Aux origines de l'hypocauste coréen (ondol) - article ; n°1 ; vol.42, pg 77-88

Arts asiatiques - Année 1987 - Volume 42 - Numéro 1 - Pages 77-88
Recent archaeological survey has offered the possibility of retracing, schematically, the formative stages of home heating through the floor, a Korean tradition known as ondol. In the north-western parts of the peninsula, elbow-shaped smoke- outlets connected to fire-places, laid out and buried in the floor, have been found in the remains of certain habitations which date back to the iron-age.
In the Koguryô and Paekche kingdoms, these canalisations sometimes split into two, were laid out along-side walls of the homes, thus allowing smoke to escape through them to the outside. This system which largely improved heating in the home, was perhaps also serving as seating places since that period. The canalisation is found in ordinary semi-subterranean homes as well as in important constructions such as that of Dongtaizi (near Ji'an) which could be considered as a place of worship.
Its use continued in the Bohai kingdom during which an U-shaped canalisation was developed and perpetuated by the Jurchen and the Manchus. At the beginning of the Koryô kingdom, the system developed further. A number of outlets were connected to the same fire-place and over the greater part of the floor of a room. It is estimated that the Korean heating system acquired its characteristics mainly in the middle of the Koryô era.
Installations similar to the first canalised fire-places have been discovered among the people of Xiongnu and it appears that the primitive forms found in eastern Manchuria and northern Korea form the basis of the Chinese kang whose use spread out perhaps from the Jin dynasty.
12 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.