Cheongsong Hyanggyo

About this place

Cheongsong Hyanggyo was founded at Guldong in 1426 (the 8th year of King Sejong) by Jeong Ji-a, then serving as the local magistrate (jigunsa) of Cheongsong. Later, having burned down through repeated national calamities, it saw Yi Yeong-do, who took office in 1606 (the 39th year of King Seonjo), rebuild the Daeseongjeon (Shrine of Confucius) at Gukdong during his five years in office; in 1629 (the 7th year of King Injo), the magistrate Yi Gu-jing, during his three years in office, added and repaired the eastern and western wings (dongmu and seomu), the lecture hall, and the kitchen quarters. In 1693 (the 19th year of King Sukjong), the magistrate Yi Mun-jing, holding that the terrain of the school buildings was ill-suited, over his four years in office moved the Daeseongjeon and its subsidiary buildings to their present location at Wolmak-dong below Mount Banggwangsan. It is thus a hyanggyo (local Confucian school) that has undergone many architectural changes. The Daeseongjeon appears, from the form of its upper framing and the salmi bracket arms, to retain much of the character of the 1600s–1700s. The Daeseongmun, though its date of construction is unknown and it is small in scale, is structurally handled with fine care and, with its distinctive appearance, is deemed to have architectural value. As for the composition of the hyanggyo buildings: centered on the Daeseongjeon, the space of veneration, the eastern and western wings (dongmu and seomu) stand to the front left and right; to the right is the educational space, the Myeongnyundang, with the eastern and western dormitories (dongjae and seojae) on either side; and the Cheongaru is placed at the entrance. In the Daeseongjeon, the spirit tablet of Confucius is enshrined as the principal figure, together with the tablets of the Five Sages of China who carried on his scholarly lineage, the Two Worthies of the Song dynasty, and the Eighteen Worthies of Korea; each year on the first jeong day of the ninth lunar month, local Confucian scholars gather here to perform the Seokjeon Daeje (grand sacrificial rite).