Dobong Seowon (Seoul)

About this place

Dobong Seowon is a state-sanctioned Confucian academy (saaek seowon—a seowon that received a name plaque, books, land, slaves, and the like bestowed by the king during the Joseon period and thereby had its authority recognized) that enshrined Jo Gwang-jo and Song Si-yeol, the most representative Neo-Confucian scholars of the early and later Joseon periods (baehyang: enshrining the spirit tablets and performing memorial rites). It is the most representative seowon in the Seoul area today, where renowned poets and men of letters such as Baeksa Yi Hang-bok left their poetry and prose. Although it was demolished under the Seowon Abolition Decree of 1871, so that most of the relics were lost, unlike other seowon in the Seoul area, the platform of the shrine and the group of inscribed stones (gakseokgun) introduced in old records as relics of Dobong Seowon remain largely in their original form in the valley in front of the seowon site, allowing the boundaries of the relics to be identified relatively clearly. Moreover, even setting these relics aside, since the area corresponds to a scenic spot (gyeongseungji) that was long counted among places of beautiful scenery in various texts and poems, its value for preservation is great. (Source: Korea Heritage Service)