Okgwahyanggyo Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo is a state-founded educational institution built to hold memorial rites for eminent Confucian scholars and to provide Confucian education and moral instruction to local people. The date when Okgwahyanggyo was first built is not known; it is said, however, that it originally stood at Hwangsan, from where it was moved to Yuljeong, and then in 1755, the 31st year of King Yeongjo of Joseon, relocated to its present site. It was repaired in 1796, the 20th year of King Jeongjo, and again in 1898, the second year of the Gwangmu era under Emperor Gojong, and has remained in this form to the present day. Standing on sloping ground, it has Myeongnyundang, the lecture hall, on the lower ground at the front, and Daeseongjeon, the shrine hall for the memorial rites, on the higher ground at the rear — the layout known as jeonhak-humyo (lecture hall in front, shrine behind), typical of a hyanggyo. During the Joseon period it received land, servants and books from the state to support the teaching of students, but after the Gabo Reforms of 1894 its educational function ceased, and only the spring and autumn memorial rites are now held. Among the books preserved here, the Yangmokjae Jeolmok and the Hyanggyo Jeongok Chulip Jeolmok are regarded as materials unique to Okgwahyanggyo.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gokseong, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산