Gwangju Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo was a local state educational institution of the Joseon period, where sacrifices were offered to Confucius, the scholar of China's Spring and Autumn period, and to various sages, and where local people were educated. A hyanggyo consists of the Daeseongjeon, the hall enshrining Confucius, the Dongmu and Seomu, the east and west halls enshrining other sages, the Myeongnyundang, the lecture hall for students, and the Dongjae and Seojae, the east and west dormitories where they lodged. There is also a Jeonsacheong, which manages the rites. The date when Gwangju Local Confucian School was built is not known, but it is said that in 1703 it was moved to its present site from its former location west of the Gwangju government office. The school is unusual among the local Confucian schools of Gyeonggi Province in being sited on flat ground, so that its precincts are marked off by a wall rather than by a raised platform. In front lie the educational buildings — the Myeongnyundang and the Dongjae and Seojae dormitories for students — while behind them lie the ritual buildings — the Daeseongjeon and the Dongmu and Seomu — so that the space for learning is at the front and the space for ritual at the rear. The Daeseongjeon is three bays across the front and four bays deep, with a matbae roof, a simple gabled roof shaped like the character 人 (person) when viewed from the side. The Myeongnyundang is five bays across the front and two bays deep, with a paljak roof, a hipped-and-gabled roof shaped like the character 八 (eight) when viewed from the side. There are also inner and outer three-bay gates and a suboksil, the caretaker's quarters. In the Joseon period the school received land, slaves and books from the state and taught students there, but today its educational function has disappeared and only its ritual function remains.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hanam, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료