Galcheonseowon Confucian Academy, Goseong

Galcheonseowon Confucian Academy in Goseong was built to hold memorial rites for Yi Am (pen name Haengchon, 1297–1364), who served as Chief State Councillor (munhasijung) under King Gongmin. It was first established in Hoehwa-myeon under the name Geumbongseowon, but burned down during the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598. It was rebuilt on its present site in 1712 and renamed Galcheonseowon. The academy was closed under the decree abolishing seowon (private Confucian academies), but was restored by Confucian scholars after Korea's liberation in 1945. Today it enshrines Yi Am together with No Pil (pen name Mukjae), Eo Deuk-gang (pen name Gwanpo) and Yi Gyo (pen name Dochon). The academy faces west on the western slope of a hill at the point where the Galcheon and Daega streams meet. It follows the "lecture hall in front, shrine behind" (jeonhakhumyo) layout, with the lecture hall where students studied placed at the lower level and the shrine housing the spirit tablets at the higher level. Beyond the main gate, Bulsamun, stands the lecture hall, which measures three bays across the front and one-and-a-half bays to the side, under a hipped-and-gabled roof with square eaves and triangular gable ends. The lecture hall has a central wooden floor flanked by one room on each side; in front of the room on the right is a raised floor in the style of a field hut (numaru), used for academy events and scholarly discussion. Behind the lecture hall stands Naesammun, the inner three-bay gate leading to the shrine, and beyond it the shrine itself. The shrine holds the spirit tablets, with Yi Am, Yi Gyo, No Pil and Eo Deuk-gang enshrined from the left. It measures three bays across the front and one-and-a-half bays to the side, under a gable roof sloping down on two sides, and is built in the somo-sujang style, decorated with small blocks supporting the purlins and the tie beams beneath them; it has three purlins.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goseong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료