Why Are Floors in Korean Hanok Houses Yellow?
Whenever I’ve been to a traditional Korean hanok house or watched a historical drama set in the palace, I’ve noticed that the floors are always yellow.
Recently I found out why this is when I went on a tour of Myungwon Folk House a Korean hanok house.
MYUNGWON FOLK HOUSE
Myungwon Folk House belonged to the mayor of Seoul at the end of the Joseon period.
Then it was taken over by Mee Hee Kim, a pioneer of the tea ceremony in Korea. And it moved from its original location to become part of Kookmin University. There it’s part of the school where students can learn the Korean tea ceremony.
The house is a national treasure as well as a place of learning. And apparently Kookmin University is the only university in Korea where all the students have to study the tea ceremony! 💕(Lucky students!)
SOYBEAN OIL & PAPER FLOORS
Anyway, I learned that the floors of Korean hanok houses are made of special hanji paper which is treated with soybean oil. This makes the floor stronger and waterproof.
Paper is obviously quite fragile, so you need lots of layers of this special hanji paper to make the floor stronger. But still, the floors have to be replaced quite regularly as the paper discolours over time.
One of the other participants explained what a big (and expensive) job it was to repaper her grandmother’s hanok house.
This was because there are so many layers of hanji paper to rip up! It’s certainly a job for specialists. They have to lay down lots of layer of paper and treat each layer with soybean oil. Afterwards, nobody can enter the room until the floor is dry.
At first, the soybean oil gives the floors a pale yellow colour. But over time the colour changes and gets darker. This is because of the ondol underfloor heating. As these heating pipes are under the floor, you can see the shape of the pipes as the floor turns a darker brown over those areas.
So eventually some parts of the floor will be different tones of yellow depending on which parts of the floor get more heat.
Finally, the floor will become very dark and that’s when it’s time for it to be stripped and redone.
YELLOW FLOORS IN HOUSES & APARTMENTS
So originally the floors of hanok houses were made of paper from mulberry trees and coated in natural oils.
But hanok houses are pretty rare these days and paper floors don’t suit modern life because they are hard to maintain and expensive to replace. Homes have more furniture and care must be taken not to damage the floor scraping furniture around and what not.
So since the 1970’s more and more people started living in blocks of flats and now over 60% of people in Korea live in high rise apartments. But the interesting thing (to me anyway) is that the floors of the flats built to replace hanok houses also had yellow floors – but covered with yellow Lino not paper.
These days yellow floors seem to be extinct in modern apartments.
But the first flat I lived in when I arrived in Seoul had yellow floors in the smaller rooms while the main kitchen and living area had plywood floors. I thought the bright yellow lino floors were very unusual.
Now I believe the colour was a nod back to the days when people lived in low wooden houses with floors covered in paper from mulberry trees.
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So interesting, thank you!
Really instructive, thank you !!!
That’s great. I’m glad to hear it. And always happy to hear suggestions for other posts 🙂
Myungwon house is affiliated with Kookmin University and has been designated as Seoul National Treasure No.7. The house was the residence of Han Gyu Seol, who was the Mayor of Seoul and the Minister of Political Affairs during the late Joseon dynasty. In 1980, on the verge of demolition due to the urban redevelopment of central Seoul, it was donated by the family of the former owner, the late Joon Hyuk Park and his eldest son Hyo Jong Henry Park to the late Kim Myoungwon, Mee Hee, and then reconstructed at the present site adjacent to Kookmin University.
My grandfather, Joon Hyuk Park, bought the house and after he passed, my father “Henry” Hyo Jong Park (83 years old presently) donated the house to the Kims (Mee Hee) in the early 1980’s.
That’s so interesting! Thank you for sharing more about the history of this house.