Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village_ chuncheon trip
There is the home, barn, treadmill, rest area, and exhibit hall, and various programs that recreate the works inside of Kim Yu-jeong’s books are held all year round. There is also a literature path where visits can go on a pilgrimage of the actual places in his stories.
What is the Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village?
The Kim Yu-jeong Literature village is the home where Kim Yu-jeong, one of the most famous authors in modern Korean literature of the 1930s, was born. He was born on February 12, 1908 at Sille Village in Jung-ri, Shindong-myeon. After dropping out of Yeonhee Technical School he returned home and opened Geumbyeonisuk to begin the rural awakening movement through night school, while also continuing to chase his dream as an author.
During this time, he tried to identify the true conditions of Korean rural living, the lives of farmers and the living language of farmers, as he trained his fundamentals for his unique language skills and to manifest the world of humor. In the 30 or so works that he left behind, over ten are based here in Sille Village, and most of the characters are based on real people of the time.
Kim Yu-jeong died at the young age of 29 amidst poverty and disease on March 29, 1937. He was officially registered as an author in 1935 through in the Joseon Ilbo and in the Joseon Jungang Ilbo. However, and were published in magazines in 1933, and thus he stayed active as an author for four to five years.
His works such as , , , , and that talk about the joys and sorrows of farmers or sometimes city peasants left a big footstep in our literary world. In 1994, he was selected as the ‘Literary Figure of March’.
At the Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village that is operating to share his literary achievements and spread his literary spirit, there are facilities such as his restored home, exhibition hall, treadmill, barn, rest area and pond. Furthermore, various cultural events such as the Kim Yu-jeong Memorial Service and seminars are being held all-year round.
Reason why Kim Yu-jeong’s home was built in a square shape and has a straw-thatched roof on a tiled frame
The reason why Kim Yu-jeong’s family moved to Sille Village in Chuncheon was because of his great-great-grandfather, Kim Gi-soon. His great-grandfather Kim Byeong-seon invited a noted figure of the Hwaseo school to Sille Village and opened a small school to educate students. His grandfather, Kim Ik-chan, who received education to exclude western influence and maintain tradition of the Hwaseo school, helped finance the Chuncheon militia. Kim Yu-jeong’s house was built by his grandfather and it was a it was at once a noted home of Chuncheon that harvested 6,000 seok worth of rice. The reason why they built the house in a square shape, which was atypical for the central region, and placed a straw-thatched roof is because at the time there were many thieves so in order to protect the family from outside threats, they built the house with sturdy wood and placed a straw-thatched roof instead of tiles.
Reason why a chimney was placed in the bongdang
As soon as you enter the gate to his home, there is a fireplace to the left. When the fireplace was lit up, it would heat the reception room and smoke would go out of the chimney in the bongdang (dirt-floored area between rooms. There was a separate kitchen chimney towards the rear part of the house.
Why did they have a chimney in the bongdang then? When examining traditional Kroean homes, smoke from the reception room has an insect-repellant effect. It wards off not only mosquitoes, but also bugs that eat into wood. It also sterilizes the entire house making it beneficial for the health of those living there. Kim Yu-jeong’s home was square shaped, so when there is high humidity, there are many bugs, so the bongdang chimney played a very important role.
Time travel to modern history
The Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village is a five minute walk from Kim Yu-jeong Station. This station, which is also the last station for the rail bike, is decorated with the works of Kim Yu-jeong. Every Monday and national holidays are closed, so make sure to check the opening hours.
Step into the entrance with colorful paintwork and your voyage to the Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village begins. ?
There is a statue of Kim Yu-jeong holding a book. Because he died at a young age, he will always be remembered by us as a young man. Perhaps that is why whenever we read his books, they seem fresh. Pavilions, straw-thatched houses and recreations of characters in his novels are recreated in this village so it feels like you traveled through time to the 1930s. It might also be nice to sit on a pavilion on top of a pond filled with lotus flowers and sing about the passage of time.
Inside, the home of Kim Yu-jeong has been restored. Its square shape is quite peculiar. It looks as if someone is still living there. Perhaps if you go in the kitchen, Jeomsoon might be lighting a fire in the furnace. It is interesting that the names of the female character in and are both Jeomsoon. Her name sometimes makes the two stories overlap.
You can see the short life and works of Kim Yu-jeong at the Kim Yu-jeong Literature Hall. Old books and paper dolls might remind you of your literature class back when you were in school. Though the Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village is not big, it has a quiet and pleasant ambience that will make you want to come back.
During spring time, the yellow ginger tree flowers are in full bloom where Jeomsoon and “I” pass out in the last scene of . It is now widely known that the dongbaekggot, or camellia flower, in the novel is actually the flower of a ginger tree with stingy scent.
With the Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village at its center, the entire Sille Town at the foot of Geumbyeongsan (Mt.) is revived.
When you go up from Geumbyeongisuk along Sowerigol, the path forks below the reservoir. One path goes along the valley, while the other goes up a straighter ridge. Both paths are called the path. The ridge goes over ‘hill 1’, ‘hill 2’ and ‘hill 3’, and it is the setting for ‘Bom Bom’ and ‘Manmubang’. Inside of the valley is where ‘Mulgol’ is located, and this is the setting for ‘Sangol’ and ‘Sot’, and it is said that Geunshik’s home was located on top of the valley.
If you go up about an hour along path, there is an intersection. The path that connects Jeung 4-ri where the Sanguk Farm where Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village is located, Geumgwangteo and Noreumgul of Manmubang, and it is the , and the path from here to the top of the mountain is the path is. In the fall, the path boasts beautiful scenery filled with tall silver grass.
When looking down at downtown Chuncheon from the top of the mountain, the path that goes down along the ridge is the . In the spring before other buds begin to show, you will see ginger tree (camellia) with yellow flowers. ?
The hike to Geumbyeongsan (Mt.) starts at the path that goes from Wonchang Hill in Hakgok-ri where Kim Yu-jeong’s mother’s family lived to the top of the mountain. Wonchang Hill is where it comes into contact with Daeryongsan (Mt.) and is located on Route 56 that goes from Jungang Expressway and Chuncheon to Hongcheon. In the spring, the path is filled with day lilies and valley lilies.
Sille Village is reborn along the village and mountain foot. This was a travel in time to modern history at Kim Yu-jeong Literature Village where it feels like the characters of the novels will suddenly open a door and come out.
