Osansigwolrisa Temple

Osansigwolrisa Temple was built by Gong Seo-rin (1483–1541), an early Joseon-dynasty civil official and a descendant of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC), to teach later generations of scholars. In 1792 the site was renamed Gwolli after Queli, the village in the state of Lu where Confucius had lived, and once a shrine was built there it was named Gwollisa. In 1871 the shrine was closed under Emperor Gojong's abolition of seowon (Confucian academies), which left only forty-seven such institutions, including memorial shrines, standing nationwide; Gwollisa was rebuilt in 1900. Gwollisa is divided into two main areas: Seongmyo, the hall enshrining a portrait of Confucius, and Seongsangjeon, the hall housing his stone statue. The Seongmyo area consists of the shrine hall itself and Jegigo, a storehouse for the vessels used in ancestral rites. The shrine building has three bays across the front and two bays to the side, with a gabled roof; inside, the rear wall is set back to form a separate niche (gamsil, a compartment built to house a spirit tablet or portrait), in which Confucius's portrait is enshrined. The Seongsangjeon area holds a stone statue of Confucius surrounded by stone statues of the sages Yan Hui, Mencius, Zengzi and Zisi. Gwollisa also contains Yanghyeonjae (a hall named for "nurturing worthies", used to teach Confucius's thought), the Confucius Culture Exhibition Hall, Haengdan (an apricot-tree altar recalling the spot where Confucius reputedly taught), as well as a hongsalmun (a tall red gate marking a sacred site), a hamabi (a stone tablet instructing riders to dismount), and a memorial stele. Every year local Confucian scholars gather here to hold ancestral rites in spring and autumn.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Osan, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물