Hag In Dang (Hak In Dang), Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea (1908)

Artist/Designer: Vernacular

Project Location: South Korea

Style/Period(s):
Traditional, Classical

Primary Material(s):
Wood, Stone, Clay

Function(s):
Residential Structure

Related Website(s):

Significant Date(s):
1908

Additional Information:
Hag In Dang(Hak In Dang,학인당) is the house where Baek Nak-Jung (백낙중), known as a filial son, lived. It was named after the character ‘In’ in his pen name, In Jae (인재), and was completed in 1908, using wood from the Am-Nok River and O-Dae Mountain. When building the house, King Go-Jong is said to have sent a palace carpenter out of consideration for the efforts of the Baek Nak-Jung family, who cooperated in the reconstruction of Gyeong-Bok-Gung Palace. It was an upper-class house built at the end of the Joseon Dynasty using traditional Korean architectural techniques. This house adopts the royal architectural style of a private house. It is a typical example of introducing palace architectural styles into private housing after the collapse of the Joseon Dynasty.
Hag In Dang is the oldest house in Jeon-Ju Hanok Village and the only one among the private houses designated as a cultural asset. Jeon-Ju, where Hag In Dang is located, is the home of Pan-so-ri, a traditional Korean music and singing performance. To continue the legacy of Jeon-Ju Dae-sa-seup-no-ri, a gathering place for Pan-so-ri singers, Baek Nak-Jung built this house and turned it into a Pan-so-ri performance hall. The main building, built with Pan-so-ri performances in mind, is the first opera theater in Korea.
The structure uses seven beams to accommodate performances. It has a high ceiling close to the height of the second floor with seating for an audience of about 100. To allow people to gather together to watch Pan-so-ri performances by master singers, the 35-room house of 76 Pyeong (about the size of 4-5 traditional Korean houses) is designed to have ample interior space by lifting or removing the three doors on the left and right around the main hall. This is the only example of Dan-Cheong(Traditional Korean coloring) on the front door of an ordinary house. It has a well-marked hallway connecting each room. To go around the 'ㄱ' shaped main building, people have to follow the hallway, and there is a glass swing door, a study, and a washroom. It was a state-of-the-art traditional Han-Ok house during the era, equipped with a bathhouse and toilet and electricity and water facilities, which were the advanced Western facilities at the time.
During the Japanese colonial period, it was in charge of supporting cultural artists like those described above. After liberation, it was used as a guest house for government officials, including Baek-Beom Kim Gu. During the Korean War, the Communist Party occupied it and used it as a company residence. This house has been part of the history of Jeon Ju. It was also employed as a filming location for Korean dramas or movies now, such as Mr. Sunshine on Netflix.

Address: 45, Hyanggyo-gil, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk-do, the Republic of Korea

Supporting Designers/Staff: Baek Nak-Jung (백낙중)

Publications/Texts in Print:
Nam Hae-Kyeong, A Study on the Characteristics of the Housing Floor Plan in Jeonju Hanok Village, Journal of the Korean Housing Association Vol. 21, No. 4, 2010 https://koreascience.kr/article/JAKO201031559289357.pdf
Hong Seung-Jae, Modern Hanok in Jeonbuk, Journal of Korean Housing Association, Vol. 16, 2005 https://koreascience.kr/article/CFKO200520417570998.pdf
Kim Hyo-Kyung, A study on the characteristics of color scheme in Korean traditional landscape elements- Focused on the Old Town of Jeon Ju City, Department of Ecology Landscape Architecture Design, The Graduate School of Chonbuk National University, 2013

Tags: Korea, Historic House, Jeon-Ju, Hanok

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