Wolgang Seowon

About this place

Wolgang Seowon is a late Joseon-period academy founded to commemorate four sages including Baekjang. In 1826 (the 26th year of King Sunjo), it was established by the consensus of local Confucian scholars to honor the learning and virtue of Baekjang, Song Hyeonsan, Kim Namtaek, and Choe Gyeonghoe, and their memorial tablets were installed. During its operation as a center for venerating the sages and serving as a local educational institution, it was demolished by Heungseon Daewongun's edict suppressing private academies in 1868 (the 5th year of King Gojong). The descendants and local Confucian scholars then set up an altar and held spring and autumn memorial rites, until it was restored in 1948. In 1974, Baek Yeouok, Kim Namjung, and Song Susan were additionally enshrined. The seowon complex includes a three-bay shrine, a four-bay lecture hall, a caretaker's cottage, a corridor building, and a gate. The shrine enshrines Baekjang as the principal figure, with the tablets of Song Bosan, Baek Yeouok, Kim Namjung, Choe Gyeonghoe, Kim Namtaek, and Song Susan arranged to the left and right.