Byeongsan Seowon

The history of Byeongsan Seowon began when Yu Sŏngnyong moved to Andong in 1372 from Pungak Seodang, a Confucian school established during the Goryeo period. After Yu Sŏngnyong died in 1607, local Confucianists such as Jeong Gyeong-se founded Jondeok Temple in 1613 and enshrined an ancestral tablet to commemorate his academic work and virtues. The temple was renamed Byeongsan Seowon in 1614. In 1620, following a public discussion among Confucianists, the ancestral tablet was moved to Yeogang Seowon, a memorial Seowon for Toegye. In 1629 new ancestral tablets to worship Yu Sŏngnyong and his third son Yu Chin were made. Byeongsan Seowon served as a branch of local education to produce many scholars. In 1868, Heungseon Daewongun ordered to remove it, but it was not damaged. The auditorium was rebuilt in 1921 under Japanese rule. Hyangsarye, a memorial ceremony for Yu Sŏngnyong and Yu Chin, is held here every March and September. It is designated as Historic Site No. 260 and contains about 3,000 books of about 1,000 different types, including a collection of books by Yu Sŏngnyong. The complex was also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019. In 2025, the Korean Broadcasting System apologized after its staff hammered five nails into the complex's Mandaeru Pavilion to hang lanterns as part of shooting the drama The First Night with the Duke. ==See also==