Dongnakdang, Gyeongju

About this place

Dongnakdang is the men's quarters (sarangchae) of the house that the scholar Hoejae Yi Eon-jeok (1491–1553) built after leaving office and returning to his hometown. Built in the 11th year of King Jungjong of Joseon (1516), this Dongnakdang is a hip-and-gable-roofed building four bays wide and two bays deep, consisting of an ondol room (1 bay × 2 bays) and a wooden-floored hall (3 bays × 2 bays). The building's structure is composed with a five-purlin (oryang) frame, round columns, and choingong bracket sets bearing a single soeseo (beak-shaped) arm. The ceiling of the hall is an open (yeondeung) ceiling with exposed rafters, and the shape of the strut (daegong) supporting the ridge purlin is distinctive. Fitting a lattice window into the wall on the side of Dongnakdang so that one can look out at the stream in front through the window from the hall is an exceptional spatial arrangement, and the Gyejeong (streamside pavilion) behind Dongnakdang likewise expresses a spatiality that seeks to blend with nature. ◎ Travel information for encountering the charm of the Korean Wave – Dongnakdang and the valley beside it are the very place responsible for the beautiful scenery of the drama, including the scene where Yi-in first meets Hui-su, who was playing baduk, and the scene where he cools Hui-su's injured foot in the stream. Stepping into the Gyejeong of Dongnakdang, which preserves the traces of the past intact, one feels as if one has traveled back in time.