Beth Salerno

Han-ok

February 16, 2008 Author: Beth Salerno

Han-ok are traditional Korean homes for the wealthy.  In the Joseon dynasty (14-19^th centuries), the aristocracy lived in these house-compounds.  A hanok often consisted of one building for the man of the house, with a study, school room and guest facilities, and another building for the rest of the family, storage, food preparation and recreation.  The spaces between and around the buildings would be enclosed by a wall to provide privacy and safety.

The city of Jeonju, about 2 hours south of Pyeongtaek, is well-known for having preserved over 700 of these hanok ranging from 600 to 70 years in age.  Some of these homes have been turned into tourist facilities.  A friend and I stayed in one called “Jeonju Korean Traditional Life Experience Park”. 

Our room was similar to others I have seen.  Inside the external wooden doors, there are sliding wooden doors covered in rice paper.  There are usually a few long, low pieces of furniture and lots of “yo” (thick padded Korean bedding) and small rectangular bean- filled pillows.  Sometimes there is a tiny bathroom, which doubles as the shower; otherwise you use common facilities elsewhere in the building.  Heat comes from the ondol heat (originally provided by a fire under the floor, but now provided by a modern heating unit under the floor).

Like many traditional things, hanok are beautiful to look at, but they must have been a bit tough to actually live in.  The walls are thin, so every sound carries.  The ondol floor heating combined with drafty wooden windows means that all night your backside roasts and your chest is shivering.  External bathrooms are tough in the rain, though still an improvement over the original chamber pots.  The pillows are also an improvement over the original wood, but still more orthopedic than comfortable. 

But once you are awake, the hanok village provides the opportunity to live in two time periods at once.  Walking along the pathways created between hanok walls, one can find buildings where artisans still hand-produce paper, a calligrapher doing brush painting, a mom with a car seat trying to herd kids to the car, or a tea house with a zen garden and Justin Timberlake on the stereo. 

Some hanok have gotten quite run down.  Many backyards looked far more like “rural poor” than “aristocratic garden”.   This reflects the changes in Korea’s economy since the landed gentry ruled the country.  But renovated or not, hanok are a living tie to the past.  Trying to preserve them in ways that respect their history, while also providing their owners with a living, has created a fascinating tourist experience.

Entry Filed under: History, Culture