Hwasanseowon Confucian Academy

Pocheon Hwasanseowon Confucian Academy enshrines the spirit tablet of Yi Hang-bok (1556–1618), a Confucian scholar of the late Joseon period, in honour of his scholarship and virtuous conduct. He was also named one of the Cheongbaengni, officials recognised for their integrity and incorruptibility. When the shrine was first built in 1631 it was named Baeksa Seowon. The academy was later moved to the foot of Hwabongsan Mountain in 1635, and in 1720 it received a royal charter, a sa-aek—the practice by which a Joseon king bestowed a named plaque on a shrine or academy—under the name Hwasan, taken from the local place name. Hwasanseowon thereby became a sa-aek seowon, an academy officially recognised by the state and granted books, land and servants by the king in acknowledgement of its authority. It was later abolished under King Gojong's decree dissolving Confucian academies (in 1871, all but forty-seven academies and shrines nationwide were shut down), and was eventually restored by the local Confucian community in 1971. The academy consists of the shrine Indeokgak, an inner three-bay gate, the east dormitory Donggangjae, the west dormitory Pilunjae, and an outer three-bay gate. Indeokgak measures three bays across the front and one and a half bays deep, and contains a separate gamsil, a small enclosed chamber built to house a spirit tablet or portrait, in which Yi Hang-bok's portrait and spirit tablet are enshrined. Donggangjae and Pilunjae served as places of study, and a sotsam-mun—a three-bay gate whose central section has a raised roof—stands at the entrance to both the shrine and the academy.

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Where it is

Region

Pocheon, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물