Pocheon Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo (鄕校) was a public educational institution established in the provinces during the Joseon dynasty, where memorial rites were held for Confucius, the scholar of China's Spring and Autumn period, and for various Confucian sages, and where local people were educated. A hyanggyo consists of the Daeseongjeon Hall, which enshrines Confucius; the Dongmu and Seomu, the east and west shrine buildings, which enshrine former sages; the Myeongnyundang, the lecture hall for students; and the Dongjae and Seojae, the east and west dormitories where students lodged. There is also a Jeonsacheong, which oversees the memorial rites, among other buildings. Pocheon Local Confucian School is one of the few hyanggyo in Korea built during the Goryeo dynasty. It was first built in 1173, damaged by fire during the Japanese invasions of 1592, and repaired in 1594. Its present form dates from a rebuilding in 1962, after it was destroyed again during the Korean War. The Myeongnyundang, the educational space, and the Dongjae and Seojae, the student dormitories, are arranged at the front, while the Daeseongjeon, the space for memorial rites, stands at the rear, placing the space for study in front and the space for rites behind. The Daeseongjeon measures three kan (a bay, the basic structural unit of a traditional Korean building) across the front and three kan to the side, while the Myeongnyundang measures four kan across the front and two kan to the side. Both buildings have a gabled roof (matbae roof), which resembles the Chinese character 人 (person) when viewed from the side. The Dongjae and Seojae are three kan across the front and one kan to the side, also with gabled roofs. The outer main gate is five kan across the front and three kan to the side, in the form of a sotsam-mun, a three-bay gate in which the roof over the centre bay is raised higher than those on either side, and its scale is larger than that of other hyanggyo.

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Where it is

Region

Pocheon, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료