Deokgokseowon Confucian Academy, Uiryeong

This is a seowon (Confucian academy) built to honour the scholarship and virtue of Yi Hwang (1501–1570) and to enshrine his spirit tablet. Yi Hwang was a scholar-official of the mid-Joseon period. He had Baegundong Seowon granted a royal plaque reading 'Sosu', turning it into a sa'aek seowon, a royal-chartered academy; this Sosuseowon was the first such academy in Korea. Yi Hwang's scholarship dominated his era, giving rise to the Toegye school, and exerted a decisive influence on Confucian learning in Japan. Deokgokseowon was built in 1654, the fifth year of King Hyojong, and in 1660, the first year of King Hyeonjong, it received a royal plaque reading 'Deokgok', becoming a sa'aek seowon in its own right. However, all of its wooden buildings were demolished in 1871, the eighth year of Emperor Gojong, under the royal decree abolishing seowon. Confucian scholars later restored the lecture hall and the tall central gate in 1902, the thirty-ninth year of Emperor Gojong, and the shrine hall was rebuilt again in 1992. The lecture hall measures five kan across the front and two kan along the side (kan being a traditional unit of bay-width), with a hip-and-gable (paljak) roof whose profile, seen from the side, resembles the character 八.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Uiryeong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료