Seongju Mangwijeong Pavilion

This building is where Yi Won-jo (李源祚, 1792–1871), pen name Eungwa, who held the post of Minister of Works (Gongjo panseo) in the late Joseon period, returned to his hometown in 1851, his later years, and spent the rest of his life reading and keeping company with nature. Yi Won-jo's clan seat was Seongsan; his courtesy name was Juhyeon and his pen name Eungwa, and he was granted the posthumous title Jeongheon. He studied under Jeong Jong-ro, pen name Ipjae, and in 1809, the ninth year of King Sunjo, passed the augmented state examination (jeunggwang munkwa) with an eulgwa, or second-class, pass. He went on to hold a succession of offices, rising through Daesagan (head of the Office of the Censor-General) to Minister of Works and to Panuigeum, a senior post at the State Tribunal. At the time he was revered as foremost among Confucian scholars in learning and literary composition, and he also achieved a strong record as a local magistrate. Having spent almost forty years in official life after passing the examination, he had been unable to give his full attention to scholarship and to training younger students; only in his later years did he finally find the chance to devote himself wholly to self-cultivation and teaching, and it is from this that the building takes its name, Mangwijeong, meaning 'the pavilion of a late return'. The building faces north-east on sloping ground. Mangwijeong itself — four bays across the front and one and a half bays deep — and a plain, flat-roofed three-bay gate stand facing each other across an inner courtyard, arranged in the shape of the Chinese character 二 (meaning 'two'). At the entrance to the gate stands an iron stele, the Heunghak-changseonbi, which embodies Yi Won-jo's determination to promote learning.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료