Jeonju Hyanggyo

Walk past the busy lanes of Jeonju Hanok Village towards the Jeonjucheon stream and you suddenly reach quiet stone walls and enormous ginkgo trees. Jeonju Hyanggyo was the state-run Confucian school of the Joseon-era town and also a shrine holding memorial tablets of Confucius and Korean scholars. In autumn the whole courtyard turns yellow with ginkgo leaves, and it becomes the most photographed spot in the hanok village area.

History: a school moved twice for being too noisy

Tradition dates the school to 1354, under King Gongmin of Goryeo. It first stood in today's Pungnam-dong, but in 1410 the Gyeonggijeon Shrine, which holds the portrait of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty, was built right next to it. In 1441, under King Sejong, the school was moved west of the town walls because the noise of recitation and the teachers' rods was said to disturb the late king's spirit.

After the Japanese invasions of the 1590s, the school was moved again in 1603 to its present site, because the previous one was too far from the walled town and students had to cross the stream. During a great fire in 1767, King Taejo's portrait was brought here from Gyeonggijeon for safekeeping, and in the Donghak Peasant Revolution of 1894 the rebels used the school as a rallying point. It was designated a Historic Site in 1992.

The school also suffered in modern times. In 1949 many of its tablets were removed, and during the Korean War the remaining ones were thrown away; in August 1950 a local man, Lee Byeong-eun, secretly gathered them and hid them in a cupboard. The buildings were damaged while being used as offices and a fodder store, and some of the stored woodblocks were burned. In 1952 Jeonju's Confucian scholars formed an association, raised funds, repaired the school and remade the tablets. In 1987 Daeseongjeon and the east and west shrine halls were dismantled and restored, and the Manhwaru gate tower and the Janganggak woodblock hall were built.

What to see

• Daeseongjeon: the main shrine hall with the tablets of Confucius and other scholars, rebuilt in 1653, three bays wide and two deep.
• The ginkgo trees: the one in front of Daeseongjeon is over 400 years old, and many more grow around the grounds, which is why the school is famous in autumn.
• Myeongnyundang: the lecture hall where students studied. Most hyanggyo place the school in front and the shrine behind, but at Jeonju, on flat ground, the shrine stands in front and the lecture hall at the back, an unusual layout.
• Ilwolmun and Janganggak: you enter through Ilwolmun, the "sun and moon gate". The Janganggak hall was built to store woodblocks used to print books in the Joseon period.

Good to know

Because the old buildings and walls are so well preserved, the school has appeared in the film "YMCA Baseball Team" and in the dramas "Goong", "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" and "Love in the Moonlight". Memorial rites for Confucius are still held every spring and autumn, and incense is offered on the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: 09:00–18:00 in summer and 10:00–17:00 in winter. Closed on Mondays, or on Tuesday when Monday is a public holiday. Admission is free.
• When to go: late October to early November, when the ginkgos turn yellow, is the busiest time. Arrive at opening time for photos without crowds.
• Time needed: 30 minutes to an hour is enough. It combines easily with a walk through the hanok village, Omokdae and Gyeonggijeon.
• Etiquette: the school is still a place of ritual. Look into Daeseongjeon from the doorway and keep quiet when a ceremony is taking place.