Byeongsan Seowon

Byeongsan is one of the nine seowon, Korean Confucian academies, inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 as a group, and it is the one architects single out. Its forerunner, a clan school, was moved here in 1572 by the scholar Ryu Seong-ryong himself, and his followers made it an academy in his memory in 1613-1614; it faces a bend of the Nakdong with a folded cliff, Byeongsan, rising on the far bank. Mandaeru, the gate pavilion, is an open two-storey structure with nothing between its columns, so sitting on its floor the cliff and river appear divided into a row of framed panels by the posts and the eaves - a piece of deliberate borrowed-scenery design rather than a happy accident, and the reason the building is studied. Behind it the compound follows the standard seowon plan: lecture hall, dormitories either side, shrine at the top. Two ancient crape myrtles flower in the courtyard in late summer. Entry is free.

History

Its forerunner was Pungak Seodang, a school of the Pungsan Ryu clan from the Goryeo period, which the scholar and statesman Yu Sŏngnyong moved to this site in 1572. After his death in 1607, local Confucian scholars led by Jeong Gyeong-se founded the Jondeok shrine here in 1613 to honour his learning and virtue, and in 1614 it was renamed Byeongsan Seowon; in 1629 new tablets were made for Yu Sŏngnyong and his third son Yu Chin, who are still honoured at the Hyangsarye ceremony every March and September. The academy trained many scholars and came through undamaged when the regent Heungseon Daewongun ordered it removed in 1868, its auditorium was rebuilt in 1921, and it holds about 3,000 books; it is Historic Site No. 260 and in 2019 became part of a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Byeongsan Seowon).

What's there

• Mandaeru pavilion - the cliff and river framed between its columns.
• The seowon plan - lecture hall, dormitories, shrine on the rise.
• The old crape myrtles - flowering in the courtyard in late summer.
• The Nakdong bend - the river below the compound.

When to go

April to June and October; late summer for the myrtles. Early morning and late afternoon, when the light is on the cliff, is when the pavilion works best.

Practical notes

Small - an hour is enough. The buildings are austere by design. Access without a car is awkward; combining with Hahoe village is the usual solution.

Nearby

Hahoe village is close; Andong, Dosan Seowon and Imcheonggak are within reach.

Key facts