Jiseondang Study Hall

About this place

Jiseondang is both an ancestral shrine and a village school (seodang) of the Bannam Bak clan. It was built by the descendants of Bak Ji-yeong in accordance with his wishes during the mid-Joseon period. Bak Ji-yeong's ancestors originally lived in Geumsan, but during the Imjin War (1592) they fled the turmoil and settled in Naegeum Village, devoting themselves to educating their descendants, from which time the clan came to reside in this region. Jiseondang was founded by Bak Ji-yeong's descendants to honor the wishes of Ji-yeong, the founding ancestor of the local branch, and to educate the clan's youth and the region's students, though its exact date of construction is unknown. However, since the Jiseondang record written by Bak Sang-tak that hangs within the hall was written in the third imjin year of the Sungjeong era, it is presumed to have been built in 1772 (the 48th year of King Yeongjo). It is said that Jiseondang produced five jinsa scholars, including Jeong Jae-yeong, who passed the higher civil service examination in 1816 (the 16th year of King Sunjo) and rose through the posts of Sagan, Dongbuseungji, and U/Jwaseungji to become Gongjo Champan, and Bak Je-dae, who passed the jinsa examination in 1840 (the 6th year of King Heonjong), though the names of the other four jinsa cannot be confirmed. It is a tiled paljak-roofed building with a front of 4 bays and a side of 2 bays, and within the hall hang plaques such as the Jiseondang record (written by Bak Sang-tak), the Cheomjongseo (written by Bak Dong-hu), and a visitors' register.