Modeoksa (Byeokje Seowon)

About this place

Modeoksa, also known as Byeokje Seowon, is a shrine housing the portrait of Toheon Park Cho (1367-1454), established in 1967 to honor this early Joseon-era scholar's learning and virtue. Park Cho studied under the great Confucian Jeong Mongju as a youth, passed the civil service examination at the remarkably young age of fifteen, and served in various key government posts. Shortly after the founding of the Joseon dynasty, he served as Naval Commander-General of Jeolla Province. Most notably, he made great contributions to his home region by overseeing the restoration of the Byeokgolje reservoir. In 1421 (the 3rd year of King Sejong), when the Jeolla provincial governor strongly advocated draining the reservoir and converting it to farmland, it was Park Cho's intervention that prevented this. He also authored the inscribed stone stele for Byeokgolje. The building is three bays wide and three bays deep with a gabled roof, and includes a lecture hall.