Deoksan Seowon (Yeongju)

About this place

Deoksan Seowon is a Confucian academy in Buseok-myeon, Yeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, founded to commemorate Choe Hyo-won and Choe Jang-gan. In 1894 (31st year of King Gojong), by the common resolve of the Confucian scholars of the Geumneung and Seonsan regions, it was decided to build Deoksan Seowon to hold memorial rites for the two men Choe Hyo-won (1742–1795) and Choe Jang-gan (1763–1812), but during its construction the Donghak Peasant War broke out, and to avoid it the academy was relocated to its present site. In 1972, with the agreement of the Confucian scholars of Yeongju and Bonghwa, it was built in Sangseok-ri, Buseok-myeon, Yeongju, and in 1977 it was rebuilt. Memorial rites are performed every year on the 15th day of the 3rd lunar month. Choe Hyo-won was posthumously granted the rank of Gaseon-daebu Hojo Champan (Second Vice-Minister of Taxation) during the reign of King Sukjong, and Choe Jang-gan was posthumously granted the rank of Gaseon-daebu Hojo Champan Dongji Jungchubusa during the reign of King Yeongjo.