Jirye Hyanggyo Daeseongjeon

About this place

A hyanggyo is an educational institution that the state established to perform ancestral rites to Confucius and various sages and to educate and edify the local populace. Jirye Hyanggyo Daeseongjeon was first built in 1426 (the 8th year of King Sejong); after burning down during the Imjin War (1592), it was rebuilt in 1690 (the 16th year of King Sukjong) and has remained to the present day. Daeseongjeon, where the memorial tablets of Confucius and of sages of China and Korea are enshrined and rites are performed, measures three kan across the front and three kan on the side. Inside, a portrait of Confucius rendered in mukpan-eumhwa (ink-block intaglio) was once kept, but it was stolen in 1978, and the portrait of Confucius now present is a replacement for it. During the Joseon period, the state supported the school with land, slaves, and books to teach students, but today its educational function has disappeared and only its ritual function remains.