Hambyeongnu Pavilion

Hambyeongnu is a two-storey pavilion on a cliff above the Hwanggang River in Hapcheon town, South Gyeongsang. First built in 1321 under the Goryeo dynasty, it is known for being set so close to the edge that rain from its eaves drops straight into the river. Climb up among the poem boards of Yi Hwang, Jo Sik and Song Si-yeol and the river and its far bank spread out below you.

History: a riverside pavilion built by a Goryeo magistrate

The pavilion was first built in 1321, the 8th year of King Chungsuk of Goryeo, by Kim Yeong-don (1285–1348), then magistrate of Hapju, and An Jin recorded its founding in a commemorative text. It has been rebuilt several times since: a board inside records a reconstruction by the late-Joseon county magistrate Jo Ji-hang, and a repair record dates another renovation to 1860. It was designated a Cultural Heritage Material of South Gyeongsang Province in 1983.

The name Hambyeok (涵碧) means "steeped in blue-green light". Set at the foot of Maebongsan, where Daeyaseong Fortress once stood, and facing the Jeongyangho stretch of the river, it has drawn poets and scholars for centuries.

What to see

• Poem boards: writings by Yi Hwang and Jo Sik, the two leading scholars of the Yeongnam school, hang side by side with one by Song Si-yeol.
• Song Si-yeol's inscription: the rock face behind the pavilion carries the name 涵碧樓 carved in Song Si-yeol's hand.
• Eaves over the river: it is said to be the only pavilion in Korea whose rainwater falls directly into a river. Seen from the opposite bank, it seems to float on the water.
• Structure: a two-storey timber building with a hipped-and-gabled tiled roof; sources describe it as three bays wide and either two or three bays deep.

Walk on: Yeonhosa, Daeyaseong and the Jukjuk Stele

• Yeonhosa Temple: five minutes' walk away on the same cliff. Tradition says it was founded in 643 to console the souls of those killed in the battle for Daeyaseong.
• Daeyaseong Fortress: an earth-and-stone wall around the top of 90 m Maebongsan behind the pavilion. When it fell to the Baekje general Yun Chung in 642, the Silla commander Kim Pum-seok and his wife, a daughter of Kim Chun-chu, died, and the loss is said to have set Kim Chun-chu on the path to destroying Baekje. Most of the roughly 300 m wall has crumbled.
• Jukjuk Stele: a 1.4 m stone erected in 1645 by Hapcheon magistrate Jo Hui-in for Jukjuk, a Silla officer who refused to surrender and fought to the death at Daeyaseong. He is said to have declared that his father named him after bamboo (juk) so that he would never wither in the cold and would rather break than bend. It stands about 300 m from the pavilion.

Tripto tips

• Access: open at all times and free.
• Time needed: 30 minutes for the pavilion alone, about 1 hour with Yeonhosa, the fortress and the stele.
• Best time: on a rainy day you can watch the water fall from the eaves into the river. From autumn into winter, mist often rises off the river early in the morning.
• Photos: to fit the pavilion and Yeonhosa on the cliff into one shot, cross to the riverbank opposite.
• Getting there: Hapcheon Intercity Bus Terminal is about 900 m away in a straight line, roughly a 15-minute walk.