Traditional House/Modern Architecture : Gwangju Tourism

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Gwangju Tour shining with 5 bright attractions

[Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Birthplace of Park Yongcheol(pen name Yonga) Like 41 [Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Birthplace of Park Yongcheol(pen name Yonga) I also send my young age Will I send it with tears? Even the cozy port can I cast away easily... Thi... I also send my young age Will I send it with tears? Even the cozy port can I cast away easily... This is a song ‘Naduya Ganda’ (meaning I’m also going), loved by many people, and sung by a singer Kim Sucheol. This song was made using the words of the poem Leaving Boat, written by Bak young cheol. It was the last poem of a young man leaving his home in search of hope elsewhere, yet still plagued within by a sorrowful heart set on his homeland under the rule of Japan. It is a poem that transcends time and space, still touching young people’s hearts today. Park Yongcheol (pen name Yonga), a lyric poet born in Gwangju, began a new era of Korean poetry with Yeongrang Kim Yunsik. Written against the Gyeonghyangpa poet group of the 1930s (who wrote socialist-oriented poems), Yonga developed the pure lyric poetry movement. His birthplace is in front of Kumho tire, Sochon-dong, Gwangsan-gu. After a signpost which says 'Birthplace of Park Yongcheol' is a twisted alley which continues for about 100m before arriving at a thatched cottage surrounded by fence made of dirt and stone. A small stone post stands at the entrance, indicating this is the birthplace of Park Yongcheol. This place was designated Regional Monument No. 13. It is a wide house, 2,600㎡ big, and includes a main house, a detached house, servants’ quarters, a shrine, and a library including a farm out the back. The garden has camellias, the thatched fence looks cozy and elegantly beautiful, and the hill at the back is covered with pine trees. This is the place where Yonga was born and grew up. In 1904, when he was three or four years old, he showed his superb talent by his ability with addition, subtraction and in memorizing The Small Learning for Young Children (Saja sohak). He entered Baejae High School in Seoul. Though he stayed up late during exams just to read novels, he always passed with honors. He always kept the nation and country in his heart, and studied well. He issued a secret newspaper named Moktak with his classmates when he was in the third grade of Baejae High School. After the 1919 Independence Movement, he quit school and was admitted into the fourth year of Cheongsan Academy in Tokyo, Japan. He met Yeongrang, who became his good friend. The meeting of Yonga and Yeongrang was a special event in Korean literary history. Yonga told Yeongrang, “Follow me! I will initiate a new era!” He led the freedom of suppressed literature in the 1920s, and Yeongrang recited the tune of Namdo (the south-western part of Korea) with the feeling of lyrical poems. It is said that Yonga especially loved the thatched roof. One day, when his father tried to remodel their house’s thatched roof with a tiled one, Yonga held his father back by saying, "Country houses go well with the thatched roof. Imagine it as something thatched with dim moon light. What a beautiful yellow!" Houses of this region were affected by the Saemaeul (New Village) Movement of 1970 to replace all the thatch with cement tiles. But they reverted back to the thatched roof in 1995. Even the stone fence has the warmhearted fragrance of home, when the straw thatch is put on it. We can find several traces of Yonga in Gwangju. Two monuments inscribed with poems in celebration of his literature stand in Songjeong Park and Gwangju Park. When we climb up to Songjeong ark, near to his birthplace, we can see one of the monuments on the left hand side. Yonga's representative poem, 'Leaving Boat' is carved there and there is also a statue of Yonga made of copper. In Gwangju Park, a monument to Yonga inscribed with a poem stands beside a monument to Yeongrang, also inscribed with a poem. This is a display of their beautiful friendship. Every year Gwangju Metropolitan City awards the 'Park Yongcheol Literature Award' along with a prize. Gwangsan-gu has held the National Composition Contest in Poetry in memory of Park Yongcheol since 1992. Songjeongjungang Elementary School, the school he attended, holds a Yonga Festival and makes a 'Yonga Garden' with azaleas, forsythias and other flowers. Although he was not able to see the liberation of the fatherland, his works will be loved by young people forever. Like 41
[Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Choi Seunghyo’s House Like 19 [Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Choi Seunghyo’s House Choi Seunghyo House is located in Yangrim-dong, Nam-gu (South district), Gwangju City. It is Gwangju... Choi Seunghyo House is located in Yangrim-dong, Nam-gu (South district), Gwangju City. It is Gwangju Cultural Properties No. 2. Five minutes walk to the left from the house of Lee Jangwu (Gwangju Cultural Property No. 1) is the Choi Seunghyo House. The house of Choi Seunghyo is constructed at the edge of the southeast side of Mt. Yangrim, and is not a simple style of house either. The main building, wide grounds and pool, proves that this was not as house for the common people. But it is an upper class house that has a different feeling from Lee Jangwu's. While there is a gorgeous charm to Lee Jangwu's residence, there is a more stable and graceful atmosphere about Choi Seunghyo's. This house originally belonged to Choi Sanghyeon, who was a member of the independence movement against Japan, but Choi Seunghyo bought it and his descendants manage it now. The building was constructed in 1920. Even though it was built 20 years after the house of Lee Jangwu, people can see the progression of the Korean traditional house style during the Late Joseon dynasty till the time when Western culture began to influence Korea. The basic structure of the house is quite similar to that of Lee Jangwu. The main building faces east and has eight rooms at the front, four on the side. To the side is a slight incline of the land, which has been used to build a half-sized basement. The back faces the west, and has a 60cm wide balcony with sliding windows, receiving the sun as it moves toward the west. Attics were installed above every room, except above the master room, which were for hiding members of the independence movement. Like 19
[Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Chosun University Main Building Like 58 [Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Chosun University Main Building It is the main building of Chosun University as the Korean first private university. In 1947 the con... It is the main building of Chosun University as the Korean first private university. In 1947 the construction started and had difficult time in building work because of the Korean war, but all staffs and students' parents promoted the construction at all difficulties and completed the construction within 8 years from the start. It was a building of 5 gable roofed structure, but by extending the building in both sides, it is now formed of 19 gable roofed structure with 370 meter building length. Now it is estimated as the representative building of symbolizing Gwangju because of its unique shape. Like 58
[Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Go Wonhui’s House Like 31 [Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Go Wonhui’s House Go Wonhui House is located in Apchon-dong, Nam-gu (South district), Gwangju City. It is Gwangju Cult... Go Wonhui House is located in Apchon-dong, Nam-gu (South district), Gwangju City. It is Gwangju Cultural Property Number Eight. The house was built in 1917 by Go Jongseok, a descendant of Go Gyeongmyeong, at old house site of the house in Gyeongmyeong. Go Wonhui couple, the 17th descendants of Go Gyeongmyeong live there now. Go Wonhui House is very different from the houses of both Lee Jangwu and Choi Seunghyo. Although the house has a Chinese character eight (八)-shaped tile roof, it is not luxurious, grand or splendid. It has weighty dignity and is broad hearted. It has the spirit to defeat the Japanese marauders. A green pine tree near the mountain at the back of the house and Mt. Jebong both embody the same spirit of Go Gyeongmyeong. Upon entering Go Wonhui's house, there is an ancestral grave on the right hand side. It was constructed at the foot of a mountain full of pine trees at the first site. The pious feeling of the ancestral grave possesses our body and mind. Go Wonhui's traditional house has a detached house and a storeroom near the gate. The main building and the ancestral grave are located beneath the mountain with the pine tree. The main building is arranged with six rooms at the front and one room to the side. The order of the rooms from the left is the kitchen, a normal room, the master room and normal plain room. The detached house has four rooms at the front and one room on the side. Like 31
[Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Gwangju National University of Education Main Building Like 16 [Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Gwangju National University of Education Main Building It is the second floor building with brisk roof built as classrooms of Gwangju Teachers School. It w... It is the second floor building with brisk roof built as classrooms of Gwangju Teachers School. It was a little changed in rear rebuilt part, but the original form is preserved well. It is a school building protruded out by emphasizing the building gate and one of very few buildings in the parallel structure in the Japanese colony. It shows historical and symbolic characteristics well Like 16
[Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Gwangju Seoseok Elementary School (Main Building, Gymnasium, Separate Building) Like 28 [Traditional House/Modern Architecture] Gwangju Seoseok Elementary School (Main Building, Gymnasium, Separate Building) Main building was built in 1935, the gym was in 1930 and the annex was in 1943. The Seoseok Elementa... Main building was built in 1935, the gym was in 1930 and the annex was in 1943. The Seoseok Elementary School is the first modernized public school in Gwangju, established by Elementary Education Order for Japanese style school operation(1895) which was officially announced as a part of Eulmigaehyeok by Japan. The main building is a structure that we can spy on the formative art of modern brick structure and it was made with the most qualified imported wood and special bricks. There are no pillars inside the gym. It shows the characteristics of school building of those days by setting up the chimneys in every class rooms and decorated by gridding string course in the lintel and the sill of the outside building. Like 28

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