Buan Hyanggyo Confucian School

On a hill on the west side of Buan town, ringed by pine woods, Buan Hyanggyo climbs the slope in terraces. Founded in 1414 as a state Confucian school, it is approached past a red spindle gate and a dismount stone, then up stone steps through the two-storey Manhwaru pavilion to the lecture hall and finally the shrine at the top. Some 300 m away stands the Seoe-ri flagpole, one of the few in Korea where the stone pole itself still survives, which makes a good pairing.

History: burned in the wars, rebuilt in stages

Buan Hyanggyo was founded in 1414, under King Taejong. It burned down during the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598, and the shrine and lecture hall were rebuilt in 1600. The gate pavilion Manhwaru followed in 1607, the Yangsajae hall was added in 1848 as the school expanded, and in 1894 magistrate Jo Yeon-myeong built new east and west dormitories.

Under Joseon the state gave the school land, servants and books to support its teaching, but when the Gabo Reforms of 1894 brought in modern schooling, its educational role ended. Today it keeps up the rites: the Seokjeon ceremony for Confucius in spring and autumn and incense offerings on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month.

What to see

• Red spindle gate and dismount stone: the hongsalmun gate and the hamabi, a stone telling riders to dismount, mark the entrance. Next to them a row of memorial steles lines the path.
• Manhwaru: a two-storey pavilion, three bays by two under a hipped-and-gabled roof. You pass through a stone stairway beneath its floor to enter, and because the school sits on a hill, its grounds look out over Buan town.
• Myeongnyundang and the dormitories: the lecture hall, three bays by two with a hipped-and-gabled roof, flanked by the east and west dormitories where students lived.
• Daeseongjeon: the gabled Confucian shrine, three bays by two, listed as provincial cultural heritage material in 1984. It holds tablets for Confucius and four other sages, four Song-dynasty scholars and 18 Korean Confucian scholars. It stands at the back of the complex, beyond an inner gate at the top of a flight of steps.

Old Buan within walking distance

• Seoe-ri flagpole support: about 300 m south of the school. Most such sites keep only the two stone supports, but here the pole itself survives, made of several stone sections bound with iron bands. It is 7.45 m tall, and a break at the top suggests it was once higher. An inscription near its base dates it to 1671, and local tradition says a banner was raised and rites held here when misfortune threatened the town.
• Dongmunan Dangsan, Buan: about 800 m east, a stone pillar topped with a carved duck and a pair of stone guardian posts, the "grandfather" and "grandmother", protect the neighbourhood. Every two years, on the first full moon of the lunar year, villagers hold a tug-of-war and then wrap the rope around the pillar, a custom called "dressing" it, before the village rite.
• Maechang Park: about 1.3 km south, the park around the grave of the Joseon poet Yi Mae-chang.

Tripto tips

• Access: the inner gates are sometimes closed. If you want to see inside, ask the Buan County Culture and Tourism Division beforehand (+82 63-580-4711).
• Time needed: 30–40 minutes for the school, about 1.5 hours on foot with the Seoe-ri flagpole and the Dongmunan Dangsan.
• Getting there: about 1 km north-west of Buan Bus Terminal, around a 15-minute walk. Address: 15 Danggan-jiju 1-gil, Buan-eup.
• Watch out: stone steps run all the way up the hill and can be slippery after rain, so wear sensible shoes.
• Combine with: Byeonsanbando National Park and the layered cliffs of Chaeseokgang are roughly 40 minutes away by car, so the school makes an easy first stop on a Buan trip.