Seowon

History

Seowons first appeared in Korea in the early Joseon Dynasty, whose establishment were driven mainly by the Sarim Neo-Confucian scholars. While the exact year of seowon introduction in Korea is not known for certain, in 1418 King Sejong issued rewards to two scholars for their work in setting up seowons in Gimje and Gwangju. The first seowon to receive a royal charter was the Sosu Seowon in Punggi, presided over by Toegye, which was given a hanging board by King Myeongjong in 1550. While historian Michael Shin mentions that the earliest seowon was established in North Gyeongsang by Ju Sebung (1495–1554).

Large numbers of seowons were established by leading seonbi (literati), or by local groups of yangban families. Some of the Sarim scholars who retired to villages in the wake of literati purges of the 16th century used the seowons as their political bases.

They were modeled after early private Chinese academies of classical learning shuyuan. The latter originated in the 8th century under the Tang dynasty, and were later dismantled under the Yuan dynasty to become preparatory schools for the imperial examinations under government control.

Most seowon were closed by an edict of the regent Daewon-gun in the turbulent final years of the 19th century. He banned the unauthorized construction of seowons in 1864, and removed their tax exemption in 1868; finally, in 1871, he ordered all but a handful closed. The provincial yangban were outraged by these measures, and this is among the reasons that Daewon-gun was driven from power in 1873; however, the seowon remained closed.