Son U Hyop and Ryonggok Confucian School

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"The Pobun Hermitage and Ryonggok Confucian School are all a precious cultural asset that showcase the talents of our nation."

Ryonggok Confucian School is located in Ryongbong-ri, Mangyongdae District, Pyongyang, which was established to strengthen the feudal education while holding a memorial service for the Confucian Son U Hyop (1588-1653).

The school still exists, which was first built in 1656 and rebuilt in 1713.

Son U Hyop, a scholar of the mid-Korean feudal dynasty, lived in Thaechon and then moved to Pyongyang following his father. There he took an official position such as huirungchambong and an official of the Songgyun-gwan (a higher educational institute) etc.

When he was 23 years old, he learned from Kim Tae Jwa in his native place and indulged himself in academic pursuits. With his excellent scholarship, he had many pupils. Later, he went to Mt. Ryongak to set up a school and taught students for decades.

When the aggressors of Qing dynasty invaded in 1636, he, together with Yang Ui Jik and Hong Nae Bom, etc. formed a volunteer unit and fought bravely in Posan castle.

Afterwards, feudal Joson dynasty granted him a government post several times but he refused. After his death, the residents in Pyongyang and Thaechon built shrines each and used to hold a memorial service for him.

In the south of Mt. Ryongak is Ryonggok Confucian School and a monument to Donam(the pen name of Son U Hyop).

His writings include "Thaekukbyonhae", "Thaekukmundab" and "Songhuijeso" and "complete collection of Tonam's writing".

Photo. Ryonggok Confusion School

Mt. Ryongak was named after appearance of a dragon with its mouth open, because of its peak soaring high against clear sky and jagged rocks, and is called Mt. Kumgang of Pyongyang as it has a soaring Tae hill and quaint rocks and cliffs.

At the corner of the south in such a famous mountain, Ryonggok Confucian School is situated. It is walled in by a low wall of stone on four sides, and inside it there is a wall which separates a lecture hall at the front from a shrine at the back.

The buildings were constructed in turn on the sloping ground so that each building could stand higher than former from the front to the back.

When you enter the large front door (outer door), you will see dormitories on either side of the wide yard, and when you go up the stairs to the north of the yard and open the middle door, you will see a shrine at the back and a pavilion for a monument bit higher in the northwest.

The outer door was a two-storey gabled house with three khans (khan: the space between two pillars) at the front and one khan on the side, and one khan in the middle of the first floor is a doorway and one khan on the left and right side was walled with mud.

The second floor has no compartment, and the floor is covered with boards, and the front and the back sides (south and north) are left open, and the windows on either side (east and west) are placed in the middle of the mud wall.

The first floor of the building was the door to the school, and the second floor was used as a lecture hall for students.

The dormitory in the east is a gabled house with three khans (7.95m) at the front and two khans (3.6 m) on the sides, and two khans on the right side has a Korean-style veranda floor in front, with two grid-framed doors, and one khan in the north has one grid-framed door.

The dormitory in the west is the same as one in the east in size and construction.

The shrine, which is painted colorfully, is a gabled house with three khans (8.55 m) at the front and three khans on the sides (5.69 m).

It has two ikgongdugongs(an object placed between the top of a pillar and girder) only on the front side and wind-preventing shingles on either side of the high roof. One khan at the front is a porch-like addition running along the courtyard of the house, and two khans at the back are a main hall with a grid-patterned quadripartitioned door in front.

The hanging board with calligraphy on it is under the eaves of the shrine.

Inside the pavilion there is a monument which tells that its existing buildings were built in 1713.

President Kim Il Sung visited Ryonggok Confucian School in March Juche 52(1963) and gave precious instructions on restoring it to its original state.

Chairman Kim Jong Il, looking round the Ryonggok Confucian school in March Juche 52 (1963) and October Juche 55 (1966), said that it is a precious cultural treasure showing the talents of the Korean nation and that the historical relics associated with the resourceful history and brilliant culture of the Korean nation should be restored to their original state.

Ryonggok Confucian School has a striking appearance as it is situated at the foot of Mt. Ryongak, which is famous for its Ryongsanmanch (blue light of Mt. Ryongak), one of the eight scenic spots of Pyongyang, and it has become a cultural recreation centre, visited by the Korean people and school youth and children today along with the Children's Camp and the Pleasure Park with various service facilities which have been modernized thanks to the love of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un for the rising generations and the future.