Pallyosa Shrine (Gimje)

About this place

Seowon were private educational institutions of the Joseon period established to honor distinguished Confucian scholars and educate local people. Pallyosa, located in southern Gimje city, is a shrine and seowon of the Naju Na clan. It was established in 1629 (the 7th year of King Injo) to commemorate and educate about eight filial sons from the Naju Na clan lineage, but was demolished in 1868 (the 5th year of King Gojong) under the order to abolish private academies. It was rebuilt in 1965 and stands today. The buildings include a shrine (sadan) with a gable roof on three frontal bays and four side bays, and a lecture hall (gangdang) with a hipped-gable roof on four frontal bays and three side bays. On the grounds stands a large, old ginkgo tree over 500 years old. The legend says that when the eight filial sons were born, the ginkgo bore no fruit. Today, one more filial son has been added, and the shrine now enshrines nine filial sons in total.