Soyang Seowon

About this place

Soyang Seowon stands in a spot with an excellent view about halfway through Jeongok-ri village in Gaeun-eup, Mungyeong-si, backed by a hill and facing south, with its lecture area and ritual (shrine) area each forming a separate walled compound arranged one in front of the other. When the seowon was demolished in the 8th year of King Gojong (1987), only the shrine was torn down while the lecture hall and the eastern dormitory were preserved, and the lecture hall retains its original appearance relatively well. The ceiling of the lecture hall is installed lengthwise, as wide as the ridge beam, between the ridge beams above the two side rooms, and its coffered decoration lays the ceiling battens lengthwise in the direction of the purlins with ceiling boards fitted between them, forming a distinctive ceiling composition that reveals its architectural value. It also enshrines five figures who were born in the areas near Gaeun in the 16th century, went on to serve in central government posts such as junior official of the Ministry of Rites and of the Ministry of Justice, and in their later years returned to their hometown to devote much effort to local development: Naam Jeong Eon-sin, Inbaekdang Kim Nak-chun, Gosan Nam Yeong, Gaeun Sim Dae-bu, and Gaeun Yi Sim, making it a seowon of notable historical significance.