Nobong Seowon

About this place

Nobong Seowon is a Confucian academy built to emulate the loyalty of Jungnim Gwon San-hae (d. 1456), who died a martyr while upholding the principle of "not serving two kings" during the reign of King Danjong of Joseon (r. 1452-1468), and to educate future generations. Gwon San-hae was a righteous man of the early Joseon period. In the first year of King Sejo's reign (1455), when Grand Prince Suyang seized the throne from King Danjong, Gwon refused to serve two kings and retired to the countryside. Later, together with the Six Martyred Ministers, he plotted to restore King Danjong to the throne but died a martyr without achieving his goal. Nobong Seowon was established in the 18th year of King Jeongjo (1794), but was closed by the edict abolishing Confucian academies in the 3rd year of King Gojong (1866), and was later rebuilt in 1921 with the support of local Confucian scholars. The building faces west beneath Nosabong Peak next to the former Sindang Elementary School in Naesin Village, and consists of five structures forming a single compound. Passing through the four-pillar gate, there is Mongyangjae, a lecture hall for education, and behind it is the Jeonsacheong. Entering the inner three-part gate to its right, there is Sunguisa, a shrine for holding ancestral rites. The lecture hall is a hip-and-gable roof building measuring five bays across the front and one and a half bays on the side; on a foundation of stacked rough stones, natural stone cornerstones were laid and square pillars erected to support the roof. The shrine is a gable-roof building measuring three bays across the front and one bay on the side, using round pillars only on the front and square pillars for the rest.