Changdae Seowon

About this place

Yeongcheon Changdae Seowon was established in 1697 in Nokjeon-dong, Yeongcheon, by the consensus of local Confucian scholars in order to commemorate Jeong Dae-im. Later, in 1786 (the 10th year of King Jeongjo), Jeong Je was additionally enshrined, but the academy was demolished in 1868 (the 5th year of King Gojong) by the Daewongun's edict abolishing seowon. In 1955, it was relocated from Changdae Village in Nokjeon-dong, Yeongcheon, to its present site. It was later destroyed by fire in 2004 and then restored. Jeong Dae-im rose up during the Imjin War (Japanese invasions of 1592) and, without regard for his own life, raised a righteous army, subjugated the enemy, and achieved brilliant merits in attacking the Japanese forces. The buildings within the precinct include the shrine, the divine gate, Ssangjeondang, the east chamber, and a gate quarters. The shrine is a building with a hip-and-gable (palijak) roof and double eaves, three kan across the front and one and a half kan on the side. The memorial tablets of Jeong Dae-im and Jeong Je are enshrined there. Ssangjeondang, the lecture hall, is a pavilion-type building with a hip-and-gable roof and double eaves, four kan across the front and one and a half kan on the side; in its floor plan, the front half-kan forms a toenmaru (narrow wooden veranda) and all three rear kan are ondol (heated) rooms. Railings run along the front and sides of the toenmaru. The east chamber is placed behind the gate quarters, its axis turned at a right angle to the side of the lecture hall. It is a building with a gable (matbae) roof and double eaves, three kan across the front and one and a half kan on the side; like the lecture hall, its front half-kan forms a toenmaru and all three rear kan are ondol rooms.