Historical Village of Andong, Hahoe Folk Village

Historic Village of Korea: Andong Hahoe Folk Village.

690 Hahoe-Ri, Andong, N-Gyeongsang province

Hahoe Folk Village

Description

Andong Hahoe Village has preserved the housing architecture and the village structure of the Joseon Dynasty. Moreover, the village was not artificially created; there are people who actually live there.

Three sides of Hahoe Village (Important Folk Material No.122) is surrounded by the Nakdong River. Because the river swirls around the village, the village is named Hahoe, and is also called the spinning river village. Hahoe Village (translating to “Village Enveloped by Water”) gets its name from Nakdong River, which flows around the town’s perimeter. The village is located at the foothills of Hwasan Mountain, an offshoot of Taebaek Mountain that rises up to the east. The center of the village is populated by large tile-roofed houses belonging to the Ryu clan, adding their own unique charm to the surrounding thatched roofs

Next to Hahoe village are many pine trees and a soft sand plain, and across from it are beautiful cliffs. This village became known to the public by a Confucian scholar of the Joseon Dynasty (1392~1910), Gyeomam Ryu Unryong (1539~1601) and Seoae Ryu Seongryong (1542~1607) who had done great deeds during the Imjin War(Japanese Invasion in 1592).

Because the village is surrounded by mountains and water, it had never been invaded. This is the reason why these houses still remain in their original structures.

There are 176 families in the village and they are known as the group village of the Pungsan Ryu family. There are houses designated as National treasures, such as Yangjindang (No.306) and Chunghyodang (No.414). Also there are other important folk material such as the Hahoe Bukchon House (No.84), Hahoe Namchon House(No.90) and Hahoe Juilje(No.91).

Houses designated as important folk materials help to preserve the formation and the backgrounds of the village of the Ryu family, especially featuring Ryu Unryong and Ryu Seongryong.

Hahoe Village is also famous for the Byeolsin exorcism, Maskdance and Hahoe mask. The Hahoe mask is the oldest mask in Korea and is used in the Hahoe Maskdance. Hahoe Village became famous from the visit of Queen Elizabeth in 1999. Many events featuring the Maskdance are held.

The Andong Maskdance Festival is from between the last Friday of September and October for 10 days, inside of Hahoe Village or at Festival site.

Rice paddies on the outskirts of the village

Huge pond of lotus flowers near the village entrance

Oldest tree in the village (surrounded by thousands of handwritten prayers)

                             

Path leading to the centre of village

Tradition Residence 

   Nakdong River 

                                                          

Buyongdae Cliff

Buyongdae is a cliff about 64 meters high situated where the Taebaek Mountain Range ends. From the summit, one can get a bird’s eye view of the Hahoe Village in Andong. The name was taken from an ancient history of China. Meaning lotus, the name Buyongdae is said to be given for Hahoe Village’s configuration like a lotus flower. Thus, one can get the best view of the village from the cliff.

Directions

From Andong Bus Terminal/Andong Station, take Bus 46 to Hahoe Village From Hahoe Village, take the ferry to Buyongdae Cliff.  Chunghyodang House - (built 16th century onward) Chunghyodang is the head family house of Yu Seongnyong (1542-1607) who played an important role in the defense of the kingdom as Prime Minister during the Japanese invasions of 1592-98. In Seongnyong's time the house was quite small. It was enlarged by his grandson Yu Weonji (1598-1674), who held a title as chief officer of a district. Afterwards the house was extended to the present form of 52 rooms by Yu Uiha who was Weonji's son. The overall structure is typical of houses of high-ranking officials in the middle of the Joseon dynasty. Within the precinct, Yeongmogak was constructed in 1974 (not shown on the site map) where various relics and documents such as Jingbirok (War Memories, National Treasure #132), Seoae's (Seongnyong's) relics (treasure #160) and documents of Yu's family. The hanging board in front of the main building was written by Heo Mok. This is the site where Queen Elizabeth of England held her birthday celebration on April 21st, 1999. Andong Hahoe village Hwagyeongdang (Bukchontaek) Treasury No 84Yeomhengdang (Namchontaek) Important Folklore Materials 90 Namchontaek is located in the center of Namchon as the representative house for Hahoe Namchon along with Chunghyodang (Treasury No.414). Yu Giyeong constructed this house in the first year of King Jeongjo (1797) of the Joseon Dynasty, and it consisted of a door house, a main house, an ancestral shrine, a separate house and a pavilion. However, the separate house is used as a living room at present, because the main house and pavilion burned out in 1953, and the pavilion was restored after that. The restored pavilion is located on the left side, and the ancestral shrine is surrounded with a wall behind the site of main building. The separate house is located on the right side of the ancestral shrine. There are six sheds around the gate, and the ancestral shrine is surrounded with a wall. This is one of the representative houses for Namchon of Hahoe Town. It is regarded as a valuable material even though it lost its original feature due to fire. Bukchontaek located in the center of Bukchon is typical of Hahoe Bukchon along with Yangjindang (Treasury No.306). Yu Doseong, governor of Gyeongsang-do Province, established this house in the 13th year of King Cheoljong (1862), and the current building has been repaired several times after that. It consists of a main house, a detached house for reception, a separate house, a door house and an ancestral shrine. The main building has a square structure, and the separate house is located in the right side. The ancestral shrine is separately constructed being divided by a wall. The main building consisting of a main house and a detached house has a perfect square style. There is a big room on the right side and a small room on the left side, and there is a main hall on the both sides. There is a frame saying 'Hwagyeongdang' hanging, which is known as the letter written by Han Seokbong, and there is a study room behind of it. Samsindang 600years old giant tree, Protect the Village It is located in the center of village and hep the birth and growth of children, The day of the first full moon of the every year, people here to pray for the peace . In particular this tree has many wish memos are tight up, try when you visit Yangjindang Treasure No. 306 Yangjindang, one of the oldest houses in the village, belongs to the head of the Ryu clan in the P'ungsan area. It has been designated Treasure #306. Ryu, Seong-ryong (1542-1607), a famous court minister who helped protect Korea from the Japanese invasion of 1592, lived here. Chunghyodang Treasure No. 414 Chunghyodang is the head family house of Yu Seongnyong (1542-1607) who played an important role in the defense of the kingdom as Prime Minister during the Japanese invasions of 1592-98. In Seongnyong's time the house was quite small. It was enlarged by his grandson Yu Weonji (1598-1674), who held a title as chief officer of a district. Afterwards the house was extended to the present form of 52 rooms by Yu Uiha who was Weonji's son. The overall structure is typical of houses of high-ranking officials in the middle of the Joseon dynasty Yeongmogak Yeongmogak was constructed in 1974 (not shown on the site map) where various relics and documents such as Jingbirok (War Memories, National Treasure #132), Seoae's (Seongnyong's) relics (treasure #160) and documents of Yu's family. Memorial exhibition hall of Queen Elizabeth April 21 1999, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II visited the Hahoe village. After her visit, Hahoe village rapidly grow to become a representative place of Korea. Inside the Queen's Memorial Hall, there are photos of local people and the Queen when she visited, also Korean traditional birthday cuisine for her 73th birthday. Mansongjeong (Pinetree forest in Hahoe village) Natural Monuments  This pine grove is located on a broad sedimentary sand layer along the Nakdong River that winds around Hahoe Village. It was formed by Ryu Un-yong, the Lord of Mungyeong (1539-1601), during the reign of King Seonjo of the Joseon Dynasty. Ryu planted 10,000 pine trees here with hopes of mitigating the wild energy of Buyongdae, a cliff across the river.Mansongjeong, meaning "Grove of Ten Thousand Pines," creates beautiful scenery with the village, the sand beach, the river and the cliff. It has great scenic, historic and cultural value

Andong Maskdance Festivel The Andong region has many highly renowned historic and cultural sites, such as Hahoe Village, however the major cultural attraction of the region is the Andong Maskdance Festival. Visitors to the festival will enjoy the many performances of Korea’s traditional mask dances. These dances are an important part of Korea’s heritage, in particular thebyeolsingut talnori dance, which has been designated an Important Intangible Cultural Asset of Korea. International mask dance troupes have also been invited to the festival, so visitors will be exposed to folk cultures from around the world. As well as performances, events in the festival program also include mask dance competitions and mask dance lessons, which are available for international visitors.

Programs

The Maskdance Festival has over 50 events and hands-on experience programs including the National & International Mask Dance Performance, World Mask Competition, original mask performance, mask dance learning, Madang play, original puppet play, world mask exhibition, mask making and more. Andong MaskDance Festivel Mask  wooden statues Andong is also famous for its traditional wooden masks Hahoe's UNESCO World Heritage Site designation seems well-deserved—I would definitely recommend Hahoe Village to tourists in Korea as a weekend trip destination. By: Priskila Jaimi. (박 재 라)