Yeongyang Dudeulmaeul

About this place

Dudeul Village means 'a village on a hill'. After Seokgye Yi Si-myeong entered here in 1640 to escape the Byeongja War (the second Manchu invasion) and cultivated the land, his descendants, the Jaeryeong Yi clan, formed a clan village and lived here. In 1899 during the Joseon period, it was also called 'Wondudeul' or 'Wolli' because a state hospital-like institution, Gwangjewon, stood here. The village holds more than thirty traditional houses, including Seokgye Old House, where Master Seokgye lived, and Seokcheon Seodang, where he taught his students, as well as the memorial stele of the Andong Jang clan honoring Lady Jang (Jeongbuin Jang-ssi), who wrote 'Eumsik Dimibang', the first cookbook written in the Korean script, and the Gwangsan Literature Research Institute founded by the novelist Yi Mun-yeol. On the cliff rocks encircling the Hwamaecheon Stream that flows in front of the village, the inscriptions Dongdae, Seodae, Nakgidae, and Sesimdae, carved by Yi Sung-il, the fourth son of Master Seokgye, are also clearly visible. In 1994 it was designated a cultural village by the government.