Sarangchae

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title: "Sarangchae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["architecture-in-korea", "korean-confucianism", "culture-of-joseon"] description: "Area of traditional Korean house for men" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarangchae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Area of traditional Korean house for men ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Korean name/auto"]

Field	Value
image	Interior of a traditional Korean house.JPG
caption	A study in a ko in the National Folk Museum of Korea. Likely a ko.
hangul	사랑채
hanja	舍廊채
othername1	Sarangbang
hangul1	사랑방
hanja1	舍廊房
::

|image=Interior of a traditional Korean house.JPG |caption=A study in a ko in the National Folk Museum of Korea. Likely a ko. |hangul=사랑채 |hanja=舍廊채 |othername1=Sarangbang |hangul1=사랑방 |hanja1=舍廊房}} A ko () is a section of a Korean traditional house (ko) that is generally reserved for men and guests. It can be composed of a number of rooms and elements, including notably the ko (). In smaller homes, the ko may just consist of a single ko, in which case they are one and the same.

The ko and anbang are the female-oriented counterparts*.* They are more private sections of the house exclusive to women (and prohibited to especially male guests), from which they cook, store precious items away from guests, and manage the household.

These gendered spaces first emerged around the Joseon period, following a Confucian ideal of strict separation of genders. They became widespread during that period, even in the countryside. However, they are now uncommon.

Description

Function

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Sarangbang_British_Museum_room_67_n04.jpg" caption="website=Historynet}}"] ::

Women, including the female head of household and daughter-in-laws, were generally forbidden from entering it. How strictly the entry ban was enforced varied by household and by time, although it was not uncommon for women in noble families to never once enter a ko for their entire lives.

However, especially for the rural poor with small houses, the ko often served other general purposes, like being a workshop or a space for storing equipment.

Composition

Depending on the size of the house, ko can either be connected to or disconnected from the rest of the house. Within a house, it is generally placed closer to the main entrance, in order to accommodate the entry of guests. It can either have or be separated from the ko by a larger open space called a ko or ko ().

A ko contains one or more rooms, but always contains a ko. If the ko is the only room, it performs all the functions of the ko.

Examples

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Birthplace_of_Park_Chung_hee.JPG" caption="language=en}}"] ::

The Blue House ("Cheongwadae"), the former presidential palace of South Korea, has a sarangchae that is external to the rest of the complex. In the spirit of sarangchaes, it was open to the public even before the Blue House was vacated and itself turned into a museum. It shows the history of the main building and the Korean presidency.

History

Confucianism became widespread in Korea during the Joseon period (1392–1894). This is also when ko developed. The concept reflected the prioritization of Confucianist ideals. Confucianism dictates a strict separation of genders, with activities and duties mandated to each gender. It considered studying and poetry as virtues. Thus, the ko and ko physically oriented the home into following these ideals.

References

References

1. "사랑(舍廊)".
2. (2002). "An Illustrated Guide to Korean Culture - 233 traditional key words". Hakgojae Publishing Co.
3. 김, 미영. "남녀칠세부동석, 거주 영역을 구분하다".
4. "박정희대통령생가 - 디지털구미문화대전".
5. Cho, Gab-je. (1998-01-02). "'내 무덤에 침을 뱉어라!' (71)". [[The Chosun Ilbo]].
6. Lee, Chong-Sik. (2012). "Park Chung-Hee: From Poverty to Power". KHU Press.
7. "청와대 사랑채".
8. "Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House) (청와대)".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::