Insight Guides: South Korea by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, South Korea
Publisher: APA
Published: 2013-10-09T04:00:00+00:00

Fish shop in Gangneung.

Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

If such images keep you in a romantic and classical mood, head back across the lake toward Gangneung, then detour to the northwest and cross a series of rice paddies by footpath until you reach Seongyojang (daily 9am–6pm, Nov–Feb until 5pm). Seonggyojang has an impressive living compound, Confucian academy, lotus pond, and pavilion built during the 18th and 19th centuries by members of the prominent Yi Hu family clan. This complex is a perfect example of a yangban Joseon-dynasty living compound in South Korea. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that the Yi family still lives in the main house, just as their ancestors have for the past two centuries. Yi relatives, if you’re lucky enough to talk with one, will share stories of slumber-parties in the tea pavilion and (before the parking lot and access road) having to slog through muddy rice fields to greet grandmother, reminders that this stately complex was – and still is – a family home.

This compound is picturesque in the wintertime, when snow laces its curved roofs, mud and tile walls, and cozy thatched servants’ quarters; and in the summertime, when giant pink Indonesian lotus blossoms rise out of their shallow pond like sleepy dragons. In the fall, squirrels dance through the persimmon trees, searching for fruit to store for the winter.

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