Hansan Yi Clan Daesan Head Family

The head house of the Daesan branch of the Hansan Yi clan faces west, set within Mangho-ri village; its large tiled-roof form rises above the village's low rooftops and can be seen even from the main road, adding to the village's charm. There had once been a large house here, in whose sarangchae, or men's quarters, Yi Sang-jeong (art name Daesan, 1711–1781) was born, but the house stood empty for about three years during the Japanese colonial period and fell into such disrepair that it could no longer be maintained. It is said that afterwards Yi Yong-won (1915–1959), Daesan's eighth-generation descendant, married at seventeen and, three or four years later, rebuilt the house on a somewhat smaller scale than before. The head house has a broad courtyard in front, with the anchae, the main women's quarters, set to the rear; to its right a square wall encloses a separate shrine precinct, giving the complex the full character of a clan head house. The anchae measures five bays across the front and five bays deep, roofed with a paljak, or hip-and-gable, roof, so called because its gable end resembles the shape of the character 八 (eight). At its centre is a daecheong, a wooden-floored hall, two bays by two bays, with the anbang, or main bedroom, to its left and the kitchen in front of that. To the right of the daecheong, three rooms run in a row of three bays; the uppermost is called the "taesil" and was used as the middle sarangbang, or men's reception room, while the remaining two bays serve as a room used during ancestral rites. At the centre front of the anchae a middle gate passage allows entry, with a loft installed above it for storage; to its right is a two-bay sarangbang, and to its left a two-bay storeroom. The shrine precinct consists of an inner three-bay gate and the shrine itself. The shrine measures three bays across the front and one bay deep, with a matbae, or gabled, roof that, seen from the side, resembles the character 人 (person), and its floor is finished in cement; inside, five ancestral spirit tablets are enshrined. The inner gate also measures three bays across the front and one bay deep, with a gabled roof matching the shrine. The Daesan head house, built in the 1930s apparently modelled on the earlier house that had stood on the site, is a rare example of a modern-era hanok built faithfully in traditional style, and is of high value for preservation.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료