Byeongsan Seowon offers relaxation for the body and soul in Andong

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang — Even 400 years ago, there were hagwon in Korea. Granted, these pre-modern "cram schools" were less about test scores and more about the Literati studying ways to become an ideal being.

Staff donning hanbok (traditional Korean dress) greet guests coming to spend the night at Byeongsan Seowon in Andong, North Gyeongsang. [CHA]

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang — Even 400 years ago, there were hagwon in Korea.

Granted, these pre-modern "cram schools" were less about test scores and more about the Literati studying ways to become an ideal being, following the philosophical teachings of Mencius and Confucius.

Sitting atop a hill overlooking the sandy banks of the Nakdong River and Mount Byeong, the Neo-Confucian academy Byeongsan Seowon, founded in 1575, is a charming, picture-perfect establishment in Andong, North Gyeongsang.

Crape myrtle trees with bright magenta flowers line the trail to the seowon, or the academy, during the summer. Through three doors of the main gate is a cozy compound, some 6.7 acres in area.

Aerial view of Byeongsan Seowon [CHA]

It is divided into 15 sections including a main study hall, a pavilion, student dormitories and a shrine. Unesco named it a World Heritage Site in 2019.

The seowon is just some 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away from Hahoe Folk Village, also a Unesco Heritage, but being inside the academy feels like being ensconced in a bubble, conducive to the studious atmosphere the seowon would have had in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

The main study hall of Byeongsan Seowon in Andong, North Gyeongsang [LEE JIAN]

Seeing the picturesque sights of the seowon's petite courtyard through the open, square windows is like looking at framed landscape paintings. The panoramic vista of the open nature through the seven pillars of the seowon’s pavilion, Mandaeru, resembles a beautiful byeongpung, or folding screen.

Called chagyeong, or borrowed scenery, Byeongsan Seowon's connection with nature embodies the quintessentially Korean architectural concept. Important structures, including the former presidential compound in Seoul, the Blue House, were designed with the intention to best utilize the surrounding scenery.

Every season and even time of day thus beckons a new ambience at the seowon, as if the light-wooden buildings don a new outfit with each tick of the clock.

Panoramic view through the seven pillars of mandaeru, the pavilion at Byeongsan Seowon [CHA]

Byeongsan Seowon in this way is widely regarded as the “epitome” of Korean traditional architecture.

Maybe the philosophical teachings of Confucius and Mencius weren’t as dull as some presume.

Time, however, hasn’t changed Byeongsan Seowon itself much. Most of the compound is still well preserved, from the 409-year-old bamboo mats inside Jondeoksa to the 104-year-old mugunghwa, also known as the Korean rose or rose of Sharon, in the courtyard.

Byeongsan Seowon is one of just a handful of seowon that survived the tumultuous history of Joseon, including multiple kings’ orders to shut them down because they felt seowon threatened their rule and the Japanese invasions of Korea throughout the 1590s.

It actually gained the name Byeongsan later, in 1616, after Jondeoksa shrine was erected to commemorate civil official and scholar Ryu Seong-ryong (1542-1607). Ryu is an iconic figure of the dynasty who penned “Jingbirok: The Book of Corrections” (1604). He is also an Andong native who recommended the current location of Byeongsan Seowon to a group of dedicated scholars looking to move their academy to a quieter location.

Jondeoksa shrine at Byeongsan Seowon [LEE JIAN]

Keeping the historic site alive in the 21st century is the visitors, Ryu Han-wook, a descendent of Ryu Seong-ryong, told reporters Sept. 1. He played a pivotal role in getting Byeongsan Seowon its Unesco heritage status.

“The seowon can live on when people sweep the gathering dust with their feet,” he said. “Preserving doesn’t mean that it has to be behind a glass case. Rather, the seowon needs to serve a purpose for many people and be put to use in order for it to continue existing.”

Byeongsan Seowon admission is free, open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (and only until 5 p.m. for the winter).

The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) this month is further opening the seowon to the public with an overnight stay program, starting Friday.

Guests of the Byeongsan Seowon stay program eat dinner at the seowon on Sept. 1. [CHA]

Tickets for the four slots that went on sale late last month (for 20,000 won or $15) sold out in a matter of minutes, according to CHA officials. It plans to expand the program next year to include more dates, likely in May and September, and provide English translation services so that foreigners also can enjoy the experience.

The theme of this month’s stay is emptying and filling.

Guests start the stay by paying respects at Jondeoksa shrine, where the spirit tablet of Ryu Seong-ryong and his third son and Ryu Jin (1582-1635) are kept.

Guests of the Byeongsan Seowon pay their respects in front of the Jondeoksa shrine upon entering the seowon, on Sept. 1. [CHA]

Two meals and a dessert are provided throughout the stay at Gojigsa, the seowon’s food preparation hall and custodians’ living quarters. Chef Kim Dong-ki, champion of IKA Culinary Olympics and Bocuse d'Or, prepares abalone bibimbap with soy sauce instead of gochujang according to the Andong style, boiled octopus, beef radish soup with small octopus, bossam (steamed pork) and nabak kimchi for dinner and three types of vegetable porridge, dried pollack flakes, pork jangjorim (soy-braised pork) and cucumber jangajji (pickles) for breakfast.

“The meals are a modern take on yangban Confucian scholars' cuisine, designed with both foreigners’ and locals’ palates in mind,” Kim said.

Dinner, including the main dish abalone bibimbap, is served during the Byeongsan Seowon stay. [CHA]

There are four rooms with heating and air conditioning. Males and females are assigned separate rooms.

Once the seowon’s public viewing concludes, guests can comfortably relish the seowon's sunset, followed by the star-speckled night sky and hoots of the oriental scops owl.

They can also freely roam the compound, including a few buildings that are normally off-limits during daytime.

“We don’t allow regular visitors inside some parts of the seowon, like Mandaeru, because of security reasons, but we are opening these areas up for the overnight guests to offer a more special, memorable experience,” a CHA official told the press.

A room where guests spend the night during their Byeongsan Seowon stay [CHA]

Ryu Han-wook, who will be with the guests throughout the stay, also gives a brief lecture in the evening, though it will not be heavily focusing on Neo-Confucianism.

“If we continue to teach Neo-Confucianism like in the past, nobody will come,” he said, “which is why we try to focus on sharing the seowon’s history and meaning.”

Neo-Confucianism, which used to be central to Korean culture, is increasingly becoming unpopular, especially among the more liberal younger generation.

Yu Han-wook talks to the local press at the pavilion of Byeongsan Seowon. He played a pivotal role in getting Byeongsan Seowon its Unesco heritage status.[CHA]

The most important lesson that Ryu Han-wook wanted people to learn when they visited Byeongsan Seowon was very simple yet very difficult: how to be a good person.

But perhaps it is the unrelenting effort that matters the most.

As a poem by the renowned Ryu Seong-ryong goes, “Think only of good works with all your strength and do only good works with all your strength.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]