'Gungjip': palace-like house

By Chung Ah-young

Most princes and princesses from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) lived at royal palaces. Those who were not designated as crown princes or princesses who were born of consorts lived an ordinary life outside the palaces after they married.

Princess Hwagil (1754-1772) was born in 1754 as the youngest daughter of King Yeongjo (1694-1776) and Consort Sukui Moon. No one knows much about her life. In 1764, at an early age, she married Gu Min-hwa, a scholar from an ordinary family and with whom she had two daughters and a son. She also died young at 18, eight years after her marriage.

According to the Cultural Heritage Administration’s “Storytelling Journey to Cultural Heritage” in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, Yeongjo particularly loved Hwagil out of all his children, as she was his youngest daughter, born when he was over 60.

When she married, Yeongjo ordered court carpenters to build “gungjip” for his daughter; gungjip literally means a house like a palace or a house build by court carpenters. Gungjip followed the housing regulations specified in the Annals of Joseon Kingdom, which limits the construction’s scale and materials.

Yeongjo was haunted by the tragic death of his son, Crown Prince Sado, who was trapped in a rice chest and died, amid a power struggle between political factions that he witnessed his entire life. But this tragedy did not stop the king from showing exceptional leniency and strong paternal love for the princess.

The king was 78 when he witnessed the princess die. Out of deep grief and sorrow, Yeongjo spent 100,000 nyang (about 2 billion won today) for the princess’s funeral, according to the Annals of Joseon Kingdom. Back then, this expenditure was criticized by high-ranking court officials as excessive.

Princess Hwagil’s house carries significance because it follows the royal family’s spatial structure and the noble house’s architectural form. Designated as Important Folk Property No. 130, the house has been turned into a cultural complex that houses the Muija Museum by late painter Kwon Ok-yeon and stage artist Lee Byung-bok.

Located along the Bukhan River in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, the house combines elements of palace architecture with those of a general upper class house.

The house also complements the beautiful scenery and reflects the architectural styles of the time. It is one of the few houses from that time for which the date of construction is known. It has the typical house structure consisting of “anchae” (main building) for women, which is located further from the main gate; “sarangchae” for men, studying and receiving the guests, which is located nearer the gate; and “haengrangchae” or the servants’ quarters.

The legacy of the “gungjip” lies in its architecture as a royal palace and its fine design details, such as the “ssangsa” decoration of the pillars, trapezoid timber of the narrow wooden veranda and the floor shelf of kitchen, which cannot be found in the palaces of most noble families.