Iphakdo, 5th scene of the Painting Album

The Songgyungwan was the highest educational institution established in Korea during the Koryo and Choson Dynasties. It opened in 992. The institution consists of the Taesong Temple, Myongnyun Hall and 20 other buildings, including one of the largest wooden buildings to still exist in the DPRK. Songgyungwan is located two kilometers to the northeast of the center of the city of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

. Since 1987, it has housed the

Koryo Museum Koryo may refer to: Korea Koryo or Goryeo () was the name of several states in Korean history, known as Corea or Coree in the western world: *Goryeo was a state located in northern and central Korean Peninsula and southern and central Manchuria fro ...

History

Songgyungwan was originally a palace outbuilding called known as "Taemyon". The institution was built by King Munjong, the eleventh king of Koryo and was designated as the principal teaching institute in 1089. The facility was given the name Songgyungwan in 1308. It was destroyed by fire in 1592 during the Imchin War. The institution's twenty buildings date from its reconstruction, which started in 1602; they comply with the characteristics required of a Confucian educational establishment of the period. It taught

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

and developed students' ability to handle political and other "practical affairs". Songgyungwan prepared young aristocratic men for the civil service and was the center of Confucian studies in the dynasty. The institution had the particular responsibility of educating the Crown Prince who, on being invested with that title, underwent the state ceremony of ''iphak'' (입학) or commencement of learning at the Songgyungwan in accordance with the code of the ''Iphakrye'' (입학례) as stipulated in the ''Kukcho oryeui'' (국조오례의 "Book on the Five Rites of the State"). The school remained the national seat of learning until the capital was moved to Hansǒng under the Choson Dynasty, where the current Sungkyunkwan University became the new national university. Chong Mong-ju passed his civil service examinations at the age of 23 and became an instructor of

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Wa ...

at the Songgyungwan Academy in 1367.

Current status

The old buildings are not well-suited to the role of a museum, as they lack proper conditions for the conservation and presentation of works of art, and are ill-suited for the reception of visitors.

References

External links

* {{Authority control National Treasures of North Korea Education in Korea Korean Confucianism Kaesong Educational institutions established in the 10th century World Heritage Sites in North Korea