Haksam Seowon

About this place

A seowon is a private educational institution established from the mid-Joseon period onward by local Confucian scholars to study scholarship and hold ancestral rites. Haksam Seowon was founded in 1592 (the 25th year of King Seonjo) to commemorate the scholarship and virtuous conduct of Yi Dae-im (1574–?). Yi Dae-im raised a righteous army during the Imjin War and took part in the Battle of Janggi and the Battle of Gyeongju, among others; after his death he was posthumously granted the title of Deputy Minister of War with the rank of Gaseon Daebu. It was demolished in 1868 (the 5th year of King Gojong) under the Regent Heungseon Daewongun's order to abolish the seowon academies, and was later restored in 1907. It has the 'lecture hall in front, shrine behind' (jeonhak-humyo) form, with the shrine placed at the rear of the lecture hall. The surviving structures number five buildings in all: the shrine Gyeongchungmyo, the lecture hall Gyeonguidang, the eastern and western dormitories that served as both lodging and study space, and the gatehouse. In Gyeongchungmyo the spirit tablet of Yi Dae-im is enshrined, while Gyeonguidang consists of a central wooden-floored hall and side rooms on both sides and is used for various events of the academy, gatherings of Confucian scholars, and as a place for lecturing on scholarship. This academy holds memorial rites every autumn.