| Dosan-Seowon Korea's most famous Neo-Confucian Academy in the southwestern "Saeji-san" area of Cheongryang-san in Andong City of North Gyeongsang Province |
| The center of a mid-Joseon-Dynasty painting of Dosan Seowon |
| Left side of that painting |
| Right side of that painting |
Image of the Dosan-seowon on the back of the old version of Korea's 1000-won bills. This was replaced
around 2004 by a painting of a nearby area by the famed 18th-Cen "True-View" artist Jeong Seon (right).
Seowon are privately-run Neo-Confucian Academies with a Shrine for a Sage-teacher. Toegye originated these important
institutions, building the Sosu-seowon (the first one in Korea) to honor An Hyang (who brought Neo-Confucianism to Korea in
the early 1300s) in the early 1500s. After that seowon were usually established by the Yangban aristocratic clans to honor a
sage of their clan, and maintained by the subsequent generations of disciples (teachers & students) who served there. They
would regularly hold memorial-ceremonies for the principal enshrined sage, and other masters of his and their lineage(s).
There were hundreds of seowon by the early 1800s, but then most of them were suppressed / destroyed around 1870.
Dosan-seowon was originally the school that Toegye built to teach in, but was upgraded to a seowon by enshrining him after
his death by his own students, then expanded with Andong Yi clan and royal support. It was reconstructed as a tourist site
under the programs of President Park Chung-hee during the 1970s, and is regarded as one of the Four Greatest Seowon.
around 2004 by a painting of a nearby area by the famed 18th-Cen "True-View" artist Jeong Seon (right).
Seowon are privately-run Neo-Confucian Academies with a Shrine for a Sage-teacher. Toegye originated these important
institutions, building the Sosu-seowon (the first one in Korea) to honor An Hyang (who brought Neo-Confucianism to Korea in
the early 1300s) in the early 1500s. After that seowon were usually established by the Yangban aristocratic clans to honor a
sage of their clan, and maintained by the subsequent generations of disciples (teachers & students) who served there. They
would regularly hold memorial-ceremonies for the principal enshrined sage, and other masters of his and their lineage(s).
There were hundreds of seowon by the early 1800s, but then most of them were suppressed / destroyed around 1870.
Dosan-seowon was originally the school that Toegye built to teach in, but was upgraded to a seowon by enshrining him after
his death by his own students, then expanded with Andong Yi clan and royal support. It was reconstructed as a tourist site
under the programs of President Park Chung-hee during the 1970s, and is regarded as one of the Four Greatest Seowon.
| Images of "Toegye" Yi Hwang (1501-1570), Korea's greatest Neo-Confucian philosopher, with associated symbols, on the fronts of those bills |
| Check out "Toegye" Yi Hwang and his Dosan-seowon on Wikipedia |
| As it looks today, a National Treasure and primary site of Andong City tourism |
