HYANGGYO: CONFUCIAN INFLUENCE IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
Contents
  • Introduction
  • Previous Studies on Subject
  • Theoretical Background
  • Suppression of Buddhism
  • Controlling the Local Community
  • The Hyanggyo and Confucian Education
  • An Introduction to the Hyanggyo Structures
  • The Confucian Shrine
  • Wonju Hyanggyo and the Typical School Design
  • Yoju Hyanggyo – the Hyanggyo in Smaller Communities
  • Hyanggyo Variations
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Appendix 1 (photos - opens in a new window)
  • Appendix 2 (photos - opens in a new window)

Introduction

     This paper deals with the hyanggyo school system in Choson Korea (1392-1910) and its influence in local communities through Neo-Confucian ideology.  In Choson, the hyanggyo were state supported secondary schools to prepare young men for the Civil Service Examination by teaching them the Confucian classics.  The students would have already learned the basics of Chinese characters in the sodang private primary schools.  This paper is a preliminary look at an important social institution that has not gained much attention in English language studies.  It will develop an understanding of the broader background of the rise of Neo-Confucian influence as the dominate social ideology of the dynasty.  It will also focus more narrowly on specific schools to show the common structures of the prototypical hyanggyo.  Another emphasis of the paper will be a look at some of the spiritual aspects of Confucianism as practiced at the hyanggyo that added to the philosophy’s influence on people in local communities.  Confucianism in modern history and philosophy departments is almost exclusively considered an ethical system.  In fact, there is much debate in our contemporary post-modern academia about whether Confucianism is a philosophy or a religion, but by examining the Confucian as it functioned in the hyanggyo and local community, we can return to an examination of some of the spiritual aspects of Confucianism in Korean society in early Choson. 



Previous Studies on Subject

     Choe Yong-Ho’s detailed study of the Civil Service Exam (CSE) in Choson is a valuable work on what was the terminal point of the aspirations of most students. [1] Success in the CSE provided an individual the right to an official government post and cemented his family’s position in the upper-class (yangban) for at least a couple of generations.  Choe shows that later in the dynasty, after the foundation of Neo-Confucian education had been firmly planted and survived challenges during the period of purges of scholar-officials, even the lower stages of the CSE system provided enough socio-political clout to assure positions of importance in local communities.  Many students were satisfied with this level of success and opted to forgo the higher level exams that were necessary to obtain top level positions in the capital or in regional administration.

      The social status gained by passing the Civil Service Exams is hard to over emphasize.  In fact, although some family members of former officials or meritorious subjects could obtain an official post through a protected (um) appointment, many of them chose to pass the CSE anyway, because the exam was often necessary to reach the highest positions in the government.  The exams were a necessary path to power, but by the end of the 19th century, Confucian education had become so prominent in Choson, as Choe argues, membership in the elite (yangban) segment of society likely depended on the mere fact of listing oneself as a “student” of Confucianism in the local hyanggyo or sowon [2].

     John Duncan’s study of the founding of the Choson further examines the influence of Confucianism in the local community.  His account is somewhat contrary to that of Choe Yong-Ho. [3]  Choe successfully rebuts what he describes as a common trend in the study of early Choson society – namely the idea that Confucian scholar reformers created a caste-like society where social mobility into the yangban elite class was strictly limited.  Choe’s study presents documented evidence that non-members of the yangban class were able to succeed in the CSE and did rise to significantly high positions in government.

     Duncan, however, describes a very different common wisdom in studies on the Koryo-Choson transitional period.  He claims that the common interpretation is that the founding of Choson represented the overthrow of the upper-class segment of society by a new “middle class” of family groups from areas outside the capital who aligned themselves with Yi Song-gye, the founder of the new dynasty.  Duncan argues that the idea of the rise of non-aristocrats is based on a handful of individuals who were by far the exception to the rule of power in Choson.  He examines the family backgrounds of men who held the top level positions in the six boards and security council before and after the founding of the dynasty.  He finds remarkable continuity in the family groups who held power in both Koryo and Choson.

     We will look at certain insights from both Choe and Duncan to get a better understanding of the function of the hyanggyo in local communities.  Choe provides a guide to the process of Confucian education and the Civil Service Exams, and Duncan covers the movement by the founders of Choson to extend centralized control from the capital to the whole nation.  Both of these are important in the development of the hyanggyo.

     Another study that examines the change that took place in the transition from the Koryo society dominated by Buddhism to the Neo-Confucianism of Choson is Son Po-Ki’s more traditional look at power politics in the capital. [4]  Son examines the institutional frame work of the government in the early to middle period of the dynasty.  He highlights how Neo-Confucian inspired ministers connected to King Taejo (Yi Song-gye) used a strict Confucian moral system to push out those opposed to the changes they wanted.  This included drumming out officials loyal to the Koryo royal house as well as the suppression of Buddhism as an institution.

      The implanting of Neo-Confucian ideology was not simply a tool to gain personal power.  Son shows how the moral and ethical system was used to reign in the power of the new royal family as much as it got rid of the old ruling elite.  Of particular note for the background of the hyanggyo and sowon are two of the institutions Son details.

     The crown prince and king had strict educational demands placed on them by certain ministers.  Following Confucian moral standards was considered paramount to the spiritual and physical health of the state.  To follow those standards, the rulers had to know them thoroughly.  This required extensive study often deemed repressive by the king.  However, when the king or crown prince tried to curtail or end the study sessions, vast numbers of government officials dedicated to Neo-Confucianism, particularly the younger idealist in the different censorate departments, would revolt.  The most common tactic used was the sit-in strike which brought the government to a grinding halt, because the censorate had to sanction most of the day-to-day functions of the government.

     Son’s look at both the education of the king and crown prince and the political battles of the censorate with the royal house and other departments of government show how influential Confucian ideology was in the capital.  It was not simply a blue-print for institutions as it was dating back to the Unified Silla dynasty (668-935) when Buddhism remained the backbone of Korean society.  Son shows how Confucianism was a moral system that supplanted the old ideology and maintained a hold on even the elites of Choson society throughout the dynasty despite a couple of serious challenges during the reigns of King Sejo and Yongsangun.

     Another book length study that provides a broader background of the Confucian influence on Choson society is by Martina Deuchler.  She examines changes in cultural aspects of the society.  She looks at inheritance rights, the position of women, the rights of sons of secondary wives and concubines, as well as other day-to-day living customs of the family and family groups.  Deuchler provides an excellent analysis of the depths to which Confucianism altered the lives of the citizens by changing many fundamental habits of families through new emphasis on ideals and taboos.  However, she did not have the space to expand her scope to deal with how these changes were generated.  Son Po-Ki provided some background on this by looking at institutions in the capital.  This paper will look at hyanggyo in local communities to point to institutions of change that need more study in the English language material on Korea.



Theoretical Background

     The theory for this study comes from Michael Foucault (primarily Discipline Punish and Birth of the Clinic) and the many studies inspired by him across academic disciplines.  Foucault examined the ability of morality, surveillance, and coercive institutions to shape life in modern Western society.  He and other scholars following him primarily focus on the late 19th century, modern, and post-modern West, but many of their insights into the use of moral or ethical principles in social institutions to curb the actions of individuals in society are useful elsewhere, particularly in East Asian societies where Confucianism was the dominant ideology for centuries.

     In the two works mentioned above, Foucault examined what he describes as a trend in the development of modern society to control the body and mind of individuals.  The clinic was a place that specifically functioned to “cure” the mind and body of aspects deemed detrimental to a healthy life and by extension the health of the community.  It was a place where the inner nature and outer habits of the individual were dissected.  It was also a place where “normalcy” was defined and used to “regulate” society.

     Of course, the ideas in the birth of modern psychology and medicine are different from the tenets of Neo-Confucianism developed in Sung dynasty China and adapted to Korean society in the transitional period from Koryo to Choson, but Neo-Confucianism was clearly dedicated to serving the same modifying function for the health of the individual and the community.  Hugh Walker succinctly demonstrates the modifying nature of Neo-Confucianism in Korea when he sums up just three of the key terms in the intricate thought system:  Righteousness (yi) is “the only acceptable [inner] motivation for any action”.  While Propriety/Ritual [5] (li) is the outer manifestation of correct action.  And by regulating the inner and outer being to match yi and li, the Perfect Gentleman (chun-tzu) can obtain Moral Force (te) which is “essential to his role as a moulder of public morality.” [6]  The reform movement in Korea at the turn of the 14th century believed it was through the creation of men dedicated to the promotion of the ideal of the Perfect Gentleman that Confucian education could reshape society for the betterment of the individual and the state.

     In Discipline Punish, Foucault looks at the issue of the criminal in society, but his theme again is the institutional modification of individual behavior.  Public torture was a common practice of medieval monarchies in Europe and elsewhere.  The spectacle of violence done to the body of the thief or murderer was meant to instill fear in the hearts of average citizens.  But Foucault describes how in the dawn of the modern era the treatment of criminals moved away from public spectacle toward confinement in the prison.

     A prison was a place away from the public eye where the body of the criminal was regulated, not punished.  The space and time of the individual criminal became increasingly regimented.  The central image of this era Foucault describes is the Panopticon.  This was a new penal institution designed to give the guard maximum visibility of inmates while limiting their ability to observe him.  The idea was to use the regulatory power of constant surveillance to modify behavior.

     This was a concept citizens of a Confucian society would have understood well.  Both China and Choson Korea developed community compacts or social contracts for the local community.  The compacts varied greatly from village to village, but there was one common feature that fits well with Foucault’s description of the coercive power of surveillance.  Members of the compact or all the citizens [7] in the community were given the duty of watching each other and reporting violations of law and social mores.  The fact that neighbor was known to watch neighbor would induce the same kind of modification of behavior Foucault describes in modern European society.

     The regulatory nature of Neo-Confucian doctrine in Korean society is important to understand in relation to the effect of the local school system that grew out of the transitional period from Koryo to Choson.  As the reform minded scholar-officials fought to make Confucianism the dominate thought system of the kingdom, they sought to increase their influence throughout the state, and the local hyanggyo became a useful means to that end.  These early Choson reformers established a nationwide movement to build a hyanggyo in every county, even in far away Cheju-do , thus leaving no area in the state untouched by Confucian education.


Suppression of Buddhism

     As in other eras in history around the world, the first step of the reformers in early Choson was the suppression of the dominate thought system of the previous regime in order to install their own.  Examining the battle of ideologies is important in understanding the role of the hyanggyo, because the propagation of Confucian education was used in part to replace the influence of the Buddhist temple in the local community.  This can initially be seen in a poem by An Hyang (1243-1306):
Buddha is prayed to in every lighted house,
Spirits are served with drums and flutes,
But, lo! The shabby shrine of Confucius stands
Untended in its yard, rank with autumn weeds. [8]
     The poem laments the lack of influence of Confucianism in the community and the abundance of Buddhism.  An Hyang and other reform-minded scholar-officials in late Koryo sought to change this situation.  The reformers attacked Buddhism through their positions in the government by court memorials and other administrative acts, and some established hyanggyo on their own initiative in local communities where they held a government office or in their hometowns.  An Hyang was one of these key reformers who was determined to promote Confucianism.  In 1304, he sent an envoy to China to collect material to reestablish a National Confucian Academy (the Songgyungwan) in the capital then in Kaesong.  He was ultimately unsuccessful in sustaining a Confucian college as the heart of education in Koryo - that would have to wait until the founding of the new dynasty.

     The reforms of the transitional period between Koryo and Choson sought to curb the excesses of institutional Buddhism and its influence on the Koryo royal family.  The reform drive was led by officials who wanted to shore up the power of the Koryo social system as well as those who wanted to end it.  The reform period was also not a constant movement.  It ebbed and flowed during the early Choson period.  The reformers faced a great challenge when King Sejo (1455-1468) usurped the throne and attacked the reform-minded officials in an effort to return power to the royal court.  Part of Sejo’s effort was also a return to the state support of Buddhism.  Then, another purge of reformers occurred, and the government was thrown into a period of chaos, under the tyrannical rule of Yongsangun (1494-1506).  These series of events, known as the literati purges, was the most serious challenge to state supported Confucianism until the middle of the 19th century, but the reform movement was strong enough in early Choson to overcome the setbacks of the purges, and it firmly established Confucianism as the dominate ideology of Korean culture.

     Chong Mongju’s (1320-1392) was a late-Koryo reformer whose criticism is a good example of the arguments used against the Buddhist establishment by powerful officials who remained loyal to the Koryo royal house.  He was eventually assassinated in 1392 for not supporting Yi Song-gye’s rise to the throne.  Chong criticized Buddhism as an unnatural religion that “destroys family relations and breaks the union of marriage.”  He wrote “the Buddhists sit alone on cliffs and in caves, clothed in grass and feeding off trees…Can this be an ordinary or a reasonable doctrine?” [9].  Confucianism was a moral system for this world, not the next.  It stressed the fundamental relationships necessary for the health of the state and family as well as the mind/body of the individual. [10]  It explained the rules of the relationship between king to official, friend to friend, and father to son, as well as nation to nation.  Its goal was to harmonize society.

     The reformers who wanted a change in dynasty directly attacked the Koryo royal family and its ties to Buddhism [11].  Two of the last Koryo kings were said to have been the illegitimate children of a powerful monk.  He was described as the real power behind the throne, and it was claimed he ran the country for the benefit of himself and his Buddhist clique to the determent of the state as a whole.

     The reformers of the transitional period also attacked the wealth of institutional Buddhism. [12]  Buddhism was criticized for the opulent nature of its temples, the lavish paintings, and expensive statues made of precious metals when the nation suffered financially to the point that it was unable to defend itself against the Mongol invaders.  In contrast, Spencer Palmer notes that the architecture and decoration of Choson Confucianism are much more spartan by even the standards of other East Asian nations.  For example, Choson Korea did not memorialize Confucius through sculpture.




     The first two images above are from Silluksa Temple near Yoju. The next is the lecture hall in the Yoju Hyanggyo, and to its right is the Confucian-influenced ceremonial building at King Sejong’s tomb near Yoju.  The minimalist tendency in Choson Confucian inspired architecture is readily visible and a stark contrast to Korea’s Buddhism.  The structures of the Buddhist Temple have elaborate , colorful designs, intricate murals depicting the life of monks, and iconographic figures like the bronze statues where prayers were given.  The Confucian structures, on the other hand, are plain wood and white with no paintings or sculptures.  

     Early in Choson, a tax was levied on monks and a limit was placed on the construction of new monasteries. [13]  By 1395, some three years after the founding of the dynasty, the number of monks had dropped by 70%.  Then in 1397, a census was taken to accurately assess the amount of land, slaves, and other wealth institutional Buddhism held to prepare for later confiscations.

     Taejong (r.1401-1418), the second king, was the first Confucian educated monarch.  He passed the Civil Service Exam (CSE) in 1382.  He reinitiated attacks on Buddhism after a brief lull late in his father’s reign.  The Taejong government recognized only 242 monasteries and limited their land, slaves, and number of monks.  The rest of the monasteries and their wealth were confiscated to strengthen the state’s feeble resources.

     The number of monasteries was further reduced to 36 by King Sejong (r.1419-1450) who also cut the official number of Buddhist sects to two. [14]  Social rituals were another part of Sejong’s reforms.  He used Confucian funeral rituals codified in the Confucian classics to bury the Queen Mother in 1420.  He again followed the precepts of the Chia-li (Family Rites) when his father, Taejong, passed away.  In Sejong’s time, monks were even restricted from entering the capital city and other major towns [15].

     The pace of the systematic removal of the roots of Buddhism in Korean society varied throughout the remainder of Choson and even varied within the reign of one king like Taejo and Sejong who returned to Buddhism later in their lives and did produce some policies that favored Buddhism.  But the gradual progression away from it to a society founded on Neo-Confucianism was a trend that was never reversed.

     Some other important examples of the program to end the influence of Buddhism were King Songjong’s (r.1469-1494) abolition of the organization formed in 1462 to translate Buddhist sutras from Chinese to Korean.  King Chungjong (r.1506-1544) put an end to the national examination system for monks.  Women were also prohibited from going to temples.  Buddhist funerals and cremations were banned.  And another reform of note was giving temple lands to local hyanggyo. [16]



Controlling the Local Community

     As noted above, part of the supplanting of Buddhist ideology was attacking its base in the local communities by closing down temples and the influence of others by restricting their wealth.  John Duncan’s The Origins of the Choson Dynasty shows that the reform movement used other means to gain control of the local areas through out the kingdom.  Duncan describes three areas of emphasis in the changes in administration of local communities: ending the system of sub-units where powerful districts ruled over several others rather than the central government, giving more power to provincial officials, and placing centrally appointed officials in positions of power in the local bureaucracy.  In Koryo, if a local area had a centrally appointed official, he was usually of low rank lacking authority.  He also lacked resources necessary to administer the community.  In Koryo, they were given no standing staff of their own and had to rely on the resources of the local elite families who held the real power. [17]

     Cho Chun was the chief brain behind reorganizing the structure of the Choson state under King Taejo. He recommended appointing governors for each province of 1st and 2nd rank.  In 1390, these governors were given a permanent staff (called kyongyoksa).  They were given authority over the administrative units instead of having some local areas bypass their authority by reporting directly to officials in the capital or to local strongmen.  Again, these reforms took time to accomplish throughout the state, but of these reforms, Duncan states, “Korea now had, for the first time in its history, a genuine system of civilian provincial governorship”. [18]

     One of the main tasks of the governors was to realign the administrative divisions of the state to match a uniform pattern.  In Koryo, the units of administration represented the realities of power in the local area rather than being based on population density or size.  A powerful family in one town, and not the magistrate or governor, was the main authority in a patchwork of subordinate districts, counties, or prefects giving them control of a wide range of land wealth.  This made the late-Koryo, after the period of military rule and Mongol domination (1231-1356), a period of weak national bureaucracy where the power of the king and influential officials was often limited to the capital region.

     Over a period of many years, the reformers in Choson fought to rationalize the administrative system to create a uniform pattern with control shifting to the central authority.  They increased the number of local officials appointed by the central government until each unit from province to county had an official representative sent by the capital-based bureaucracy.

     Increasing the power of the center to reach into the local areas of the kingdom was not strictly tied to the Neo-Confucian minded reform movement.  Nor was it directly tied to the suppression of Buddhism.  King Sejo led a revolt against the trend of orienting society around Confucian values by reversing the restrictions placed on institutional Buddhism, but he also followed Taejong in promoting centralized power by reorganizing the structure of the local bureaucracy.  Whether they were Confucian or Buddhist oriented, the central authorities were successful in increasing their influence in the entire nation.  This was a defining aspect of the Choson dynasty and differed from Koryo where the capital had much less control of local elites. 



The Hyanggyo and Confucian Education

     Understanding the desire of the capital-based officials to gain influence and control of the resources of the local community is key to understanding the role of the local Confucian school – the hyanggyo.  In a manner, we can see the growth of hyanggyo in local communities as a drive to replace the Buddhist temple in the hearts and minds of the people.

     Before the Koryo-Choson transitional period, Confucian education had deep roots in Korean society since the importation of the Chinese government structure during the Three Kingdoms period in Korea.  A minimal knowledge of the bureaucratic structure, Chinese characters, and to a lesser extent the Confucian classics was necessary in the pre-Choson periods.  Some formal educational outlets were necessary to gain this knowledge, but it wasn’t until the growth of the hyanggyo system throughout the peninsula in the Koryo-Choson transitional period that the reach of Confucian doctrine extended beyond the government.

     Koguryo (37 BC – 668 AD), one of the Three Kingdoms on the pre-unified Korean peninsula, bordered China and was influenced by Confucianism early on.  According to the Samguk Sagi, one of the two main sources for information on ancient Korea, Koguryo built a Confucian college to educated the sons of nobles in the Confucian classics.  The college was called Taehak and located in Pyongyang.  Next, King Sinmun (681-692) in Silla (57 BC – 935 AD) set up a similar institution in Kyongju in 682.  The teachers were scholars who had studied in the National Confucian Academy in Tang dynasty China.  In Koryo (918-1392) a Confucian college was again reinstated in 992.  There were also private academies in different periods before Choson where the rudiments of Confucian statecraft were taught with a particular emphasis on reading and writing Chinese, but there was never a nationwide effort to establish Confucian education centers throughout the society.

     The establishment of a college to teach the basics of Chinese characters, Confucian classics, and the bureaucratic structure of China adopted by each of the Three Kingdoms and then later by Koryo promoted some level of Confucian influence, but it would be wrong to over state such influence.  Unified Silla and Koryo were definitely Buddhist oriented states.  Confucianism was important for the scholar-officials, especially when it came to foreign policy contacts with China since Confucianism was the international relations theory of East Asia at the time, but Buddhism was the thought system that had the greatest influence on the hearts and minds of the people including the royal family.  It would take the formation of Choson to change this fact.

     The first hyanggyo began appearing in late Koryo during the period of general attack on Buddhist ideology and promotion of Neo-Confucianism by some scholar-officials.  We have already noted An Hyang’s attempt to reestablish a Confucian university in the capital and his other activities to promote Neo-Confucianism, and he was just one member of a social trend toward Confucian reform in late Koryo.  Since Buddhism was attacked for destroying the bonds between individual and greater society, it was natural the Confucian-oriented elites would try to propagate their own system of ethics.  The early hyanggyo were part of this project.  They were set up by wealthy local families or a local-based scholar-official as a place to educate the youth using the Confucian classics.

     After the founding of the Choson dynasty, as noted above, the central government and powerful Confucian scholar-officials systematized the growth of hyanggyo by making it state policy to have one school in each county including far away Cheju-do. [19]  The educational system itself was layered.  The pinnacle of study was at the National Confucian Academy (Songgyungwan).  In the capital there were also four Confucian colleges and one in each of the eight provinces.  Next came the local level hyanggyo as state supported secondary schools along with private primary schools (sodang).



An Introduction to the Hyanggyo Structures

     There is some variation in the layout of hyanggyo throughout Korea.  The variation is due to several factors – regional stylistic differences, population density, wealth of the local community, and connection to a former famous Confucian scholar are just a few.  Another source of deviation from an “ideal” hyanggyo comes from the many restorations individual schools have gone through over the centuries.  Virtually all the schools visited or promoted on the internet were destroyed during the Hideyoshi invasions in the late-16th century.  Others were destroyed or damaged in later wars.  All have been through extensive restorations over time, and it is unclear how faithful the restorations were to the original.

     The remainder of this paper will examine hyanggyo located in different regions of Korea.  It will show the variations possible and the two key mandatory structures found at every school:  the lecture hall and the Confucian shrine.  It is easy to understand why a school complex would need a classroom structure, but the necessity of a shrine to Confucius is a very important aspect of Confucian education in the local community.  We will start with an examination of it to note the spiritual aspect of Confucianism in traditional East Asian society that is often lost in post-modern academic studies.



The Confucian Shrine

     In many of the pre-Choson hyanggyo, the school portion of the complex grew around a pre-existing shrine, and later in the Choson dynasty, after the Hideyoshi (1592 and 1597) and Manchu (1627) invasions had destroyed much of the public administrative buildings in the nation, the shrines were rebuilt before (sometimes years before) the lecture hall and other structures.

     In the poem by An Hyang above, it is the shrine to Confucius that needs more respect from the local community.  It is obvious the shrine held the greatest importance in the minds of the leaders who established the schools.  In building the shrine, it was hoped venerating the Sage would encourage local people to respect the precepts of Confucianism which would in turn improve the health of the community and state.  The shrines were set up by local scholar elites or scholar-officials serving in the local government. 

     Another reason for beginning our investigation of the hyanggyo with the shrine is the need to understand the spiritual nature of Confucianism that is often lost in modern scholarship.  The shrines were part of the “cult of Confucius” Spencer Palmer describes in his study of the National Confucian Academy and the rituals that were performed their annually to pay homage to the spirit of Confucius and other famous Confucian scholars, and Palmer also stresses the lack of understanding of this aspect of traditional Korean and East Asian society in modern academia.  The historian, like Son Po-Ki, looking at traditional education emphasizes the socio-political nature of Confucianism – how a certain path of examinations was necessary to gain positions of power in Choson society or how the ideology was used as a tool to curb the power of the king and court. [20]

     At the same time, professors in the philosophy department examine the intricacies of the ethical principles of the ideology while neglecting the spiritual aspects it certainly contained in pre-modern East Asian society.  This is a trend of the post-modern world.  Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism are examined detached from any socio-religious hold they might have had on East Asian communities. [21]  This paper begins its look at the structure of the hyanggyo with the Confucian shrine to show that spirituality was an important component of Confucian education.  It gave the ethical system developed in the classics and systematized in Neo-Confucianism more power in Korean society by offering a viable alternative to Buddhism that had held sway for many centuries.

     The spiritual importance of the shrine area is easily visible in the structure of the “sinro” (soul road).  This is a narrow stone tiled path aligned with the center of the shrine which is often marked by the middle door of a three bay building.



     The images above are of the shrine at the Wonju Hyanggyo.  The original school is said to date to the reign of King Kongmin (1352-1374) in Koryo and was expanded in 1402 in the reign of Taejong (1401-1418), but the present structures are based on reconstruction done after the mid-16th century war with Japan.  The shrine was rebuilt in 1603 during the reign of King Sonjo (1567-1608), but the lecture hall came a few years later in 1609.  This shows the importance the shrine for the local community.  Hyanggyo were educational institutions, but the lecture hall for teaching classes was deemed less important in reconstruction than the shrine to Confucius. 

     In the photo above on the left, the sinro or spirit path is visible to the right center.  It is a simple, narrow gray stone layered narrow path.  It is aligned symmetrically with the most important items of the shrine – the spirit tablet of Confucius (wipae) and his portrait shown in the picture on the right.  The tablet is simple.  It is made of white-surfaced chestnut wood with India ink lettering standing two feet six and a half inches.  It is protected by a simple black lacquered wooden case set on a similarly non-decorative table.  On the ceremonial day in spring and autumn, it was believed the actual spirit of Confucius would inhabit the tablet in order to receive the sacrifices offered. [22]  Such beliefs were part of the “Cult of Confucius” that was a significant part of Confucianism as practiced in East Asia.

     Another insight into the spiritual nature of Confucianism in traditional Korean society can be seen in the portrait of Confucius.  As noted above, An Hyang sent to China to collect the portrait and Confucian texts in 1304.  Like the use of the image of Christ in the iconographic past of Christianity and continuing in Eastern Orthodoxy, the image of Confucius is almost always exactly the same from shrine to shrine. [23]  Not deviating from the image of Confucius shows a greater sense of veneration.  In China and other nations influenced by Confucianism, the image of Confucius is not always the same. [24]  Chinese architectural design also incorporates wall murals depicting scenes from the life of Confucius which are not found in Korea.  In Korea, the emphasis is on simplicity, and this is likely tied to the attacks on Buddhism as overly extravagant and wasting wealth to the detriment of the community.



     The portrait, when present in a shrine, always hangs above the spirit tablet of Confucius, and both tablet and image are looking out the center door of the shrine and peer down the “spirit path” which is ideally aligned down the center of the entire hyanggyo complex whose axis runs from north to south.

     The spirit path is also found at the National Confucian Academy in Seoul, but there is no portrait of Confucius. [25]  Instead, the tablet the spirit of Confucius is believed to inhabit on ceremonial occasions is seated on a large black throne.



     The spirit path itself is shown great deference.  People are prohibited from walking on it.  The spirit tablets and portrait of Confucius are also given much respect.  They are rarely uncovered except for the day of the ritual. [26]

     In the images below from the Wonju Hyanggyo, you get a closer look at the shrine layout where other famous scholars are celebrated along side the Sage.

     Near the center of the room at the left and right hand sides of the tablet of Confucius are arranged the spirit tables of the four main students of Confucius himself: Yen Tzu, Tseng Tzu, Tsu Ssu, and Meng Tzu (Mencius).  For each tablet, the black lacquered wooden case rests on identical black chairs with a black lacquered bench in front for placing the ritual vessels containing food, wine, and burning incense.  The image on the right is a closer look.  The design and placement of these furnishings of the shrine are identical in others in Korea.  The only exception are the Chinese character lettering in white found on the cases at some shrines.

     Against the east and west walls of the shrine flanking the tablet of Confucius are located tablets of lesser known Chinese and Korean Confucian scholars.  In the National Academy the spirit tablets of the lesser sages were the ten philosophers who were praised by Confucius, six sages of the Sung dynasty in China who founded Neo-Confucianism, and 18 Korean sages.  At different times, some or all of the Korean tablets were removed or added to the shrine in the capital and in local hyanggyo depending on the political winds of the time.  All shrines in Korea did not contain tablets of Korean scholars in the main shrine.  Some had supplementary shrines to the left and/or right flanking the main shrine.

     These buildings are called Tongmu and Somu.  They are standard at most hyanggyo, but they are not always used as auxiliary shrines.  Sometimes they store ritual vessels and other implements necessary for the ceremonial offering.  Whether more than the basic scholar-sages are venerated at a particular hyanggyo seems to depend on the importance of the local area.  More populous and wealthy communities like that in Wonju had the resources to honor more of the famous Confucian figures. [27]

     A list of the typical Korean  scholar-officials included in the main and secondary shrines are Sol Chong and Choe Chi-Won (857-?) of the Silla dynasty, An Hyang (1243-1306), Chong Mong-ju (1337-1392 the founder of Neo-Confucianism in Korea), Kim Koeng-pil (1454-1504), Chong Yo-Chang (1450-1502), Cho Kwang-Jo (1482-1519), Yi On-Jok 1491-1553), Yi Hwang (1501-1570 - one of the two most widely known Korean Confucian scholars who took part in the famous 4-7 debates), Kim In-Hu (1510-1560), Yi I (1536-1584 - the second of the two central Korean scholars who also took part in the 4-7 debates), Song Hon (1535-1598), Kim Chang-Saeng (1648-1631), Chon Hon, Kim Chip, Song Si-Yol (1607-1689), Song Chun-Gil (1606-1672), and Pak Se-Chae (1631-1695).



Wonju Hyanggyo and the Typical School Design

     Many of these Korean scholars have their memorial tablets in the main shrine at the Wonju Hyanggyo.  Wonju has been an important town throughout the history of Korea.  It traces its roots back to the ancient Mahan tribal league in 3 B.C.  In 487 A.D., Pyongwon-gun, a town where present Wonju is situated, was established in the 55th year of King Changsu’s reign in the Koguryo dynasty – one of the three kingdoms occupying the Korean peninsula.  During the Unified Shilla period, Wonju was named one of the five sub-capitals in 678 by King Munmu.  In 1395, early in Choson, King Taejo named it the provincial capital of Kangwando.  It remained so until 1896 when the administration moved to Chuncheon.

     Several well-known Confucianists were connected with Wonju.  Won Chon-Sok (1330-?) – pen named Ungok – taught the future King Taejong, but he refused government posts in favor of private study.  Won Ho (1397-1463) – pen named Kwaran – worked in Chiphyon-chon, a traditional think-tank established by King Sejong.  He was among the “Six living loyal subjects” who chose retirement when King Tanjong was dethroned and sent into exile in late Koryo.  Won Ho was known as a practical man of nature who taught the principle “farming comes first”.    Han Baek – pen named Gyom – was a forerunner of the Silhak (practical science) school of Confucianism in Choson.  He eventually became the mayor of Paju, an important city to the north of Seoul.

     The hyanggyo in Wonju is the only still functioning traditional Confucian school I have found.  Like many other social institutions of the time, the hyanggyo complex was destroyed during the Japanese invasions of the late-16th century, and as noted above the first structure rebuilt was the Confucian shrine.  Other buildings were rebuilt and renovated several times over the centuries.  Today, the Wonju complex can be used as the prototypical design of the hyanggyo, because it contains all the typical structures that are sometimes missing at other schools in more remote areas.

     The Confucian shrine (Taesongjon) and flanking Tongmu and Somu are the three structures of a full shrine area of a hyanggyo complex.  The shrine area is most often separated from the school grounds by a low stone wall.  Another common feature is the open air gate that announces the initial approach to the hyanggyo grounds.  The gate is not limited to Confucian schools and seems to announce the need for reverence when passing through it.


     The first image is found at Wonju Hyanggyo.  It is almost identical to those at all the other hyanggyo visited for this paper or located on the internet.  The middle image is much smaller gate of the Chejong Well at the Chongmyo shrine in Seoul where Choson kings held ceremonies to honor their descendents. [28]  The image on the right is the open air gate at King Sejong’s tomb near Yoju. [29]  The two pictures in the next row are the main three door gate to the hyanggyo complex in Inchon and the row of arrows across its inner brace.  According to the sign post at Sejong’s tomb, the arrows symbolize the power of Confucian law.  It is significant that the arrows are also found at hyanggyo.  They are local institutions in the Confucian-centered Choson dynasty where Confucian ideology was taught throughout the country.  It shows the connection between the education and the authority of the state. 

     The Wonju Hyanggyo is a good example of the ideal school complex due to the symmetry of the compound layout, and it is an important aspect to consider when thinking about the intended influence on members of the local community.  Whether you examine Kyongbuk Palace, or the royal tomb of King Sejong, or even a Buddhist temple compound, it is easy to see the importance symmetry had in traditional Korean society and in greater East Asia.  This is not only an aspect of Asian culture, but the importance of symmetry to express greatness or spirituality is found in the architecture in traditional communities around the world.

     The gate below is typical of all hyanggyo.  This three door gate separates the shrine grounds from that of the lecture hall which is visible in the background.



     The gate is very similar to the front gate of the whole hyanggyo complex.  The middle door is slightly raised above others for a reason.  It is the entry way the spirits take on the day of the ceremony.  The door is closed except for the day of the ritual. [30]

     As already noted, the spirit path runs through the middle door and through the center of the lecture hall and through the middle door of the main gate.


     The image on the left is the middle door of the shrine gate, and the middle image shows the lecture hall with the narrow spirit path visible in the center, and the right image is the main gate to the hyanggyo compound.  In the hyanggyo compound, the shrine occupies a higher position than the other structures.  Usually, the compound is set on the natural slope of a hill or, as in the case in Wonju and Inchon, it sits on a man-made elevated plateau.  The layout gives the impression of the portrait of Confucius looking out of the shrine to the students in the school and then out into the local community beyond.

     The buildings are both functional and symbolic due to their layout and the added symbols such as the classic emblem for yin and yang found on the doors of the gate, the arrows representing Confucian law, or the image of a dragon sometimes found on the roof lines.  The careful spatial layout enhances the purpose of the shrine.  It gives the student and members of the surrounding community a sense of reverence for Confucius and Confucianism.



Yoju Hyanggyo – the Hyanggyo in Smaller Communities

     Not all local communities had the opportunity to spend such effort in the layout of their school compound or could afford to include all the structures of the ideal hyanggyo.



     The image above is the hyanggyo located on the outskirts of Yoju. Yoju is a small city well known for having produced seven queens in the Choson dynasty.  Yoju is located in the southeast of Kyunggi Province about a hour drive from Seoul.  In the surrounding area are located the tombs of King Hyonjong (1619-1659), King Sejong (r.1418-1450), Silluksa Temple, and other historical attractions.

     The Yoju Hyanggyo was originally built in the late 1300s on a hill known for nut trees, but it was moved due to frequent outbreaks of disease.  Korean society at the time believed in geomancy and the spiritual energy flowing in nature.  The hyanggyo was moved, because the recurrent health problems were thought to belie the metaphysical weakness of the first location.  This highlights the importance of spirituality in Choson society.  Geomancy, Buddhism, and shamanism were three important components of traditional Korean society, and modern academia has well understood the spiritual/religious nature of those thought systems.  The same should be true of Confucianism in pre-modern Asia. 

     The Yoju Hyanggyo complex does not have the ideal layout like the school in Wonju, but it is larger than others.  One noticeable element missing is the sinro or spirit path set in stone.  The compound does have the common symmetry with the central door of the front gate [31] of the compound aligned with the middle door of the gate to the shrine  area [32] which is aligned with the central door of the shrine [33] and the memorial table of Confucius.  All of this runs along the central north-south axis of the compound which is surrounded by the common stone wall.

     The Yoju lecture hall is very different from the one in Wonju.  It is similar to one of the designs of traditional Korean homes with a characteristic block letter C shape.

     Its color scheme is a simple white with brown wood and the typical black tiled roof.  In Wonju, the buildings of the shrine area and the lecture hall structures are much more colorful using the hot and cold hues found elsewhere in Korea particularly at Buddhist temples.  The difference in color pattern could be a result in regional tastes.  Another factor could be the period of construction and restoration.  Some hyanggyo predate the Choson by a couple of decades while others were not built until well after the 1392 founding of the dynasty.  Also, as noted above, most of the hyanggyo were destroyed in the wars with Japan in the late-16th century or the Manchu invasions or again during the Korean War.  Schools located in more remote areas were not rebuilt until much later than the hyanggyo in more populous or wealthy areas.  It is difficult to know how true to the original structure the restoration achieved.  

     Another key difference from the Wonju Hyanggyo is that the lecture hall in Yoju is not flanked by the two dormitories (Tongjae-Sojae or East-West).  The dorms in Wonju are shown below.


     These dormitories were built by communities that could afford them to house students from the local area.  The Choson government often provided land grants and slaves, sometimes confiscated from Buddhist temples, to local hyanggyo to maintain the students and teachers.

     Dormitories are also found at the National Confucian Academy (NCA) (Songgyungwan) in Seoul.



     The dorms at the NCA have twenty-eight rooms each.  The first two rooms of each building housed students who had not passed the first degree of the civil service exam while the remaining rooms were for those who had. [34]  At a large hyanggyo like the one in Wonju, the dorms also segregated students based on age and success in the preliminary examinations.

     The Yoju Hyanggyo does have a shrine area separated by a low stone wall.  The Tongmu and Somu (east & west) auxiliary shrines are found in the usual positions.

     The image on the left shows the view of the shrine gate from the corner of the lecture hall, and the image on the right is of the Confucian and east shrine.  The color scheme of the shrine and east shrine is much more vibrant than the plain white and brown wood of the lecture hall.  This would have added to the sense of dignity and reverence for the shrine.  At some of the hyanggyo visited for this paper, the shrine area was locked and not open to the public until the day of the ceremony in spring and autumn.

     As with most hyanggyo, the Yoju shrine is placed in a position of honor higher on a hill than the other structures.  The same care was used in aligning the structures along the vertical axis of the compound.  The lecture hall is located immediately after the main gate with the Confucian shrine furthest back.  This is the same sequence at all hyanggyo visited or located on the internet, but oddly enough, it is opposite that of the National Confucian Academy in Seoul.



     It is unclear why the layout of the Confucian school in the local areas would have the opposite design of the national academy.  In his study of the NCA, Palmer states “the buildings are arranged in the same pattern as the many local Confucian schools (hyanggyo)” but this is obviously not the case.

     The second appendix of this paper shows the structures and layout of the hyanggyo visited.  There are some minor differences in architectural design or color scheme used to decorate the structures, and some of the schools have more or less of the standard buildings of the ideal hyanggyo (arrow gate, main gate, lecture hall, east & west dormitories, shrine gate, main shrine, and east & west auxiliary shrines).  Wonju was the most complete school visited while the Yoju Hyanggyo was somewhere in the middle.



Hyanggyo Variations   

     The two images below are from Yean Hyanggyo near Andong which is an area famous for its continued respect for Korea’s traditional culture particularly the Confucianism of Choson.  The school appears to have first been established in early Choson, but the present structures date back to 1601.  This hyanggyo is a short distance from a sowon established by the famous Choson philosopher Yi Hwang, and it shares a somewhat similar design.  Like many other schools, it was originally located in another nearby location, but due to the needs of modern Korea, it was moved.  In this case, it was relocated to make way for a man-made lake it currently borders an hour drive from Andong and at the edge of small town.


     The first image shows the shrine area gate.  Notice it is off center to the lecture hall visible on the left side of the photo.  The second image is a view from the west of the entire hyanggyo complex.  The complex is unusual compared to the other schools visited in that it contains a connected area separated by a low stone wall where the caretaker family of the hyanggyo lived.  This is similar to Yi Hwang’s sowon which is a short 5 minute or less drive from the hyanggyo.  In both, two complete compounds with several buildings each are side by side – the structures in the complex for the family that takes care of the hyanggyo comprises buildings for storage, cooking, and living space.  There are no Tongjae-Sojae dormitories nor are there Tongmu-Somu auxiliary buildings in the shrine area of the hyanggyo.  (At the sowon, a portrait of Yi Hwang takes the place of Confucius.  This is the same as most sowon which were centered around the person of a famous Korean Confucian scholar – often someone from the region).  On the day the Yean Hyanggyo was visited, it was under extensive restoration which shows a necessary commitment by the government to preserve the school.  Most hyanggyo have been recognized as local, regional, and/or national treasures.

     The images below are from Joksong Hyanggyo near Paju in north Kyunggi Province.  It is unclear from the information available at the school or in the literature obtained at Paju city hall when the school was first established, but the present structures date from the early 1970s.


     Joksong has only two structures – the lecture hall (left and center images) and the main shrine (right photo background) where the spirit tablet of Confucius is honored.  As usual, the shrine sits slightly higher than the lecture hall and its center is aligned with the vertical axis of the compound running through the middle of the lecture hall, down the stone stairway,  and out the middle door of the main gate.

     Although Joksong is not spectacular when compared to the National Confucian Academy or the many luxurious Buddhist temples that draw foreign tourists and local Koreans, the very minimal nature of this small hyanggyo points to the reason it needs to be studied.  The school is located in a still remote area about a one hour drive north of Paju very close to the DMZ.  There are few homes or other buildings around the school for several kilometers.  The hyanggyo grounds are not well kept, and there was nobody available to open the main gate. [35]  It is unlikely the school sees many visitors except on the two days a year ceremonial rites are held, and even then, it is likely that the visitors are limited to the local civic organization that is dedicated to keeping the Confucian tradition alive.  (Spencer Palmer notes significantly that in traditional Korea, the Confucian ceremonies were limited by statute to a select few scholars and elite families – again pointing to the feeling of the sacred nature of the rites held in Choson society). 

     However, if a school like Joksong is located in such a remote area, where the urban sprawl of modern Korea has yet to reach, it highlights the importance scholar-officials in early Choson put in making sure each local district throughout the nation was touched by Neo-Confucian education.  It shows the commitment to bringing Confucian ideology to even remote areas throughout the society.  For that reason alone, much more attention should be given to the study of local Confucian education in Choson, but knowledge of them is slipping away.

     As noted earlier, the Wonju Hyanggyo still functions as a school for Chinese characters and study of the Confucian classics.  But, in a year and a half of teaching adults in Wonju, none of my students mentioned the school.  This is true despite the fact that one of the most frequent topics of conversation in class was traditional Korea and tourist attractions.  Everyone mentioned the Buddhist temple at Mt. Chiak which many local residents would visit several weekends out of the year as part of the hobby of mountain hiking popular in Korea, but even my wife, who lived most of her life in Wonju, was surprised to discover the hyanggyo when we returned to Korea to research this paper.

 
Conclusion

     As noted above, the Neo-Confucian reform movement and the hyanggyo were challenged in the first era of the Choson dynasty.  King Sejo fought to bring much more power into the hands of the royal family and court.  He attacked the Confucian-oriented scholar officials and favored a return to Buddhism.  The four literati purges and tyrannical rule of Yongsangun followed providing a significant set back to the Neo-Confucian reformation of Korean society.  Hundreds of scholar-officials were killed or retired from government and left the capital.  The state supported hyanggyo also suffered, and many went abandoned for a period of time.

     The fact that many local area hyanggyo still remain today demonstrates that the Confucian reform movement was resilient.  Eventually, the Confucian-oriented scholar elites reestablished the hyanggyo system in the mid-16th century.  The second period of Confucian education in the local communities also saw the rise of the Sowon or private secondary schools that were created to fill the void during the period of relative decline in hyanggyo due to the temporary loss of government sponsorship.  The sowon continued to flourish even after the return of the hyanggyo, and eventually they too received some recognition by the Choson government.

     Historians must give more attention to the Confucian educational system in the local communities in Choson.  Frequent mention is made today about the Confucian roots of Korean society that are still visible, but little attention is given to how those roots were nurtured.  This paper is limited in scope due to the amount of source material available in English, but it should point toward a fruitful area for future study.  The local hyanggyo supplied both a spiritual need left after the suppression of Buddhism and helped in that suppression, and it set the foundation for the continual propagation of Confucian doctrine much like the temple had done for institutional Buddhism.  What is needed in the future is a systematic study of more of the hyanggyo that can still be found in remote and urban areas as well as the historical documentation in Korean and Chinese language sources that will likely be found in the organizations that maintain the tradition of the spring and autumn rites to honor the spirit of Confucius and other famous Chinese and Korean scholars. 


Notes

 [1] Yong-Ho Choe, The civil examinations and the social structure in early Yi dynasty Korea, 1392-1600 (Seoul Korea : Koreans Research Center, 1987).
[2] Sowon began to appear in the mid-16th century after the upheavals of the literati purges when the hyanggyo system went into decline.  Sowon were private schools for students similar to those who attended the hyanggyo, and they were set up by local scholar officials who retired to the country side.  Eventually, the sowon became a rival to the hyanggyo system and a source of factional political fighting as social and ideological cliques formed around them.
[3] John Duncan, The Origins of the Choson Dynasty (Seattle:  University of Washington Press, 2000).
[4] The spelling of Son’s name on the book is Sohn Pokee, Social History of the Early Choson Dynasty (Seoul: Jisik-sanup Publications Co. Ltd., 2000).
[5] Martina Deuchler and others have noted the importance of ritual and propriety in the changes in Choson dynasty society.  See Martina Deuchler, "Neo-Confucianism in Early Yi Korea: Some Reflections on the Role of Ye" Korea Journal 15:5 (May 1975): 12-18, and "Rites in Early Choson Korea." In Kim Yonggi, Ed. Sejong taewang: 15 segi Hanguk ui pich (Seoul: Shingu munhwasa, 1998), and Young-Chan Ro, The Korean Neo-Confucianism of Yi Yulgok  (Albany, NY: State Univ. of New York Press, 1989).
[6] Hugh Dyson Walker, “The Yi-Ming Rapprochement: Sino-Korean Foreign Relations, 1392-1592” (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1971), 22-23.
[7] The two most famous Choson Neo-Confucian theorists (Yi I and Yi Hwang) both wrote community compacts.  Yi I designed a civic group like organization where membership was voluntary and could be dropped, while Yi Hwang saw the compact as having jurisdiction over the entire community and led by  ethically superior men with a probable emphasis that these men would come from long standing elite families.
[8] Spencer J. Palmer, Confucian Rituals in Korea (Seoul: Asian Humanities Press, Berkeley, 1984) 18.
[9] Warren William Smith, Jr., “The Rise of the Sowon: Literary Academies in Sixteenth Century Korea,” (diss. publication location and date unknown), 15.
[10] Hugh Walker’s dissertation noted above explains how the tenets of Neo-Confucian philosophy were designed to guide East Asian international relations but were also used to guide the individual.  It was viewed as an all encompassing thought system.
[11] Smith 16.
[12] Ibid 18.
[13] Kee-Jong Kwon, “Buddhism Undergoes Hardships: Buddhism in the Choson Dynasty” in The History and Culture of Buddhism in Korea, ed. The Korean Buddhist Research Institute (Seoul: Dongguk Univ. Press, 1993).
[14] Ibid 20.
[15] Ibid 172.
[16] Ibid 178.
[17] Duncan  214.
[18] Ibid 214.
[19] Walker 190-191.
[20] Son’s book cited above specifically examines Confucian education of the crown prince as part of curbing the power of the royal court.
[21] Roger Ames has argued that translation of Confucian classics should reframe from translating the term Tien which is usually known as “heaven.”  Ames believes modern scholars have distorted the interpretation of Confucianism in traditional Chinese society by importing Western religious sensibilities.  He believes Confucianism was always an ethical system firmly set in this world without reference to mystical or spiritual aspects common to religion.  In other words, he seeks to demystify Confucianism by making it resemble something like a post-modern thought system.
[22] See illustration 1 for the layout and material offered in the ceremony.
[23] Image 1 of the appendix is of the portrait hanging in the shrine at the Inchon Hyanggyo.
[24] Appendix images 2 and 3 are from Spencer Palmer’s book on Confucian rituals in Korea and represent the view of Confucius found in other areas of Asia.
[25] Palmer states that during Choson a portrait of Confucius and of his disciples were found in the shrine, but he gives no dates.
[26] In Wonju, I was lucky to have met the current head of the hyanggyo who opened the shrine, Confucian tablet, and portrait for me, however, when I came back another day to take video of it, he would not uncover them a second time.  This shows the reverence and spiritual nature of Confucianism still held by some.
[27] Appendix images 3 & 4 are the Tongmu and Somu at the Wonju Hyanggyo.
[28] Appendix image 5 shows the spirit path at Chongmyo the souls of previous kings was thought to travel on ceremonial days.
[29] In traditional times at the Sejong tomb complex, only specified members of the royal family and personnel who set up the ritual vessels for the sacrifice and took care of the buildings and grounds were allowed past the arrow gate.  The tomb itself sits on a steep hill a good distance from the gate, and the tomb is loosely aligned with its center as if Sejong continued to look out through it at the world. 
[30] Appendix image 6 shows a larger gate with the same function at Chongmyo shrine in Seoul where the ancestors of the Choson kings were honored.
[31] Appendix image 7.
[32] Appendix image 8.
[33] Appendix image 9.
[34] Spencer J. Palmer.  Confucian Rituals in Korea.  Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1984.
[35] In fact, most of the hyanggyo I visited, even in a city the size of Paju or Yoju, the hyanggyo were padlocked with nobody to open the gates.  It seems even hyanggyo located in urban areas draw few visitors.



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