Gobu Hyanggyo, Jeongeup

On a rise inside Gobu-myeon, west of Jeongeup, stands Gobu Hyanggyo, a Joseon-era state school that was also a shrine for rites to Confucius and other sages. All the core buildings of a hyanggyo survive, from the red Hongsalmun gate and the main gate to the lecture hall and the shrine hall, so it is a good place to understand how these local Confucian schools were laid out. It fits well into a history trip to Gobu, where the 1894 Donghak Peasant Revolution began.

History

Hyanggyo were schools founded by the state to hold rites for Confucius and other sages and to educate local people. Nobody knows exactly when Gobu Hyanggyo was founded. Tradition says it burned during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s and was rebuilt on its present site in 1597.

In the Joseon period the school received land, servants and books from the state to support its students. Teaching has long since ended, and only the memorial rites continue. Ritual vessels, ceremonial robes and books are kept here. The shrine hall was listed as North Jeolla provincial heritage in 1984.

A hyanggyo is divided into a study area and a ritual area, one in front of or below the other. At Gobu the lecture hall sits lower and the shrine hall higher, so you see them in turn as you climb. Many hyanggyo still hold seokjeon, the spring and autumn rites for Confucius and the sages.

What to see

• Hongsalmun: the red wooden gate that marks the start of a sacred precinct and the first sign of the school from the village lane.
• Main gate: each leaf of the three-door gate is painted with a large taegeuk (yin-yang) symbol, visible from a distance. Climb the stone steps and pass through it to enter the school.
• Lecture hall and dormitories: Myeongnyundang, where students studied, and the buildings where they lodged. One of them carries a name board reading "Yangsajae", "hall for nurturing scholars".
• Daeseongjeon (shrine hall): the ritual hall stands higher than the lecture hall. It is five bays wide and three deep under a simple gabled roof, and holds the spirit tablets of Confucius and of Chinese and Korean sages.
• The east and west side halls of the shrine courtyard, the inner gate and the caretaker's quarters also survive.

Tripto tips

• Access: as a ritual site, the school is often kept locked. The layout is easy to appreciate from outside; if you want to go in, contact Jeongeup City or the hyanggyo before your visit.
• Address: 18 Gyodong 4-gil, Gobu-myeon, Jeongeup.
• Time needed: 20–40 minutes is enough.
• Photos: the big taegeuk symbols on the main gate look best from the foot of the stone steps. Step back along the lane to fit the Hongsalmun and main gate into one frame.
• Getting there: about 10 km west of central Jeongeup in a straight line. Buses are infrequent, so a car is easiest.
• Combine with: Gobu is where, in 1894, Jeon Bong-jun and local farmers stormed the county office in protest at magistrate Jo Byeong-gap's harsh exactions, starting the Donghak Peasant Revolution. The Manseokbo weir, built with forced peasant labour and used to levy a hated water tax, was in this area too. Add the Hwangtohyeon battlefield and the Donghak Peasant Revolution Memorial Hall in Jeongeup for a full day of history.