ACADÉMIE CONFUCIANISTE DOSAN SEOWON

This academy was founded by the famous Confucian scholar Yi Hwang (1501-1570), also known as the Toegye pen. He and his seowon are represented on the 1,000 won bill. He held various official positions, but rather reluctantly, because he only wanted to study. He retired several times to this place near his native village and in 1561 founded a modest private school (seodang) there. After his death, his merit was recognized and he received the posthumous title of Prime Minister. His disciples transformed this school into an academy in 1574 and it became an important centre of Confucian studies, to the point that in 1792 the king authorized a special national competition (Dosanbyeolgwa) to be held there. It was the only provincial centre that was never authorized to organize such an examination. The 30 buildings of this academy were restored in 1970.

The small Dosan seodang, on the right after the entrance, is the remaining building of the school founded by Toegye in 1557. It took him 4 years to build it, as his financial resources were limited. The Nong-unjeongsa, opposite, is the students' dormitory, in the form of the ideogram meaning "work" (a lying H). On either side of the Jindomun Gate are the Gwangmyeongsil rooms where the library's approximately 5,000 volumes were kept. Dongjae and Seojae are 2 buildings facing each other in the upper courtyard where the masters of the seowon lived and studied, and where guests were received. Behind it is Jeon-gyodang, the main hall of the courses. Its carved panel bearing the 4 characters of the seowon's name was offered by King Seonjo and engraved by the famous calligrapher Han Seok-bong. Higher up is the Sangdeoksa sanctuary, which houses the tablets of Toegye, one of his disciples and Confucius. Jangpan-gak on the right is used to preserve the 2,790 calligraphic wooden plates used for the xylogravure of the works of the master and King Seonjo. There is also a small museum further down on the left displaying some objects related to the master: his writing desk, his ink stone, a celestial sphere, his wand... There is also in front of the seowon, in the middle of an islet, the Sisadan. It was located, before the construction of the artificial lake, on the banks of the river; it is an altar commemorating the place where the special competition of the seowon took place in 1792 (Dosanbyeolgwa).