Heunghae Hyanggyo

About this place

Heunghae Hyanggyo was founded in 1398 (the 7th year of King Taejo) to enshrine and venerate the memorial tablets of eminent scholars and to educate and enlighten local people. During the Korean War in 1950, everything but the Daeseongjeon and the eastern portico (dongmu) was destroyed, and even the records were lost, so the details of its restoration are unknown. In 1953 the Myeongnyundang and the caretaker's room were newly built; in 1970 the tiling of the Daeseongjeon was renewed, in 1971 its dancheong painting was repaired, and in 1975 the eastern study (dongjae) was repaired. The surviving buildings include the Daeseongjeon with a gable roof and double eaves, the Myeongnyundang, a single-roof building with a hipped roof, the eastern and western porticoes (dongmu and seomu), the caretaker's room, and a four-pillared gate. In the Daeseongjeon are enshrined the tablets of the Five Sages, two worthies of the Song dynasty, and eighteen worthies of Korea; memorial rites (seokjeon) are held in spring and autumn, and incense is offered on the first and fifteenth of each month. On the hilly ground behind Heunghae Hyanggyo, retusa fringe trees (ipam trees) planted together at the time of the hyanggyo's founding form a colony intermingled with sawtooth oaks, and they are designated and protected as a natural monument.