Hanok villages · Tea, manners, timeless beauty
A hanok is a traditional Korean house that listens to the land: where you build it matters as much as how.
A hanok is a traditional Korean house. Its roots go back to pit houses from around 6,000 BCE, and its classic form was completed in the late Joseon period. The ideal site is baesanimsu: a mountain behind the house and a river in front, with the land and seasons in mind.
It is built for comfort in both extremes. For winter there is ondol, an under-floor heating system devised long ago to help Koreans survive the cold, still used in many homes today. For summer there is the maru, a cool wooden-floor hall that blocks the summer sun and lets air move through.
Hanok are built from timber for beams and posts, clay roof tiles called giwa, and stone foundations. Windows and doors use hanji, Korean paper treated with bean oil so it resists water. Northern hanok are square to keep heat in, southern ones are open and L-shaped for ventilation, and central regions combine both.
You can still walk through them in Bukchon Hanok Village in central Seoul. As in most Korean homes, shoes come off at the door.
Previous station: The Joseon Era. Next station: Modern Korea.