Hwasan Seowon (Iksan)

About this place

Hwasanseowon is a late-Joseon Confucian academy located in Yongsun-ri, Geumma-myeon, Iksan-si, Jeollabuk-do. It is a representative academy of Iksan that enshrines Gim Jang-saeng (pen name Sagye), Song Si-yeol (pen name Uam), So Du-san (pen name Wolju), So Hwi-myeon (pen name Insan), and Hwang Ja-hu (pen name Jukyu). It was founded in 1654 (the 5th year of King Hyojong), granted a royal charter in 1662 (the 3rd year of King Hyeonjong), and demolished in 1868 (the 5th year of King Gojong). In 1937 the lecture hall and caretaker's quarters were built, in 1966 the shrine was erected and a wall was raised, and in 2002 it was extensively reconstructed. As an academy honoring Gim Jang-saeng, a master of Joseon ritual studies, and Song Si-yeol, who led the Westerners faction while advocating loyalty to the Ming after the Byeongja War, it was a prestigious academy with as many as 30 students. It was also a representative gathering place of Confucian scholars in Iksan, a town of the yangban so renowned that it was said 'Changpyeong on the left, Iksan on the right.' It was equipped with a shrine, lecture hall, caretaker's quarters, and so on, and possessed considerable ritual-endowment land and slaves, but when the academy was demolished in 1868 the shrine and lecture hall were torn down and the academy's land was incorporated into Iksan Hyanggyo. After Heungseon Daewongun lost power, an altar was set up and memorial rites were held; then in 1937 the lecture hall and caretaker's quarters (Wonjiksa) were built and a small amount of endowment land was arranged. In 1966, through the efforts of Hwang Sang-gyu, a Confucian student of Palbong-myeon, and others, a shrine of three front bays was erected and a wall was built around it. At this time So Du-san, So Hwi-myeon, and Hwang Ja-hu, all natives of Iksan, were additionally enshrined. At Hwasanseowon the lecture hall and shrine are well preserved. It consists of an outer three-gate and inner three-gate, a lecture hall of hip-and-gable roof form with four front bays and two side bays, and a shrine of gable-roof form with three front bays and three side bays. Within the grounds stand the Hwasanseowon Stele, the Hwasanseowon Reconstruction Stele, the Hwasanseowon Sacrificial-Animal Stele, and the Everlasting Memorial Stele for Magistrate Hwang Jong-seok.