Gurye Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo is a local Confucian school built by the state to hold memorial rites for eminent Confucian scholars and to provide Confucian education and moral instruction to local residents. The exact date of its founding is not known, but the hyanggyo was abolished in 1499, the fifth year of Yeonsangun's reign, and rebuilt at Baengnyeon-dong in 1518, the 13th year of King Jungjong. However, because a tiger appeared every year at the time of the memorial rites, in 1704, the 30th year of King Sukjong, it was moved to its present location beneath Bongseongsan Mountain. Myeongnyundang was repaired in 1825, and it has since undergone further repairs. The buildings that remain today are Daeseongjeon, Myeongnyundang, the east and west dormitories Dongjae and Seojae, the Dongmu and Seomu, and the outer gate with three doors. Because it stands on sloping ground, the lower front area holds the space for learning, Myeongnyundang and the Dongjae and Seojae, while the higher rear area holds the space for rites, Daeseongjeon and the Dongmu and Seomu, following the typical hyanggyo layout of a study area in front and a shrine area behind. Notably, outside the outer gate there is a pond, a red gate, and a hamabi, a stone marker inscribed with an instruction that anyone passing this point must dismount from their horse, giving the site an air of antiquity. During the Joseon period the school received land, servants and books from the state to teach 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 kept here, the Yuhagan, in which the names of Confucian scholars are written on every page, is valuable material for research into the local history of this region.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gurye, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산