong Bok-un and others rebuilt it at its present site, and it was restored again in 1948. Simwonjeong stands on Turtle Rock in Cheongsimdam, the first pool along Jiucheon Stream, which flows just to the right of the ticket office at the entrance to Yongchu Valley, and is a pavilion built at the entrance to Simjin-dong. In old Anui, the three finest scenic spots — Simwonjeong in Simjin-dong, Suseungdae in Wonhak-dong, and Nongwoljeong in Hwarimdong — were together known as the Three Scenic Beauties (Samga Seunggyeong). Simwonjeong measures three bays across the front and two bays to the side. It is a single, two-storey pavilion building left open on all sides so that visitors can enjoy the surrounding scenery. A corner at the rear is left open to allow access up to the pavilion floor; the stairway currently in use consists of three cement steps built on the natural rock at the rear. On all four sides the floor extends roughly 18 cm beyond the line of the pillars, fitted with a plain balustrade, and the floor itself is laid as umulmaru, a well-frame timber floor. The pavilion was built on a flat expanse of natural bedrock; because the bedrock was not large enough, no foundation stones were used where pillars stood directly on rock, but large natural stones serve as foundation stones elsewhere. All the pillars are round in section; the lower-storey pillars are of large-diameter timber, roughly dressed while left twisted or uneven in their natural form. Angled corner props (hwalju) are set beneath the eaves at the tip of each of the four hip rafters to give the building greater stability. No ikgong brackets are used above the pillars; boaji beam-supports are used instead, and soro blocks are inserted as decoration between the changbang (head beam) and the jangheo (supporting rail beneath the eaves purlin). The frame follows a five-purlin structure, with king posts set on the main crossbeam to support the ridge beam, above which a flat ceiling is installed to add dignity to the space. On the left and right sides, chungnyang beams rest on the main crossbeam, their heads carved into dragon heads, and all the timber frame members are painted with dancheong (traditional multicoloured decoration). The roof is of palgak, hipped-and-gabled, form.

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Where it is

Region

Hamyang, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료