Gumi Seonsan Hyanggyo

About this place

A hyanggyo was a national educational institution established in each region during the era when Confucianism was revered. Gumi Seonsan Hyanggyo is said to have first been built in the early Joseon period, but the buildings of that time were burned down during the Japanese Invasion of 1592 (Imjin War). Afterward, in the 33rd year of King Seonjo's reign (1600), Kim Yong, the magistrate of Seonsan, built the Daeseongjeon (Hall of Great Achievement), the Dongjae (East Dormitory), and the Seojae (West Dormitory); and in the 1st year of King Injo's reign (1623), Sim Ryun, the magistrate of Seonsan, newly built the Myeongnyundang (Lecture Hall) as well as the East and West dormitories. The buildings follow the 'jeonhak-humyo' (learning in front, shrine behind) layout, in which the Myeongnyundang, the space for teaching and learning, stands at the front, and the Daeseongjeon, the space for enshrining the memorial tablets of Confucian sages and holding ancestral rites, stands at the rear. The Cheongaru, a pavilion that served both as a place of study and a place of rest, is unusual in that its floor plan is U-shaped (three-sided): its front is two stories high, while its rear connects to the courtyard of the Myeongnyundang.