Heungam Seowon

About this place

Sangju Heungam Seowon is a Confucian academy built to honor the scholarship and virtue of Song Jun-gil (1606-1672). Song Jun-gil was one of the Eighteen Sages of Korea (Haedong Sippalhyeon) enshrined in the Confucian Shrine (Munmyo), and a scholar who carried on the Giho academic lineage running from Yi I through Kim Jang-saeng to Kim Jip. In the late Joseon period, figures of the Westerner (Seoin) and Noron factions in the Sangju region of Gyeongsangbuk-do who inherited the Giho lineage rallied around Sangju Heungam Seowon. In 1702, Sangju Heungam Seowon, which enshrines Song Jun-gil, was built in the Sangju region, and in 1705 it received the royal charter name 'Heungam.' It became the first chartered seowon of the Westerner and Noron factions established in the Yeongnam region and received a plaque in the king's own hand. In response, academy members such as Seong I-hong and Chae Jing-hyu erected a monument bearing the king's calligraphy. Sangju Heungam Seowon was not abolished even during Heungseon Daewongun's order to abolish seowon. Later, Sangju Heungam Seowon was used as a modern school, giving rise to Sangju High School and Namsan Middle School, though these have since been relocated. In 2005, it was repaired as part of a Confucian cultural zone development project. The buildings of Sangju Heungam Seowon include Heungamsa, Jinsudang, Jinuijae, Uiinjae, the pavilion housing the royal calligraphy monument, and the inner three-gate. Heungamsa is the shrine where memorial rites are held, and it enshrines the memorial tablet of Song Jun-gil. Jinuijae, the eastern hall, and Uiinjae, the western hall, were the quarters where Confucian students resided.