Sayang Seodang Lecture Hall

About this place

The Sayang Seodang Lecture Hall was originally a Confucian academy of the Joseon dynasty. Founded in 1651 (the 2nd year of King Hyojong) at Sasu-dong, where the Confucian scholar Hangang Jeong Gu (1543–1620) had devoted his whole life to study, it was moved in 1694 (the 20th year of King Sukjong) to Seommachon Village in Sin-ri, Jicheon-myeon, where Master Hangang was enshrined as the principal figure, Seokdam Yi Yun-u was enshrined alongside him, and Songam Yi Won-gyeong was placed in a separate shrine. At the time of its founding, besides the lecture hall there were a shrine building, a lecture hall, the Pyeomuje, the Jeongwanjae, the Bongha Gate, the Yanghyeoncheong, the storehouse and others, but they were demolished by the 1868 (5th year of King Gojong) order abolishing the academies, and today only the lecture hall Gyeonghoedang, the raised-gate (soseul daemun), and the latrine remain. The lecture hall Gyeonghoedang is designated as Cultural Heritage Material of Gyeongsangbuk-do. At the Sayang Seodang Lecture Hall, on level square ground, the lecture hall and the raised gate are arranged in an aligned (二-shaped) configuration, with an earthen wall built around them. The lecture hall Gyeonghoedang is a building of the ikgong bracket style erected in the late Joseon period, five bays across the front and one and a half bays deep. Its plan places a wide three-bay hall (daecheong) in the center, with heated ondol rooms on either side. In front of the hall and the ondol rooms is arranged an open half-bay-wide veranda floor (twenmaru). The roof is a gabled roof covered with Korean-style tiles. The raised gate is five bays across the front and one bay deep, with the roof of the central gateway built as a raised roof.