The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) is proposing that nine
seowon,
or traditional Korean Confucian academies, be included on UNESCO’s list
of world heritage items in 2015. The nine proposed schools are: the
Sosu S
eowon in Yeongju; the Namgye S
eowon in Hamyang; the Oksan S
eowon in Gyeongju; the Dosan S
eowon in Andong; the Pilam S
eowon in Jangseong; the Dodong S
eowon in Dalseong; the Byeongsan S
eowon in Andong; the Donam S
eowon in Nonsan; and the Museong S
eowon in Jeongeup.
In contrast to this promotion, however, many modern-day Koreans would find it hard to explain just what is or was a
seowon. The question is complicated by the similarity in names between a
seowon and a
seodang. Moreover, in many places across the country we also find the remains of schools known as
hyanggyo. How can we distinguish between them all?
The main difference, in the case of the
hyanggyo,
is that they were established by the government or local authorities to
be public institutions, while the others were private foundations
established either by individuals or by groups and clans.
hyanggyo
were already in existence during the Goryeo period (918- 1392) but they
were never very popular. In the Joseon era (1392-1910), far better
teachers could be found in the
seodang and
seowon.
Hyanggyo and
seodang were essentially schools, of varying sizes, designed to prepare the sons of the ruling elite, the
yangban, to take the initial stages of the government service exams. The
seodang
might have been very small, with a single teacher instructing the boys
of a rural village in the fundamentals of Chinese characters and the
classics.
The
seowon was also a school, but it always
also contained a shrine dedicated to Confucius, and many other
celebrated sages, including celebrated Korean scholars, sometimes those
responsible for founding the
seowon in question. The
seowon
combined education and Confucian rituals and often served as a rallying
point for scholars belonging to a particular school or faction. They
usually contained dormitories and housing for resident students and
scholars.
Dosan Seowon founded by renowned Confucius scholar Yi Hwang (photo: Yonhap News)
Currently,
the remains of hundreds of academies still exist in Korea, and the nine
amongst them now being submitted to UNESCO are those reckoned to be in
the best condition. What strikes the visitor to such
seowon, with
their many buildings, is the very considerable difference in the
details of their design. Although generally the shrine for rituals is
found at the back of the complex, to the north, behind the buildings for
classes and study, this is not always the case. Like Buddhist temples,
the
seowon always took account of the natural site on which it was built, and other factors.
The Sosu S
eowon
is the oldest private Neo-Confucian academy in Korea. It was founded by
Ju Sebung (1495-1554) and its shrine is dedicated to An Hyang
(1243-1306), the local scholar who introduced Neo-Confucianism to Korea
from China in the 13th century. Its layout is unusual, with the shrine
hall on the left-hand, or western, side of the main compound, instead of
at the back, to the north, as was to become the standard design. It
seems this is because the Sosu
seowon was founded on the site of a Goryeo Buddhist temple.
A
little later, Toegye Yi Hwang (1501-1570), the preeminent Neo-Confucian
philosopher of Korea, became magistrate of the county and obtained a
royal charter guaranteeing the independence of the
seowon. This prepared the way for the foundation of other similar academies. There were far more young men belonging to the
yangban class than there were government positions available. Unemployed
yangban
eagerly installed themselves in the dozens of private academies that
soon sprouted across the countryside. Unemployment was less their
problem than idleness, for the majority of
yangban possessed hereditary estates.
Every
seowon
contains a similar set of buildings. In addition to the shrine, where
offerings were made, there is a main lecture hall, a library, usually
containing a set of woodblocks for printing copies of the Confucian
classics, dormitories for the students and lodging for the teaching
scholars. Usually, there are also pavilions. Visitors to Andong are
especially fortunate in being able to visit several of the most
celebrated
seowon: the Byeongsan S
eowon was founded in 1563; the Dosan S
eowon was founded by Toegye Yi Hwang; and the Gosan S
eowon was founded in 1789. In the hills outside Daegu, the Dodong S
eowon was built in 1568. Its extensive buildings, in a secluded setting, are a fine example of what a wonderful place a Joseon-era
seowon could be.
Brother Anthony
The Dosan Seowon
is the most famous of all the Confucian academies in Korea. The first
buildings on the site were established in 1561 by Toegye as the “Dosan Seodang.”
Four years after his death in 1570, his disciples expanded it into the
larger academy we see today. The academy served two functions: it housed
the memorial shrine to Yi Hwang, where his disciples performed
ceremonies in his honor; and, it was a place where the teachings of Yi
Hwang were faithfully transmitted. These seowon are wonderful
examples of the Joseon ideal of beauty, combining stately wooden
buildings, lovely gardens and extraordinary natural settings. They were
usually located away from towns and played a quasi-religious role, as
well as offered spaces for intellectual activity. Alas, small
differences in Neo-Confucian doctrine soon divided society into warring
camps, a factionalism that plagued the Joseon Dynasty. The end of the seowon
came in 1871, when the Daewongun, regent of Korea from 1863 to 1873,
ordered the closure of almost all private academies. Their land was
confiscated and the students driven out.
Fortunately, some
survived, and the buildings were maintained by the families associated
with them. During the Japanese period, most of the hyanggyo and seodang located in towns were transformed into modern schools and their traditional buildings destroyed. The seowon
were mostly far from centers of population and so survived. They now,
of course, no longer serve any vital educational or intellectual
function, but they, along with royal palaces and Buddhist temples, are
the last places where the architecture of old Korea survives and can be
admired.
Brother Anthony (An Sonjae)
President, RAS Korea
Discover Korea with the RAS
[The
Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, founded in 1900, is an association
of people, Koreans and non-Koreans alike, who wish to deepen their
knowledge of Korean life, culture and history, and share that knowledge
with others in English. http://www.raskb.com/ ]