Mokcheonhyanggyo Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo is a state-founded educational institution that held memorial rites for Confucius and other sages and worked to educate and morally guide local people. Mokcheonhyanggyo is thought to have been built in the early Joseon period; it burned down during the Japanese invasion of 1592. It was rebuilt afterwards and repaired on several occasions, and according to the Mokcheon county gazetteer, Chambong (a minor official rank) Han Hyeok moved it to its present site. The buildings that survive today are: Daeseongjeon, a three-kan hall used for the memorial rites (a kan being the traditional unit of a single bay between pillars); Dongmu and Seomu, each three kan, flanking it; Myeongnyundang, a five-kan lecture hall serving the educational function; Dongjae and Seojae, each three kan, the students' dormitories; and a two-kan inner gate. Daeseongjeon enshrines the spirit tablets of Confucius and of sages from both China and Korea. During the Joseon period, the state provided land, enslaved labourers and books to support the teaching of students, but today the educational function has been lost and only the memorial-rite function remains.

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Where it is

Region

Cheonan, Chungnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물