The respected Comrade
"A valuable legacy created by our ancestors through their struggle and creative activities, historical sites and relics are an asset of the nation that should be handed down from one generation to the next."
Among the precious national cultural heritages associated with the wisdom and talents of the Korean nation is the Sungyang Confucian School built in Kaesong.
The Sungyang Confucian School situated in Sonjuk-dong, Kaesong City, was a local private educational institution in the period of the Korean feudal dynasty. It was built in the site of the house of Jong Mong Ju, the great bureaucrat and famous Confucian of the late Koryo Dynasty.
Jong mong Ju hold official positions such as a scholar of Songgyunkwan (the highest education institute in the period of Korean federal dynasty), a miljikjehak(an official position), Jongdangmunhak (an official position).
When he was killed by a faction of Ri Song Gye, an ambitious man of power in April 1392, the residents in Kaesong built a shrine (called Munchungdang) in his house in memory of him.
It was founded by Nam Ung Un, the governor of Kaesong in 1573 (the 6th year of King Sonjo's government rule) and was first called Munchungdang after his pen name. Since the King Sonjo conferred the tablet inscribed with "Sungyang Confucian School'' in 1575 (the 8th year of King Sonjo's government rule), the school has been called the current name.
The school taught Confucian ideas to the children of noble men in Kaesong
The shrine in it was also used to hold a memorial service for Jong Mong Ju; U Hyon Bo, one of the highest officials of Koryo Dynasty; So Gyong Dok and Kim Yuk, famous persons of Kaesong.
There are two monuments on the front yard of the shrine. One on the right side(north) is for Jong Mong Ju, built in 1611(the 3rd year of King Kwanghae's government rule), on which the brief history of his life and activities was written down. The other on the left side (north) was built in 1871 (the 8th year of King Kojong's government rule), which tells how it existed despite of measures of abolishing Confucian schools taken by Daewon.
The school was built for strengthening feudalistic Confucian education. But as one of the oldest buildings in Kaesong it is the precious historic relics preserving the typical arrangement and construction of a Confucian school.
The shrine, which was built on the stylobate with height of 1.3 m, has four kans (kan: the space between two pillars) (9.43m) on the front side and two kans(4.83m) on the side. There was no dugong(a kind of decoration that is placed between the top of a pillar and the end of a beam) on the well-trimmed pillar, and it has the gable roof with double eaves.
The lecture hall with 5 kans (12.79 m) on the front side and 3 kans (6.96 m) on the side was built on the stylobate with height of 1.6 m. There were no dugong on the well-trimmed pillars, and it has the gable roof with single eaves.
The middle of the hall is covered with boards, and rooms on either side were provided with ondol (underfloor heating). The dormitories in the east and west were big buildings with 6 kans on the front side and 2 kans on the side, with gable roofs without dugong.
The Sungyang Confucian School is one of the well-known relics that shows the educational situation of localities and the architectural style of a Confucian school during the Korean feudal dynasty and is also associated with Jong Mong Ju.
It was severely destroyed by the U.S. imperialist aggressors during the Fatherland Liberation War, but after the war, it was restored thanks to the correct policy of the Workers' Party of Korea on preserving cultural relics.
Chairman
At the 37th meeting of UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on June 23, 2013, historical relics of Kaesong City including the Sungyang Confucian School were registered as the world cultural heritage.
The official registration of historical relics in Kaesong City including Sungyang Confucian School as the world cultural heritage is an international recognition of its historical and cultural value, and this has made the long history and brilliant culture of DPR Korea well known to the world.
Today Sungyang Confucian School, the World Cultural Heritage has been well preserved and maintained as a cultural relic in Kaesong, the city of history.
