| Oksan
Seowon Confucian Academy (1572 AD)
other
sites in Gyeongsangdo |
Gyeongsang-do, Korea |
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Image adapted from Hanguk
ui seowon konchuk (The Architecture of Seowon Korea), by Kim, Un-jung.
Oksan Seowon was completed in 1572 in honor of Yi Eonjeok, a great Korean Neo-Confucian philosopher who stressed the primacy of material force over principle. Neo-Confucians believed all things in the world consist of principle (the way things ought to be) and material force (matter and energy). By stressing material force, Yi was less interested in metaphysical speculation than practical scholarship.
The building layout is typical of most academies. The shrine (to Yi Eonjeok) sits at the far north (image 7), surrounded by an earthen wall connected to the outer wall. South of the shrine is a quadrangle of buildings, consisting of two dormitories to the east and west, a lecture hall to the north, and a study hall to the south. The entire compound is walled just below eye level and accessible only through a gate to the south.
Oksan Seowon is also famous for preserving an intact copy of the Samguksagi, a history of early Korea, listed as a national treasure.
For general information on the private academies, visit the Byeongsan Seowon page
Bibliography
All images copyright 1998-2000
Abe Ahn and Tim Ciccone
Kim, UN-Jung Hanguk ui seowon
konchuk (The Architecture of Seowon Korea). Seoul: Munundang, 1995.
428 p
Information from signposts
on site.