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Cheongwollu Pavilion - 청원루 (淸遠樓) (built c. 1645)

Cheongwollu pavilion is a tangible memorial to the anger and bitterness Kim Sang-heon, a scholar official, harbored toward Qing Dynasty China. The name of the pavilion literally means "The pavilion for keeping the Qing away". Kim was one of 17th century Korea's most vocal opponents of peace with the newly-risen Qing dynasty. Born in 1570, he had witnessed the horrors of the Japanese invasions of 1592-96 firsthand, and remained forever grateful for the timely military assistance that the Ming Chinese had provided Korea with in its darkest hour. It was certainly to Kim's horror then, that by the 1630s, the Ming dynasty was in its death throes as Manchu invaders from Mongolia swept in to establish the Qing dynasty. Initially the official policy of the Korean Joseon dynasty was to remain neutral in the conflict, but by the mid 1630s Korea had come out in support of the Ming. The Manchus responded by invading Korea to the point of reaching Seoul. During the peace negotiations of 1636, Kim Sang-heon was taken prisoner by the Qing invaders for his pro-Ming stance and was locked away in a prison in China. Although he was released back into Korean hands a few years later, he never forgave the Qing and immortalized his hatred toward them in Cheongwollu pavilion.

Kim's feelings toward the Qing clearly worked their way into the design, for the building is a forbidding structure of dark wood, stark symmetry, and a confining U-shaped courtyard that seems to swallow the visitor as one walks toward it. From afar, its two imposing towers look like the heads of helmeted soldiers. Most unusually, this pavilion appears to have had no other purpose beyond serving as a constant reminder to future generations that the Qing were to be kept at bay.

Kim Sang-heon died in 1647 and was buried in Gyeonggi province, far to the north near Seoul. He became an ideological inspiration for King Hyojung, who briefly entertained the notion of leading a Korean "northern expedition" to recapture Qing territory and return the Ming dynasty to power. Hyojung's expedition never got beyond the planning stages, and the idea was later abandoned. From that time until the late 19th century, Korea maintained peace with the Qing, but there were many scholar-officials who remained nostalgic for the Ming, whose dynasty they admired as the highpoint of Chinese civilization.

(Designated Andong City Tangible Cultural Property number 199).

Location

According to GPS readings collected by the author, the site sits at 36 34.76940' N, 128 32.92282' E (WGS 84 map datum). Address: 경북 안동시 풍산읍 소산리 87.