House of Baekje

These exhibits are replicas of typical Baekje houses. From now on, we will see what kinds of houses were inhabited by the early citizens of Baekje.

These huts are called ‘raised houses’. They were raised above the ground for two reasons – to prevent damage from moisture and damp and to reduce the chance of intrusion by wild animals. However, as the raised houses did not have heating systems, they were mostly used for storage. This style of house was commonly found in Southeast Asia, where weather is hot and humid, but was rarely found in Korea. In fact, in those times, the kingdoms on the Korean peninsula, including Baekje, generally built this style of residence.

Now let’s take a look around the raised house.

Can you see the dugout huts, which are similar to those found in the Amazon? These dugout huts were typical of the housing built during the early days of the Baekje Kingdom.

Let’s enter one of the huts. There is a brazier in the middle to warm the hut and cook food. Most braziers were sunk into the floor and surrounded by a heaped circle of stones. Some braziers, however, were placed on stones on the floor of the hut and topped with clay.

We’ve learnt here about both the raised houses and dugout huts of the early Baekje Period. They look very different to modern houses, don’t they!

Why not take the time to look around and try to imagine how the people of Baekje lived from day to day?