Sosu Seowon () is a

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

-era ''

seowon () were the most common educational institutions of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. They were private institutions, and combined the functions of a Confucian shrine and a Confucian school. In educational terms, the were primarily occupied wit ...

'' (private

Neo-Confucian Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a Morality, moral, Ethics, ethical, and metaphysics, metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768� ...

academy), now located in Sunheung-myeon,

Yeongju Yeongju (; ) is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It has an area of 668.84 km2 and a population of 113,930 people according to the 2008 census. The city borders Bonghwa county to the east, Danyang County of North Chungcheong Pr ...

, South Korea. It is the oldest extant ''seowon'' in Korea. It was founded by (1495–1554), then the magistrate of Pungseong County. Sosu Seowon was one of 47 seowons that survived from the ''Seowon Abolishment'' by Heungseon Daewongun Regent in 1871.

History

During the

period in 1542, the magistrate of Punggi County established this ''seowon'', which was initially called "Baegundong Seowon" (). It was renamed to "Sosu Seowon" in 1550. That year,

Yi Hwang Yi Hwang (; 1501–1570) was a Korean philosopher, writer, and Confucian scholar of the Joseon period. He is considered the most important philosopher of Korea - he is honored by printing his portrait on the 1000 South Korean won banknote, on ...

established Sosu Seowon as the first legislated private institute of Korea. During the Joseon era (1392–1910),

Korean Buddhism Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, they ...

suffered heavy persecution. Many temples were closed and the buildings repurposed. Sosu Seowon originally had been a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

and then became a private academy.

Description

On the right of the Sosu Seowon entrance is the Okgyesu, a stream of the Nakdong River coming from Mt. Sobaek. Inside Sosu Seowon's auditorium is a 'Sosu Seowon' sign engraved by King Myeongjong. Behind the auditorium there are Jikbangjae, Ilshinjae, Hakgujae and Jirakjae. On the east side are the Seogo, the portrait of Anhyang (National Treasure No.111) painted at the end of Goryeo Dynasty, and the Munseong Tomb where the Daesungjisung King Munseon's Jeonjwado (National Treasure No.485) is enshrined.

Gallery

File:소수서원18807.jpg, Part of the complex (2014) File:소수서원18781.jpg, Part of the complex (2014) File:Sosu Seowon (4).jpg, Interior of one of the buildings (2016)

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Sosu Seowon Seowon North Gyeongsang Province Historic Sites of South Korea