Namgyeseowon Confucian Academy

 Namgyeseowon, Korea Historic Site No.499

Seowon, literally "house of letters", is a word referring to the private Confucian shrine-cademies established during the Joseon Period for the education of local Confucian followers and seasonal rites honoring Confucius and his disciples. Namgyeseowon was established in 1552 by a group of local Neo-onlucian scholars including Gang Ik (a.k.a. Gaeam) to honor the academic achievement of Jeong Yeo-chang (a.k.a. Ildu), a renowned Neo-Confucian scholar of early Joseon who was admired as one of the Five Wise Men of the East.
Namgyeseowon is the second oldest, following Sosuseowon, of all the institutions of its kind to appear in Joseon whose name plaque was bestowed by King Myeongjong in 1566. It consists of the Pungyeongnu Gate Pavilion, lecture hall, Dongjae and Seojae (dormitories), Gyeongpango or Jangpangak (libraries), and shrine. All the buildings are aligned in a straight line on a slope with the shrine placed at the innermost and highest point. The arrangement is known as the first case of the "school front and shrine back" layout, setting a model for all the Confucian slirine-academies of Joseon built after it. The academy 
was burnt down during Jeongyu Jaeran (Japanese Invasions in 1597). It then had a temporaiy shrine in Yeonhwasan Mountain in 1600, was moved to Nachon Village five years later, and finally restored in the current location in 1612. It is the only institution in Gyeongsangnam-do that remained open even after the edict that enforced closure of the shrine academies.

Pungyeongnu Pavilion

Originally built as a gate of triple passages called Jundomun and later added a raised, wooden floor hall, Pungyeongnu Pavilion was used for student gatherings for various purposes, academic discussions or relaxation. The name of the gate pavilion is conceived from a passage in Analects of Confiicius where Zheng Dian said that he ”would wash in the Yi enjoy the breeze among  the rain altars, and return home singing. The gate pavilion is designed, along with the Inner Triple Gate of the main shrine hall, to guide visitors to enter the shrine academy through the eastern passage and leave it through the western passage. The record of the background was written by Jeong Hwan-pil (a.k.a. Odam), a descendant of Jeong Yeo-chang and a renowned  man of letters of late Joseon.

Myojeong Monument

Namgyeseowon is dedicated to three Neo-Confucian scholars, Jeong Yeo-chang, Jeong On, and Gang and local Confucian followers have held seasonal memorial rites to honor their
li fe and achievement. Wliile this institution has a comparatively longhisiory; it had a monument commemorating the scholars only in 1779, some 200 years after its establishment. The epitaph was written by Kim Jong-hu, a civil minister of late Joseon when it was under the rule of King Jeongjo (1776-1800)

Eastern dormitory

This dormitory used to house Confucian students enrolled in the school was, and is, called Dongjae (Eastern Dormitory) because it is located in the east of the main lecture hall. It has its own name Yangjeongjae ("Donnitoiy of Righteousness Nurturing") taken from a passage in The Book of Changes, an ancient Chinese book of divination. The building has two rooms one of which was furnished with traditional floor-heating system and the other with raised wooden floor. The wooden-floored room is named Aeryeonheon, or ”House of Lotus/ representing a wish to help students nurture the noble beauty of lotus flowers in their spirit. The names of the lofty wooden floored rooms of both dormitories, Aaeiyeonheon and Yeongmaeheon, were given by Jeong Yeo-chang (1450-1504) who was greatly influenced by "Ode to Lotus” ，a poetic work written by Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073), a renowned Neo-Confiician scholar of Northern Song.

Western dormitory

One of the two buildings used to house students attending Namgyeseowon, this dormitory is called either Seojae (”Western Dormitory”) or Boinjae (”Domiitory of Friendship through
Goodnessn) with a word taken from Analects of Confucius. This dormitory also consists of two rooms, one with floor-heating system and the other with raised wooden floor which  is given a name Yeongmaeheon, or "House of Plum Blossom”. Both Yeongmaeheon and Aeryeonheon represent the students 1  wish to express their admiration for the noble beauty  of the lotus and plum flowers beside their dormitories.