Today, I went to Namsan Hanok Village and learnt a lot of things. By only looking at the houses and furniture I could estimate how our ancestors lived in the Joseon period. Today I will introduce that Hanok is made and types of Hanok. 

A Hanok is a traditional Korean house. Hanoks make harmony with the nature, so it was not bad for the environment. Hanok¡¯s floor,door, and roof was made out of wood and the walls were made out of a mixture of soil and straw. Also, nails were not commonly used so hanks could be moved easily and easy to rebuilt it too.

The first type of Hanok is a palace. The palace was 99 kan which is very large. Here kan means the distance between to pillars. Since it was enormous, only kings could live there. The palace is not just big, but has beautiful decorations called Dancheong inside the palace and Jabsang on the roof.

The second type is the tiled roof Hanok. It was for only noble men, because it was quite big. The Koreans were influenced by confucianism, the men and women had different living quarters in the Hanok. For the men, there was the Sarangchae which had a library that was for studying for the state examination. For the women, there was the Anchae that had a kitchen. the servant lived in the Haengnangchae.

The third type is the thatched roof Hanok. This kind of Hanok was for middle and lower class people. The size was usually only 3 kan. The roof of this house was made out straw which was easy to find in the Joseon period. It was not decorated well, but it was efficient because it was very cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 

The forth type is the Buddhist temples. This kind of Hanok was for monks There were large bells and drums in the temples. Also influenced by confucianism, the temples were usually in the mountains. Like in the palace, there were also luxurious decorations like Dancheong. 

In conclusion, I think that our ancestors were very wise to make Hanoks like this. I think they were efficient and using the nature and not polluting the environment was also a god point. I wish I can come back to Namsan Hanok Village again to learn more about Hanok and our ancestors life style.