우리의 생활에 맞는 공간(집)과 사물(가구)을 창조해온 장인 목수들은 다 어디로 갔을까? (KBS 20060422 방송)

※ This video is [KBS Special - Carpenters, In Search of the Art of Living], aired on April 22, 2006. ◈ Seoul Woodworking Shops In the Hong-eun-dong area of ​​Seoul, there is still a cluster of old woodworking shops that produce traditional windows and furniture. There, you will find carpenters ranging in age from their 40s to their 70s who have spent their lives solely carving wood. The skill they began learning after graduating from elementary school was a wonderful profession that solved the problem of making a living and allowed them to provide a decent education for their children. Although those glamorous days have passed with the advent of apartments and the demand for their work has dwindled, the daily lives of these carpenters, who stubbornly continue to craft traditional Korean lattice doors, reveal the value of old and small things that the mass consumer society has lost. ◈ In Search of Village Carpenters Talented, popular, and handsome dandies—the elderly village carpenters we met all remember those good old days. These carpenters, who created magnificent Hanoks and furniture with only old saws and simple tools, are humble artists who created the everyday culture of modern Korea. Below, through the testimonies of village carpenters found while traveling across the country—from Goheung in South Jeolla Province and Namhae in South Gyeongsang Province to deep mountain villages in Chungcheong Province—we encounter Korea's modern culture and the preciousness of our heritage. The hands of these carpenters, deeply engraved with the history of labor, prove more than just a method of survival for making a living. With voices that are still vivid, they testify to the bygone era, our lives, and my own identity. ◈ The Flower Palanquin and Two Sons Two young brothers, aged 25 and 30, are learning the path of a master craftsman. Their father and teacher is Master Woodcraft Son Deok-gyun, who deliberately moved to the remote island of Ganghwa to dedicate his entire life to traditional crafts and establish himself as a master. Even a good father is a strict teacher on the path of a traditional craftsman. What these two young men, who chose the arduous and difficult path of a craftsman, are helping their father create is a traditional wedding flower palanquin, a sight rarely seen these days. Although there is still a long way to go in the craft, they are carving hopes and dreams into the wood, much like the young brides who once rode in flower palanquins. ◈ Iljumun At the Hanok School in Cheongdo, Gyeongsangbuk-do, there is an elderly carpenter teaching his apprentices. Master Carpenter Kim Chang-hee is a man of genius who can instantly calculate complex and difficult traditional architectural techniques and design methods. He has restored palaces such as Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, as well as famous temples across the country like Haeinsa and Songgwangsa. He is also the creator and practitioner of new methodologies for Hanok architecture, such as the Hyeongchudo method and the unique Seonjachimok technique. What he is currently building with his disciples is the Iljumun, the pinnacle of traditional architecture. We have captured the production process of the Iljumun, which is being created through his unique sculptural methods, on video. Master Carpenter Kim Chang-hee emphasizes to young aspiring carpenters that they should build houses for this era through modern reinterpretations rather than being bound by tradition. This is because he believes that building a house is an act of shaping our lives and creating a new society. The gate that leads one away from the secular world and into the divine realm—the Iljumun. Where, then, lies the gate leading to the true art of living for us? #Carpenter #Wood #Tradition