Dolsanhyanggyo Local Confucian School

A hyanggyo (local Confucian school) is an educational institution established by the state to hold memorial rites for Confucius and other sages and to educate and morally instruct local people. At Dolsanhyanggyo, the Daeseongjeon (shrine hall) was first built in 1897, the first year of the Gwangmu era; the Myeongnyundang (lecture hall) was built in 1898, the second year of Gwangmu; and the Punghwaru (pavilion) was built the following year. It has since been repaired and rebuilt several times to reach its present form. When Dolsan-gun county was abolished in 1915, Dolsanhyanggyo faced the threat of being abolished with it, but it has survived to the present through the efforts of local Confucian scholars. The overall layout is an unusual arrangement with the educational space on the left and the ritual space on the right. The buildings that remain today are the Daeseongjeon, Myeongnyundang, Punghwaru, and the inner three-gate (naesammun). The Daeseongjeon is where the spirit tablets of Confucius and of Confucian scholars of China and Korea are enshrined and memorial rites held; it measures three bays across the front and three bays to the side, and its roof, a gable roof (matbae), forms the shape of the character 人 when viewed from the side. The Myeongnyundang, the lecture hall where students gathered to study, measures five bays across the front and three bays to the side, with a hip-and-gable roof (paljak) forming the shape of the character 八 when viewed from the side. The Punghwaru is a two-storey pavilion where students rested, measuring three bays across the front and two bays to the side. In the Joseon period the state provided land, bondservants, and books to support the teaching of students, but today the educational function has disappeared and only the ritual function remains. The school currently holds documents exchanged between Dolsanhyanggyo and various government offices, and between the county and townships, dating from 1933 to 1938, during the latter part of the Japanese colonial period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeosu, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료