Hongsanhyeon Government Office

At the foot of Bihongsan in Hongsan-myeon, Buyeo, a Joseon-era county office survives almost in its entirety. The Hongsanhyeon Government Office is a very rare example where both the dongheon, the magistrate's office, and the gaeksa, the guesthouse for royal envoys, remain together in close to their original form. A short drive from busy central Buyeo, it shows how a small Joseon county was run, all in one compound.

Hongsan, a county of its own

Until the administrative reform of 1914 merged it into Buyeo County, Hongsan was an independent county. Magistrates were posted here from 1413, and the Hongsan granary, where rice collected as tax was stored, made it an important place in the Joseon period. In 1596, during the Imjin War, the Yi Mong-hak Rebellion broke out here. Nobody knows when the office was first built, but it was rebuilt at least twice, and records such as the Yeoji Doseo, the Hoseo Eupji and a map of Hongsan held by the Kyujanggak archive preserve its appearance.

What to see

• Dongheon: The present building was put up in 1871 by the magistrate Jeong Mong-hwa. It is a wooden building seven bays wide, with a central wooden-floored hall flanked by underfloor-heated rooms of different sizes. After 1914 it served as an office of the Japanese military police, and after liberation as a police substation until the 1970s, before being repaired in 1984.
• Gaeksa, Bihonggwan: Here the tablet representing the king was kept and honoured on the first and fifteenth of each month, and officials arriving from the capital were lodged. The central hall has a gabled roof, while the two wings sit a step lower under hipped-and-gabled roofs; unusually, the east and west wings, normally built alike, differ in size, so the façade is not symmetrical. Sources differ on its date: 1836 or 1838. It was later used as a school and a township office, yet kept its original form well.
• Hyeongbangcheong: The office in charge of law and order. Very few county offices still have one. It was later used as a sericulture training centre and as a private home.
• The gate and the steles: Jiphongnu, the original gate of the dongheon, was moved in 1964 to the site of Yeongillu at Busosanseong Fortress, and the present gate was rebuilt in 1995. A row of old steles lines the front of the stone wall.

Restoration work began in 2010, and buildings such as the gwancheong, a store for official supplies, have been rebuilt. Comparing the old dongheon and gaeksa with the newly restored structures is part of the interest.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: 30–40 minutes is enough to walk round the whole compound at an easy pace.
• Getting there: It is in the centre of Hongsan-myeon, about 15 km west of Buyeo town, at 38 Dongheon-ro. A car is far easier than public transport.
• Combine with: Add Yeongillu at Busosanseong to your Buyeo itinerary to follow the story of the gate that now stands in two places.
• When to go: Next to the gaeksa stands the Hongsan Gaeksa Ginkgo, a designated local heritage tree. In late autumn, when its leaves turn yellow, it frames the tiled roofs beautifully.
• Good to know: These are heritage buildings, so do not climb onto the floors or open doors; look at the structures from outside.