Korean History and Culture: Structure of a Traditional Korean House (한옥 구조)
Today’s traditional Korean houses (한옥: 한 ‘韓’ Korea, 옥 '屋’ house) are not exactly representative of the old Hanoks you could find during the Joseon dynasty. It is hard today to find a genuine, traditional Hanok in Korea, in part due to the rapid changes bought to the country by the 90s modernization movement.
The term “Hanok” 한옥 is actually a broad term that can refer to all kinds of ancient Korean houses (초가집, 너와집 or 기와집, etc. are all Hanoks), but the most famous ones are the types that can be found in the Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) in Seoul.
Despite what most people think, all Hanoks do not look like the ones in the picture above. The famous Hanoks with the grey roof tiles were the ones reserved to aristocratic families, or Yangban (양반).
Commoners, or pyeongmin (평민) lived in small cottages with straw-thatched roofs, also called choga (초가집), pictured above. They were usually small and consisted of a single building where everyone lived.
*Picture of a 마루: always open on the outside, it was placed at the center of the traditional house. (daecheongmaru 대청마루: name given to the main 마루)
According to Confucian principles, it was separated into two living quarters by a maru 마루*: the anbang 안방 and the sarangbang 사랑방. The 안방 was the living quarters of the men of the house, while the 사랑방 was the living quarters of the women. The 사랑방 was generally further back, close to the kitchen and far from the main entrance (대문), because it was men, as the householders, who were supposed to welcome guests.
*Yellow floor in a room using 온돌
Each house was equipped with ondol 온돌 or gudeul 구들, a heating system hidden under the floor (which is the reason why ancient Korean houses were elevated on wooden piles). Some modern Korean houses have kept this system today, and you can easily recognize those who do thanks to their typical yellow floors* (which is actually oiled paper).
*누마루: 마루 elevated on wooden piles used during the summer
In the summer, when it was too hot to use 온돌, peope gathered on a 마루 elevated on wooden piles, called numaru 누마루*: the wind rushing under the floor acted as the opposite of 온돌 and helped people stay cool during the hot summer.
Buildings of an aristocratic house
In aristocratic houses, floors were never added — instead, different buildings were built to welcome different rooms of the house. This way, the 안방 and the 사랑방 had buildings of their own: they were then called anchae 안채 and sarangchae 사랑채, and each had their own 대청마루.
Some aristocratic houses were so big they looked like small cities inside of a city. Here are some of the buildings – aside from the 안채 and 사랑채 – that you could find:
— 마당 garden (뒷마당 backyard, 안마당 courtyard, 사랑마당 garden of the men’s living quarters)
— the main gate 대문 generally leads directly to the 행랑채 (pronounced haengnangche), the living quarters of servants, staff or guests. (In this picture, it is separated by an inner gate 중문.)
— 곳간채 place to store grains (at a time where money wasn’t used in Korea, grains were a symbol of wealth and was the preferred currency). Often close to the 안채 because women were supposed to take care of it. Next to the 곳간채 is the 방앗간 (the mill).
— 사당 (also called 가묘): ancestral shrine, the place where people go to do the ancestral rites (차례). Inside, 4 ancestral tablets (위패) were dedicated to the last four late males of the family (father, grandfather, great-grandfater, great-great-grandfather). The 사당 was supposed to be elevated compared to the rest of the house and occupied a very important part (the position of the rest of the house depends on the position of the 사당).
— 측간 toilet shed (the toilets were always separated from the rest of the house in an outside cabin).
Other rooms possible not pictured here:
— 별당 other building, could have a lot of different use depending on the needs (study room, living quarters for one’s parents…)
— 건넌방 (lit. the opposite room), room reserved for old people or children, often placed in front of the 대청마루 of the women’s quarters 안채.
*담 or 담장, walls used to separate the house from the outside, as well as the 안채 from the 사랑채
All of those buildings were surrounded by a wall called dam 담 (or damjang 담장). It is mostly thanks to those that it is easy to recognize an ancient Hanok from a recent one. On the left picture, we can see an ancient Hanok, with its uneven stones, while on the right, a modern 담 with straight and even stones.
처마 eaves (추녀 corner of the eaves)
주춧 돌 foundation stone, cornerstone
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