Sunghyeon Confucian Academy Site

Sunghyeon Confucian Academy was founded to honour the scholarship and virtuous conduct of Jeong Gwang-pil, Kim Jeong and Song In-su. Jeong Gwang-pil (1462-1538) was an early Joseon civil official who rose through the posts of Right State Councillor and Left State Councillor to serve as Chief State Councillor. Kim Jeong was an early Joseon civil official and scholar who held posts including Second Deputy Minister of Personnel and Inspector-General before serving as Minister of Punishments; skilled also in poetry and prose, he is known, together with Jo Gwang-jo, as a leading figure of the Sarim faction. Song In-su was a mid-Joseon civil official who served as Inspector-General of the Office of the Inspector-General and as a provincial governor, and worked hard to spread Neo-Confucian learning. The academy is presumed to have been founded in the late sixteenth century. In 1592 it received royal recognition as a state-chartered academy (saaek seowon) and was granted the name "Sunghyeon". In 1641, the nineteenth year of King Injo, Yi Si-jik and Song Si-yeong were additionally enshrined there, and a separate building was erected within the academy grounds for them. The academy burned down during the Japanese invasions of 1592-98 but was restored in 1609, the first year of King Gwanghaegun's reign; later, Kim Jang-saeng, Song Jun-gil and Song Si-yeol were also enshrined there. Following Heungseon Daewongun's decree abolishing Confucian academies, Sunghyeon was closed in 1871, the eighth year of Emperor Gojong, and was never restored; only a stele erected in 1667, the eighth year of King Hyeonjong, remains. Excavations in 1994 confirmed the sites of the shrine that housed the spirit tablets, the lecture hall used for education, and a separate shrine that had enshrined the spirit tablets of Yi Si-jik and Song Si-yeong.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yuseong-gu, Daejeon

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물