Uam Historical Park

This park in Gayang-dong, Daejeon, occupies the valley where the late Joseon scholar Uam Song Si-yeol (1607–1689) taught his students in his final years. Its heart is Namganjeongsa, a study built so that a stream runs beneath its wooden floor into the pond in front, a design regarded as unique in Korean garden history. It lies within the city, makes an easy short visit and is free.

Song Si-yeol and Namganjeongsa

While living in Soje-dong, Song built a study called Neunginam, and in 1683 he built Namganjeongsa in the valley below it. He trained many disciples here and became one of the very few Korean Confucian scholars honoured with the suffix -ja, "master", as "Songja".

Namganjeongsa is four bays wide and two deep. A two-bay wooden hall sits in the middle, with an underfloor-heated room to the left and a raised pavilion floor at the front right. The detail to look for is how spring water from above flows under the wooden hall and out into the pond: stand at the pond's edge and you can see the channel pass beneath the building.

Who was Song Si-yeol

Song tutored Hyojong and Hyeonjong before they became kings and led the Westerners faction and later its Noron wing. He was at the centre of the great court quarrels of the 17th century, from plans for a northern campaign to the mourning-rites controversies, and in 1689, after a change of government, he was sentenced to death by poison and died in Jeongeup. One of his pen names, Namgan Nosu, "old man of Namgan", comes from this very valley. Once his faction took power he was enshrined in the national Confucian shrine and revered above all other Neo-Confucian scholars, though today opinions on him are divided.

Rebuilt as a park

From 1991 Daejeon rebuilt the old buildings from historical evidence on a site of about 53,000 m², and the park opened in April 1998 with 16 buildings, including a woodblock hall, a museum and academy buildings.

• Giguk-jeong: the pavilion to the right of Namganjeongsa, moved here from Soje-dong during the colonial period.
• Namgansa: a shrine on the hill behind, where rites for Song are held in spring and autumn.
• Woodblock Hall: holds the 11,023 printing blocks for Songja Daejeon, Song's collected works and chronology, a Daejeon tangible heritage item.
• Ijikdang and the dormitories: the lecture hall, whose name means "keep the heart upright", is surrounded by Myeongsukgak, Inhamgak, Simgyeoljae and Gyeonroejae; each name carries a moral lesson.
• Museum: Song's belongings and books, including a sable coat King Hyojong is said to have given him when urging a northern campaign against the Qing.

Tripto tips

• Hours and admission: free and open every day; Dong-gu District lists 05:00–21:00 from March to October and 06:00–20:00 from November to February (some listings give 05:00–21:00 all year).
• Time needed: about 1 hour at an easy pace for Namganjeongsa, the pond and the academy buildings.
• Best time: early April, when cherry blossoms are reflected in the Namganjeongsa pond, and the autumn colour season. The Uam Cultural Festival in Song's honour is held every October.
• Getting there: 53 Chungjeong-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon. City buses 103, 105, 106, 311, 613 and 620 stop nearby, and there is a car park. A taxi from Daejeon Station takes about 10 minutes.