Gangyanghyanggyo Local Confucian School, Hapcheon

A hyanggyo was a state-run local educational institution established during the Goryeo and Joseon periods to teach Confucianism in the provinces. It held rites for sages and worthies who had set an example in virtuous conduct and scholarship, and taught the Confucian classics, history, and the composition of poetry and prose. A local Hapcheon hyanggyo originally stood on the site now occupied by Gangyanghyanggyo. In 1881, the 18th year of Emperor Gojong, a severe flood struck, and when the county office relocated to Yaro-myeon, Hapcheon Hyanggyo moved there with it. Later, in 1965, Confucian scholars from Hapcheon, Yongju, Yulgok and Daeyang townships built Gangyanghyanggyo on this site to distinguish it from the Hapcheon Hyanggyo now standing in Yaro-myeon. It is the most recently built of all the hyanggyo currently designated as state heritage. The complex consists of the Daeseongjeon, the shrine hall honouring Confucius and other sages, an outer and an inner three-gate entrance, and the Myeongnyundang lecture hall. Whereas the typical hyanggyo layout places the lecture hall in front and the shrine behind, Gangyanghyanggyo instead sets the Myeongnyundang and Daeseongjeon side by side. Passing through the outer gate brings one to the Myeongnyundang, while the Daeseongjeon stands within its own separate wall.

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Where it is

Region

Hapcheon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료