400-Year-Old Chilgok 'Maewon Village' Registered as Nation's First National Cultural Heritage Site

Gyeongbuk Province announced that ‘Chilgok Maewon Village’ in Waegwan-eup, Chilgok-gun, has been registered as the first village-level National Registered Cultural Heritage site in the country.

The Cultural Heritage Administration, after a 30-day public notice period, officially registered Chilgok Maewon Village as a National Registered Cultural Heritage on the 15th, following the review by the Cultural Heritage Committee (10th Architectural Subcommittee) last year upon Gyeongbuk Province’s application.

Maewon Village, Waegwan-eup, Chilgok-gun.

Chilgok Maewon Village is one of the representative same-clan villages in the Yeongnam region, where descendants have lived continuously since the 17th century, when Seokdam (石潭) Lee Yun-woo (李潤雨, 1569?1634) of the Gwangju Lee clan (廣州李氏) relocated here with his son Lee Do-jang (李道長, 1603?1644), and Lee Do-jang’s second son Lee Won-rok (李元祿, 1629?1688) established roots.

A same-clan village is a village formed by people of the same surname who share blood relations.

The village layout shows a unique formation, stretching low and long along the lower foothills of the main mountain at the back.

This resulted from the expansion of the village territory to the left and right as descendants branched out east and west from the central matchmaking area.

In particular, due to these changes, the village houses exhibit clear hierarchical characteristics in terms of site location, size and shape, and entrance routes, according to branch lineage, order of settlement, and social status.

The houses in the eastern and western branches also differ in scale, structure, entrance routes, and orientation, reflecting differences in residential forms among branch descendants and periods.

Various folk elements are found throughout the village, among which the ‘Pine Tree Field (Dongsolbat)’ serves as a protective tree to reinforce the terrain at the village’s western boundary (corresponding to the right white tiger in Pungsu-jiri, Korean geomancy), revealing traditional efforts to create an ideal residential site according to Pungsu-jiri principles.

Moreover, the village’s tradition has been preserved for over 400 years, as evidenced by the continuation of the Dongje (village ritual) to this day.

Thus, Chilgok Maewon Village clearly demonstrates distinctive historical characteristics that differentiate it from other same-clan villages in the Yeongnam region, amid the expansion of village territory and changes in lifestyle through the modern and contemporary periods.

Its value as a National Registered Cultural Heritage is well justified by the inclusion of various folk elements with historical and temporal significance, such as houses, ancestral shrines, seodang (traditional village schools), old village paths, clan-owned fertile fields in front of the gates, and old sites.

Kim Sang-cheol, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, “We will continue to promote the elevation of valuable and excellent cultural properties located in Gyeongbuk Province to nationally designated cultural heritage status, enhancing the prestige of Gyeongbuk-designated cultural properties and utilizing them as historical and cultural tourism resources through multifaceted efforts.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.