Chungcheongnam-do

The entire Oeamri Folk Village has preserved its antiquity. The Oeamri Folk Village of Asan, Chungnam has many thatched-roof and Yangban(noble) houses of the Chungcheong traditional style where stone wall streets and gardens are well preserved; it is itself a folk museum. Let us take a trip to the past at the Oeamri Folk Village, where local residents still live. It can be called a living folk museum.

Visitors need to cross the ‘Apnae’ intersecting the Pyoungchon yard in front of the village in order to enter the Oeamri Folk Village. Across the bridge, the totem poles at the entrance greet visitors.
Leaving the totem poles behind and the rice fields on the right, neatly-arranged narrow alleys are found past several thatch-roofed houses. In the village, many byways are spread from the main road, encircling the low-profile stone wall roads characteristic of the Oeamri Folk Village. The soil is composed mainly of boulders which were dug up for farming and construction, and were used for the stone walls. The thick layers of moss on the 5,300 meter-long stone walls reflect a long past time.

Houses named After the Owner’s Appellation or Native Place
As we walk around the cozy village, which can be done in about an hour, we notice the different names of the houses. The traditional houses are alike, though each of them has its own style. The noble houses, named Champan House, Gamchal House, Gyosu House, Songhwa House, Geonjae Old House and Chambong House are all named after the owner’s appellation or native place.
The Geonjae Old House, also called ‘Yeongam House’, named after the mayor of Yeongam, is the most popular house in the village. This house is a 180-year-old Korean traditional house surrounded by armful-large pine trees. The garden, ornamented with the ‘ten longevity symbol’ stones and the half-moon shape pond, is one the 100 most beautiful gardens of Korea. Also, the calligraphy plaques in the annex are works from Chusa Kim Jung-Hee, which make this house highly valuable as an example of cultural heritage.
We can admire the wisdom of our ancestors through the garden. A mountain called ‘Seolhwasan’ is located on the upper part of the village. This name connotes bad luck and that is why the villagers made gardens using the ‘Apnae’ flowing around the village. Artificial waterways pass through every house. The water was used for tap water, putting out fires or for ponds which made the gardens more elegant.

A Popular Location for Movies or TV Series Shooting
Sitting by the pond called ‘Bandalji’ named after its form of a rising crane, visitors will have an impression of traveling into the past by having an illusion of seeing the owner of the house reading books through the slightly opened door in the annex of the Geonjae Old House.
The Oeam village is called the ‘town of the three many things (Samda)’ after the many stones, many Yangbans and chatter from the many slaves in each household. The Oeam village, with many traditional features, is a preferred location for movie or TV series makers. Many tourists who have seen the village on the screen come to see the village with their own eyes. As it has already been seen before, the village is a familiar place to this kind of tourist.
The beautiful Oeamri Folk Village is literally a forest itself and was awarded the grand prize of the ‘most beautiful village forest.’ The stone wall alleys with centuries-old pine trees and Dangsan trees, thatched-roof houses and traditional houses are gathered together, giving comfort to visitors.
The Oeamri Folk Village is a place where considerations regarding the surroundings and scenery, beauty of harmony and moderation, and high spirits are all reflected by its structure and disposition.
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