King Myeongjong Royal Calligraphy ‘ Sosuseowon Confucian Academy ’ Name Plaque

This is the name plaque of Sosuseowon Confucian Academy, Korea's first seowon (private Confucian academy) to receive a royal charter; when it was granted this status, King Myeongjong of Joseon personally composed the name and wrote it himself. A royally chartered seowon (sa-aek seowon) is one to which the king granted a name, together with a plaque inscribed with that name and books, land and slaves bestowed by the state. When Sosuseowon was founded in 1543, the 38th year of King Jungjong, by Ju Se-bung (1495-1554), the magistrate of Punggi, it was called Baegundong Seowon. Yi Hwang, who later became magistrate of Punggi, petitioned the court in December 1549, the fourth year of King Myeongjong, through Sim Tong-won, the governor of Gyeongsang Province, to grant the academy a name plaque, land, books and slaves for its operation. In April of the following year it received a plaque written in King Myeongjong's own hand, becoming Korea's first royally chartered seowon. The name "Sosuseowon" was given by Sin Gwang-han, who then held the post of daejehak (chief academician of the Hongmungwan), at the king's command, meaning "to take up again and cultivate the learning that had already fallen into ruin." This plaque, now displayed in the Sosuseowon Relics Hall, has characters carved in relief and gilded on a black background, with an elaborately decorated border, and it remains in good condition. As the plaque of Sosuseowon — the first seowon in Korea and the first to receive a royal charter — written in King Myeongjong's own hand, it is an extremely valuable historical record.

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Where it is

Region

Yeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산