Buyeo Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo is a local Confucian school established by the state to hold memorial rites for Confucius and other sages and to educate and morally instruct the local people. It is not known exactly when Buyeo Hyanggyo was founded, but it is thought to have been built in the early Joseon period. It originally stood on the western slope of Gugyo-ri, Buyeo-eup, and was moved to its present site in the mid-18th century, undergoing repairs several times since down to the present. The overall layout follows the jeonhak-humyo arrangement, with the Myeongnyundang, the space for study, at the front, and the Daeseongjeon, the space for rites, at the rear. The Myeongnyundang measures five bays across the front and two along the side, and has a paljak (hipped-and-gabled) roof, which seen from the side resembles the shape of the character 八 (eight). The Daeseongjeon measures three bays across the front and three along the side, and has a yeondeung ceiling, in which the roof structure is left exposed. Inside are enshrined the spirit tablets of Confucius and other Chinese sages together with Korean sages. Other buildings include the Suseonjae study hall and the inner and outer three-bay gates. In front of the Daeseongjeon, unlike a typical inner gate, the entrance is instead divided into three separate sections with side gates. In the Joseon period the school received land, books and servants from the state and taught many students, but after the Gabo Reforms its educational role ceased; today it holds memorial rites in spring and autumn, and offers incense on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buyeo, Chungnam

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물