A Heritage Well Preserved – Andong And Hahoe Folk Village

Korea is the new hot spot for globe trotters now. If you are planning to go to Korea as well, do spare some time to visit the gorgeous Heritage Village of Hahoe. This village was designed in Joseon period-style. Built more than 600 years ago, this village is an absolute relic of Korean Culture. Almost like an open-air museum, the village was listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. It was the Ryu clan of Pungsan that established the Hahoe Folk Village which has beautiful old houses with tiled or thatched roofs. Many people still live in this village and we must be careful not to disturb them even though they are very friendly.

The architecture of the village show case techniques that have been long lost in Korea due to raid modernization. Many buildings in the village have been listed as treasures or folklore materials. Wonjijeongsa Pavilion and the Byeongsan Confucian School are two of the village’s most notable structures.

Hahoe means “village surrounded by water”. The village is situated in a beautiful region near a river bend, a perfect place to take a stroll down the lane in history. There are houses with thatched roofs there and you can even visit some of them. An amazing site of beautiful watermill and stone bridge will offer a true aspect of old Korean lifestyle.

Pungsu – Korean Geomancy

Geomancy is indeed an important aspect of South Korean traditional Architecture, which took its foundations from Chinese Geomancy, known as Fengshui. In Korean, this practice is called Pungsu-jiri-seol, which studies the “Theory or principles of Wind, Water, and Earth”. Similarly to Chinese Fengshui, the Pungsu studies and evaluates topography according to their favorable features, which can be related to human fortune, health, and wealth.

The village was designed on the fundamentals of Pungsu.