Pyeongchang Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo was a local educational institution built by the state to hold memorial rites for eminent Confucian scholars and to provide Confucian education and moral instruction to the local populace. This school was founded by Choe Chang-min and local Confucian students in 1658, the ninth year of King Hyojong. It was repaired in 1719, the forty-fifth year of King Sukjong, and again in 1729, the fifth year of King Yeongjo, and has undergone further repairs since. Part of the building was also damaged in the Korean War and was restored in 1953. The buildings that survive today include Punghwaru, a two-storey pavilion, and Myeongnyundang, the lecture hall where students studied, as well as Naesammun, the inner triple gate, and Daeseongjeon, the shrine hall enshrining Confucius and various other sages. There are also a Hongsalmun, a red spiked gate, and three auxiliary buildings. The teaching quarters lie at the front and the ritual quarters at the rear, following jeonhakhumyo, the layout typical of hyanggyo schools. During the Joseon period the school received state support to teach students, but after the Gabo Reforms of 1894 its educational role ended, and since then it has only held memorial rites each spring and autumn. No books survive because of the Korean War, and the building is among the oldest hyanggyo buildings remaining in this region.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Pyeongchang, Gangwon

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산