Hwanggangyeongdang Hall and Suamsa Temple, Jecheon

This is a yeongdang, a shrine hall housing portrait paintings, enshrining the portraits of Song Si-yeol (1607–1689), a great master of Joseon Neo-Confucianism, together with his disciple Gwon Sang-ha (1641–1721) and Gwon Sang-ha's own disciples Han Won-jin (1682–1751), Yun Bong-gu (1681–1767), and Gwon Uk; alongside it stands a separate shrine dedicated to Gwon Sang-ha, known by his pen name Suam. Song Si-yeol passed the state civil examination in the eleventh year of King Injo (1633) and built a great scholarly reputation, later becoming a central figure in King Hyojong's plan for a Northern Expedition against Qing China. When his teacher Song Si-yeol died after being forced to drink poison by royal order, Gwon Sang-ha gathered his belongings and, following his will, erected the Mandongbi Stele and Daebodan Altar at Hwayangdong. King Sukjong, valuing his talent, later appointed him State Councillor of the Right and then State Councillor of the Left, but he declined both and never took office. He is regarded as having inherited and greatly developed the lineage of the Giho school of thought, which descended from Yi Yulgok in the sixteenth century through Song Si-yeol. The shrine was built in the second year of King Yeongjo (1726) and elevated the following year to Hwanggang Seowon, a Confucian academy; in the eighth year of Emperor Gojong (1871), under Heungseon Daewongun's order abolishing such academies, it was renamed Hwanggangyeongdang. The present buildings, facing submersion by the construction of Chungju Dam, were moved to their current site in 1983. Hwanggangyeongdang Hall measures two kan (bays) across the front and two kan in depth, with a hip-and-gable roof that, seen from the side, forms the shape of the character 八 ("eight"). Suamsa, separated from it by a single wall, measures three kan across the front and two kan in depth, with a gabled roof that, seen from the side, forms the shape of the character 人 ("person").

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jecheon, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물