Ox Millstone

Yeonjabanga is a mill that grinds grains between two stone slab using animal-driven axle force. This is also referred to as dolbanga, dolbangae, or yeonjagan depending on the region. The mill largely consists of two parts — a fixed base stone and a moving upper stone. The base stone sits on top of a supporting stone on the ground and has a wooden rim that makes the upper part curve slightly inward, surrounded by rocks and soil heaped up around the wooden rim. At the center of the base stone is a drilled hole, and a wooden post is mounted in the hole to shore up the upper stone while it moves. Since the wooden post may move or fall out, a thick and round piece of wood is put into a square-shaped hole in the bottom part of the base stone to fix it into the lower hole of the wooden pole. The upper stone is carved with its outside slightly higher than its inside so that it always rolls inward. In addition, the top and bottom sides of the upper stone are carved inward in the middle, and short wooden sticks are lodged in to prevent the upper stone from slipping from the wooden post. Then a井-shaped wooden frame is placed over the upper stone, and one corner of the frame is tied to a cow or a horse. One person walks the animal holding the bridle, while another person, referred to as kkekkikkun, follows and turns over the grains using a wooden shovel. This task may be done by one person without anyone guiding the cow or horse.