An ''agungi'' ( ko, 아궁이) is a firebox found in traditional Korean kitchens which is used to burn

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood c ...

or other

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy bu ...

for

cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in vari ...

. It is also a part of the traditional floor heating system, or ondol. The flat cooktop counter or

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, ...

installed over the ''agungi'' is called a ''buttumak'' ().

History

Early ''buttumak'' have been dated to the 10th‒4th century BCE. Iron and ceramic ''buttumaks'', similar to their later forms, were excavated from

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

1st century BCE historical sites, such as

Anak Tomb No. 3 Anak Tomb No. 3 is a chamber tomb of Goguryeo located in Anak, South Hwanghae, North Korea. It is known for mural paintings and an epitaph. It is part of the Complex of Koguryo Tombs. It was discovered in 1949 with valuable treasures stolen, ...

. Many Korean agrarian kitchens had ''buttumak'' with charcoal-fueled ''agungi'' until the early 1970s. File:Goguryeo buttumak 1.jpg, Iron ''buttumak'' from

(37 BCE ‒ 668 CE) File:Agungi door 1.jpg, ''Agungi'' door from agrarian

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in the mid-20th century

Structure

''Buttumaks'' in agrarian Korean kitchens were commonly made from brick or

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

and then smoothed with

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

. Above each ''agungi'' is an upward opening where '' gamasot'' (big pot or cauldron used on ''agungi'') can be set onto the ''buttumak''. A kitchen may have ''buttumak'' with multiple ''agungi'' holes and upward openings, or a single ''agungi'' hole and a single upward opening. Each ''agungi'' can be covered with an iron plate or door to control the fire. ''Agungi'' and ''buttumak'' are among the main components of the traditional '' ondol'' (floor heating) system. Vents in the back of ''agungi'' are opened on cold days to allow the smoke and hot air flow through the

flue A flue is a duct, pipe, or opening in a chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. Historically the term flue meant the chimney itself. In the United States, they are ...

s underneath ''ondol'' rooms and exit into the chimney at the other end of the house.

Influences

Japanese '' kamado'' was their adaptation of ''buttumak'' introduced from Korea. The word '' kamado'' () also has its root in Korean word ''gama'' (가마), a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of ''buttumak''. The word ''gama'' in modern Korean is usually used to refer to

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

s, but the usage of the word meaning ''buttumak'' can be found in some compounds such as '' gamasot'' (literally ''gama'' cauldron) referring to the cauldron used on ''buttumak''.

References

Fireplaces Hanok Cooking appliances Stoves {{Korea-stub

History

Structure

Influences

See also

References