Kim Gi-seo Lecture Hall (Ganghagtang)

About this place

This is an early Joseon lecture hall located in a village on the slopes of Chungnyeongsan Mountain along the road to Josan Reservoir; the Kim Gi-seo Lecture Hall is inside the Nosan Shrine, a sanctuary of the Gwangsan Kim clan. Kim Gi-seo was a man of Gwangsan; his courtesy name was Sigyeon and his pen name was Donmokjae. He was the nephew of Maesan Kim Seok-won, who rose to the rank of Tongjeong Daebuin as the Director of Studies at Sungkyunkwan; Kim Gi-seo was known for his exceptional filial piety and in 1508 was appointed a clerk of Gwangneung and commended by King Jungjong. He later entered the school of Jo Gwang-jo and engaged in scholarly discussions with his brother-in-law Yang Paeng-son and others; when the Gimyo Literati Purge of 1519 (the 14th year of King Jungjong) resulted in the mass purging of Jo Gwang-jo and the rising literati scholars, he went into hiding in Sangpyeong-ri and refused to come out. Deeply devoted to the scholarship of Jo Gwang-jo, he built this Lecture Hall in order to devote himself entirely to educating the next generation. The site originally held the Dharma hall of Jeonbulsa Temple. Presumed to have been built in 1548 (the 3rd year of King Myeongjong), the building is a single-story hip-and-gable tiled-roof structure five bays wide and two bays deep; the interior is divided into a central hall with a raised wooden floor (two bays), a left side room (two bays), and a right side room (one bay) — an unadorned early Joseon public hall-style building. It is managed by the Gwangsan Kim clan.