Goheung Bongamsa Iyeojae, Jeonnam Province Folk Cultural Heritage Designation Notice

Representative Case Showing Architectural Features of Goheung Jaesil

Gohung-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gong Young-min) announced on the 4th that ‘Gohung Bongamsa Iyeojae’ has been preliminarily designated as a folk cultural heritage of Jeollanam-do.

Gohung Bongamsa Iyeojae, which Jeollanam-do has preliminarily designated as a folk cultural heritage this time, is the ancestral hall of the Kimnyeong Kim clan located in Gasan Village, Seokbong-ri, Gwaryeok-myeon, Gohung-gun. During the 30-day preliminary announcement period until November 2, opinions from various sectors will be collected, and after deliberation by the Cultural Heritage Committee, it is expected to be finally confirmed as a folk cultural heritage (民俗文化遺産) of Jeollanam-do.

‘Goheung Bongamsa Iyeojae’ has been announced as a designated folk cultural heritage of Jeollanam-do. The photo shows the exterior view of Bongamsa Iyeojae.
[Photo by Goheung-gun]

Bongamsa in Gohung is a shrine built in 1826, enshrining four figures: Yeongdonryeongbusa Kim Jun (金遵, 1409~?), the founding ancestor of the Kimnyeong Kim clan in Gohung; his great-grandson Cham-pan Kim Guryong (金九龍, 1454~1546); Junghojo Cham-ui Park Eun-chun (朴殷春); and Byeongjo Cham-ui Park Eung-su (朴應秀). It was destroyed in 1868 due to the Seowon abolition policy by Heungseon Daewongun but was rebuilt as Iyeojae ancestral hall in 1905 through the efforts of descendants Kim In-seok, Kim Doo-hyung, Kim Jong-hyun, and Kim Yong-seok, allowing the ancestral rites to continue.

Gohung Bongamsa Iyeojae is a single-eaved, hipped-and-gabled roof building with five bays in the front and two bays on the side. Ondol rooms are installed at both ends, and a raised wooden floor (numaru) higher than the main hall is located at the front, surrounded by a gyeja railing, giving it a distinctive appearance different from typical ancestral halls. This architectural style is recognized for its high academic value as it is mainly found only in ancestral halls in the Gohung region.

The Iyeojae ridge beam inscription is currently hung inside Iyeojae as a plaque and is also recorded as ‘Kimnyeong Kimssi Iyeojae Sangryangmun’ in volume 10 of the literary collection ‘Wolpajip’ by the author Jeong Si-rim. Another plaque, ‘Iyeojaegi,’ written by Song Byeong-sun, is also preserved, which explains that the name ‘Iyeojae (二如齋)’ was taken from the Confucian classic Zhongyong, and contains records related to the achievements of Kim Jun and Kim Guryong, the destruction of Bongamsa, and the construction of Iyeojae in 1905.

It is also said that descendants Kim In-seok, Kim Doo-hyung, Kim Jong-hyun, and Kim Yong-seok agreed to build a four-bay house on the old site and used it as a place to hold ancestral rites once a year.

Iyeojae houses old documents and draft genealogies, serving not only as a meeting place for the clan but also as a multifunctional cultural space used for publishing genealogies, thus highly valued as a folk heritage.

A county official stated, “It is a representative architectural structure where the characteristics of ancestral hall architecture in our region can be found, and heritage related to daily life such as genealogies has been recognized as a designated folk cultural heritage by the province,” adding, “We will strive to discover more cases by investigating other meaningful ancestral halls in the region so that their value can be recognized.”

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