Daeseongjeon Hall of Suwonhyanggyo Local Confucian School

Suwonhyanggyo was the Confucian school of Suwon-dohobu. In an unusual case, when the county seat was relocated at the end of the eighteenth century, the school moved with it and was rebuilt at its present site. The new town was elevated to Hwaseong Yusubu (a special administrative city headed by a royal-appointed superintendent) together with the construction of Hwaseong Fortress, led by King Jeongjo, and it grew into the city ranked second in importance after Seoul; in keeping with the standing of a Yusubu, the school, too, was given its full ceremonial dignity. Daeseongjeon Hall of Suwonhyanggyo was rebuilt in 1795, by the command of King Jeongjo, as a twenty-bay (kan) building with a two-gochu (tall-column), seven-ryangga (rafter-tier) frame. The process by which the school relocated to its present site and the Daeseongjeon was newly built is recorded in detail in documents such as the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe (Royal Protocols of the Construction of Hwaseong Fortress), which may be regarded as a construction report of the period. In scale, the Daeseongjeon ranks among the largest surviving Daeseongjeon halls of Joseon-period Confucian schools, alongside those of Seoul Munmyo (the national Confucian shrine) and Najuhyanggyo, Sangjuhyanggyo, Jejuhyanggyo and Daejeonghyanggyo, and it is the largest Daeseongjeon hall among the Confucian schools of Gyeonggi-do. The overall timber-frame method, the working technique of the principal members, and the concise design of the bracket sets and hwaban (decorative struts between the brackets) reflect the mature skill of official government-building craftsmen of the late Joseon period, giving the building the dignity of a work that represents the completed stage of ikgong-style architecture. Moreover, because the carpenter responsible for the woodwork can be identified, comparison with his other surviving works makes it possible to trace the relationship between his technique, structure and detailing, making this an important building for clarifying the technical development of Korean architectural history.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suwon, Gyeonggi

Designation

Treasure · 보물