Soswaewon Garden, Damyang

Soswaewon Garden in Damyang is representative of mid-Joseon gardens that harmonised nature and artifice. When his teacher Jo Gwang-jo (pen name Jeongam, 1482–1519) was exiled, Yang San-bo (1503–1557) renounced worldly ambition, returned to his hometown and built this garden; Song Sun (pen name Myeonangjeong, 1493–1583) gave it the name Soswae, meaning "clear and pure." The garden is trapezoidal in form, centred on a valley stream. Covering an area of 4,060 square metres, it can be divided by function and spatial character into the Aeyangdan area, the Ogongmun area, the Jewoldang area and the Gwangpunggak area. Within the garden is a wood of bamboo, pine, zelkova and maple trees. Around it runs a natural-looking wall built of earth and stone, into which stone and wooden plaques inscribed with "Aeyangdan," "Ogongmun" and "Soswae cheosa Yang-gong jiryeo" are set. Within Soswaewon Garden survives a woodblock-printed picture made in 1755, the thirty-first year of King Yeongjo, showing the garden's appearance at that time, from which its original form can be known. It is a beautiful garden that reveals the lofty character and integrity of the Korean scholar, and one representative of Joseon-period gardens.

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Where it is

Region

Damyang, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Scenic Site · 명승