Bosung Obongsan Gudlejang Quarry, Ondol Hanmadang Program Held

Published 06 Sep.2023 16:56(KST)

Promotion of the Project to Revitalize the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmission Communities

Boseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that it will actively promote the "National Intangible Cultural Heritage Transmission Community Revitalization Project," which was selected as a Cultural Heritage Administration public contest project last March.

Boseong-gun was selected for the contest project in two categories: "Ondol Culture" to promote the Boseong Obongsan Guduljang Quarry Site, which is designated as a national registered cultural heritage, and "Jeda (Tea Making)" befitting Boseong, the capital of green tea.

Chairman Kim Junbong of the International Ondol Society is demonstrating the construction of an ondol using bricks and explaining the principles and structure of the ondol.
Photo by Boseong-gun

As part of the "Ondol Culture" project, the "Boseong Obongsan Guduljang Quarry Site Ondol Festival" program, hosted by the Cultural Heritage Administration and Boseong-gun and organized by the International Ondol Society and the Hanok Architecture Society, is scheduled to be held on the 15th and will continue until November 11.

Twenty participants will be recruited on a first-come, first-served basis until September 12, with a participation fee of 100,000 KRW.

The main programs include ▲ Traditional Ondol Technician Level 2 course (September 15?18), ▲ Traditional Ondol Technician Level 1 course (November 8?11), ▲ Hanok Ondol lectures and academic seminars (November 9), ▲ Field trip to Obongsan Guduljang Quarry Site and Ondol making competition (November 10), ▲ Humanities talk concert and Ondol roundtable discussion, and celebratory performances themed on Ondol (November 11).

The theoretical classes for the Traditional Ondol Technician courses will be held at the Boseong Cultural Center and Deukryang-myeon Administrative Welfare Center in Boseong-gun, while practical classes will take place at the Hanok Gudul Culture Center in Jincheon-gun, Chungbuk. Upon completion of the courses, participants will receive certification as Traditional Ondol Technicians corresponding to each course level.

Meanwhile, Boseong-gun is systematically organizing the history of Ondol culture, Korea’s unique heating culture, and the Guduljang, which forms the foundation of Ondol, and has registered the "Boseong Obongsan Guduljang Quarry Site" as a national registered cultural heritage for preservation and management.

The Obongsan Guduljang is made of heat-resistant tuff, which is thin but has excellent bending strength, so it does not crack even after long exposure to fire and smoke, and its porosity allows it to retain warm air for a long time. Because of these properties, quarrying was carried out for about 50 years from the 1930s to the early 1980s, accounting for 70% of the national production.