Hwanbyeokdang Pavilion

On a hillside above a stream at the upper end of Gwangju Lake, in Chunghyo-dong, Buk-gu, stands the small pavilion of Hwanbyeokdang. It is where the mid-Joseon scholar Kim Yun-je taught students after retiring to his home village, and where Jeong Cheol, later one of Korea's greatest poets in the gasa verse form, studied as a boy. Together with nearby Sigyeongjeong and Soswaewon, it was at the heart of the garden-and-pavilion culture in which Joseon poetry flourished.

History: a scholar's pavilion and a poet's school

Kim Yun-je (1501–1572) served as magistrate of Naju and other counties before returning to his home village of Chunghyo and building Hwanbyeokdang on the slope to its south, where he trained younger scholars. Jeong Cheol and Kim Seong-won were his best-known pupils, and his grandnephews Kim Deok-ryeong and Kim Deok-bo, later famous as volunteer army leaders during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s, also grew up under his influence. The name was chosen by the scholar Sin Jam and means roughly "the hall encircled by green". A record by Go Gyeong-myeong notes it was also called Byeokgandang.

Hwanbyeokdang became a Gwangju monument in 1972 and in 2013 was upgraded to a national Scenic Site under the name "Hwanbyeokdang area, Gwangju". It is now looked after by a branch of Jeong Cheol's descendants.

How Kim Yun-je met Jeong Cheol

A famous story is told here. One day, while napping in the pavilion, Kim Yun-je dreamed that a dragon rose into the sky from Yongso, the pool in the stream below. He went down to look and found a boy bathing: it was Jeong Cheol, whose family had fallen into disgrace and who was passing through while fleeing. Struck by the boy's brilliance, Kim kept him close, taught him and is said to have later married him to his granddaughter. Jeong Cheol stayed here for about ten years until he entered government service.

What to see

• The pavilion: A three-by-two-bay building with a hipped-and-gabled roof. Rooms sit in the middle with wooden floors along the front and side, and there are signs that it was altered from its original form.
• Name board and poems: The name board was written by Song Si-yeol, and poems by Im Eok-ryeong and others hang inside. Jeong Cheol also wrote poems about Hwanbyeokdang.
• Jodae and Yongso: Below the pavilion, by the stream, are Jodae, the rock where Jeong Cheol is said to have fished, and Yongso, the pool from the dream.
• The view: Sit on the wooden floor and you will see the stream and the ridges beyond wrapping around you, just as the name suggests.

Tripto tips

• Visitor info: Open at all times, every day, with no admission fee. There is no dedicated car park, so if you drive, plan where to park in advance.
• Time needed: About 30 minutes for the pavilion and Jodae, or over an hour if you walk on to Sigyeongjeong.
• Combine with: Chwigajeong pavilion is right next door, Sigyeongjeong is about 250 m away across the stream, and Soswaewon garden is about 900 m away. The poet Song Sun called Soswaewon, Sigyeongjeong and Hwanbyeokdang the three scenic spots of a single valley.
• Best time: Summer, when crape myrtles bloom along the stream. This stretch of water was once called Jamitan, the "rapids of crape myrtle".
• Good to know: The pavilion stands high on a hill, so expect a short walk uphill from the stream. The address is 10 Hwanbyeokdang-gil, Buk-gu, Gwangju.