Courtyard Stele of Hwayangseowon Confucian Academy, Goesan

A courtyard stele is set up in front of a seowon, a Confucian academy, recording the academy's founding purpose and details of the person enshrined and honoured there; this stele stands on the site of Hwayangseowon, which was dedicated to Song Si-yeol (pen name Uam). Hwayangseowon was built in 1696, the twenty-second year of King Sukjong of Joseon, to enshrine a portrait of Song Si-yeol and hold rites in his honour. It received a royal plaque in the year of its founding, and in 1716, the forty-second year of King Sukjong, the plaque bearing the king's own calligraphy was hung. Among all the royally chartered academies in the country, it was the most renowned and powerful, but its officials' abuse of tax collection caused serious hardship for the people, leading to its closure in 1858, the ninth year of King Cheoljong, and, amid controversy, the demolition of its buildings in 1870, the seventh year of Emperor Gojong. The stele consists of a stone body set on a square base and topped with a roof stone. It was erected in 1716, the forty-second year of King Sukjong, with the inscription composed by Yun Bong-gu. Buried underground when the academy was demolished, it was later rediscovered and re-erected after Korea's liberation.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goesan, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물