Punghwaru Pavilion of Anseonghyanggyo Local Confucian School

"Punghwaru Pavilion of Anseonghyanggyo Local Confucian School" is a pavilion-style structure of grand scale, eleven bays across the front and one bay deep, which served both as a pavilion for relaxation and study and as the outer gate for entering the hyanggyo (local Confucian school); among surviving Joseon-period hyanggyo gate pavilions, it is the largest in scale. In particular, it makes excellent use of its sloping site: while effectively screening the front of the hyanggyo so that the interior cannot be seen from outside, its side elevation is kept to a single bay, giving the building an appropriate height and scale so that it does not appear overbearing or oppressive when viewed from the Myeongnyundang, the lecture hall inside. Built amid the difficult conditions following the Japanese invasions of 1592-1598 and the Manchu invasion of 1636, when timber supplies were necessarily limited, Punghwaru achieves efficient structural stability through economical use of wood, while presenting overall visual balance and harmonious proportion, giving fine architectural expression. In addition, the adze-tool marks surviving in part on the lower-storey columns from the time of construction, and the yeongssangchang (paired lattice windows) that retain well the stylistic features of the seventeenth century, provide valuable scholarly material for the study of mid-Joseon architectural technique.

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Where it is

Region

Anseong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Treasure · 보물