Odeok-ri Deokgye Village School, Pohang

Odeok-ri Deokgye Village School, Pohang is said to have originated as a byeolmyo (a separate shrine for ancestral rites) built by the Yeogang Yi clan to perform sadae bongsa — ancestral rites for four generations — for their sixteenth-generation ancestor Yi Deok-sam (1654–1712), though the exact date of construction is unclear. Analysis of the available evidence indicates only that the building had taken its present form by some point before the mid-19th century at the latest. Given how rare seodang (village schools) are among surviving traditional buildings, the historical value of Deokgye Village School cannot be considered minor. In particular, the fact that the school incorporates a separate ancestral shrine, and that the shrine's construction embodies an aspect of Confucian ancestral-rite custom — the transfer of the ancestral tablet to the eldest surviving branch following the extinction of a branch of the family — gives it recognised value from a folklore perspective. Deokgye Village School holds even greater value when considered as one element that makes up the village. If it is preserved together with the Sauijeong House, Aeeundang House and Yonggyejeong Pavilion in the village as related structures representing the identity and history of Deokdong Village, it is expected to serve in future as valuable historical material for research into the residential and everyday history of the village as a whole.

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Where it is

Region

Pohang, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료