Birthplace of Hwang Yun-seok

About this place

This is the birthplace of Yi-jae Hwang Yun-seok (1729–1791), a Sirhak (Practical Learning) scholar and linguist of the late Joseon period. The house was built by his father, Hwang Jeon. Hwang Yun-seok researched virtually every field of scholarship available to scholars of his era and was also a Neo-Confucian scholar. The thatched-roof anchae (inner quarters), built on a rubble stone foundation 80 cm high, is an exceptionally large structure with seven bays in front and two bays deep, representing the typical domestic architecture of southern Korea. At the eastern end is a wooden-floored hall, followed by one room, two reception halls, and one kitchen. On the north wall of the reception hall, the ancestral tablets of the Pyeonghae Hwang clan are enshrined. The shrine that originally stood behind the anchae is now just a site, and the sarangchae and gate house, which had been lost, were rebuilt in 1909. The thatched roof of the house was maintained despite the family's prosperity — it was said that placing roof tiles would suppress the site's vital force (혈) and bring misfortune to the household.