The Confucian architecture of Chosŏn

Conference by Francis Macouin, retired general curator at MNAA-Guimet.

In 1392, general Yi Sŏnggye (1335-1408) created a new kingdom on the Korean peninsula, Chosŏn (Joseon), whose capital was Hanyang, present-day Seoul, and which lasted until 1910. Unlike the previous kingdom, Koryŏ (Goryeo) who was a Buddhist, he chose Confucianism as his official ideology. This had a considerable impact on the intellectual history and also the social history of the peninsula.

Previously, Confucianism existed in the country but was considered a technique for administrators and was rather judged as a specialized doctrine for mandarins. The Confucianism chosen by the king is not that of the time of Confucius but the neo-Confucianism developed by the Chinese philosophers of the Song dynasty (960-1279) which provided a general vision of the world that could be opposed to Buddhism. This neo-Confucianism places great emphasis on the cult of ancestors, morality and the family and makes it possible to balance the social order through the harmonization of behavior. Members of the aristocracy having to make offerings to previous paternal generations, this influenced architecture with the creation of chapels to carry out rituals within residences. In Seoul, the place where the king performed these ceremonies was the Chongmyo, one of the most important buildings in the city.

Francis Macouin reserved the term Confucian architecture for that which combines the two fundamental aspects of this neo-Confucianism, namely the teaching and the cult of illustrious men.

Although Confucianism established itself gradually, it deeply penetrated Korean society. Nevertheless, it remains the doctrine of the aristocracy and the cultured elite. It did not fundamentally change the structures of Korean architecture but the preponderance of rites meant that buildings respected a certain number of standards. The architecture of this era follows a few fundamental principles and hardly deviates from them.

For the children of the aristocracy, mainly boys, the first years were spent in a private primary school (sŏdang) where they learned the basics of Chinese writing characters and the foundations of Confucian morality as well as the Confucian worldview. For example, the Yangdong private school is presented as a simple house with a large room open to the outside and a closed room, heated by the floor. A painting by Kim Hongdo (1745-1806?) shows the teacher and students sitting on the floor in front of books. Boys wearing a braid are still single while the one wearing a hat is married.

Sŏdang to Yangdong. ©Christian Murtin.

Kim Hongdo (1745-1806?). Primary class. ©National Museum Seoul

Naju School. Naju hyanggyo chi.

After this elementary education, between the ages of sixteen and twenty, boys could go to provincial schools which were public establishments. Teachers who were mandarins enjoyed certain privileges, just as students did not have to do chores and were exempt from military service.

An old map shows the plan of one of these schools, in Naju. All the buildings are independent and distributed in courtyards enclosed by walls; the important buildings are located on a north-south axis. In the first courtyard, the central building dedicated to the major cult was framed by two others dedicated to minor cults, in the second courtyard, the teaching room is framed perpendicularly by two pavilions which served as accommodation for the students; It should be noted that the buildings are not connected to each other and that circulation takes place from the outside as always in Korean architecture. The Chinju provincial school, which is built on a hill, presents not only the north-south axis, but also a vertical gradation, the major worship room being located on the upper terrace while the teaching room is located on the lower terrace. If the buildings are built in walled enclosures, the height of the walls is such that we are never in a completely enclosed space, there is always an escape to the outside.

When we arrived in these places, we entered a somewhat sanctified place and a certain number of marks indicated this. On a stele at the entrance to one of these schools, we can read that “Whoever you are, you must dismount”, you cannot enter this space on horseback or by car. Other elements which mark the dignity of the place, the porticos painted in red which indicate that the place is to be respected.

Chinju School. ©Francis Macouin.

P'unghwaru, Chinju.

To enter the complex, a first door had to be crossed like that of Taegu, a door with three bays but humans were not allowed to pass through the central bay, reserved for spirits. The central span can be raised in certain cases. A second gate succeeded it which could, as in Chinju (P'unghwaru), include a floor bordered by a low railing where meetings, poetry competitions, etc. took place. and which faced the teaching room.

In these schools, the buildings are very simple and the roofs are supported by columns whose wooden shaft is left raw and painted vermilion red. The only element that distinguishes these constructions is the assembly of the consoles which join with the rafters of the roof and give them a little dignity. The architecture must remain modest. For the Naju school, even if some annex buildings have disappeared, the teaching room has a closed central body framed by two open rooms. The major worship room is also very simple in appearance and the gallery in front serves as a space for ritual ceremonies. Inside, the objects of worship, often simple tablets, are arranged on stools arranged in an order of precedence, that of Confucius being in the center. These worship rooms are not intended for individual practice but for ritual practices, at certain times of the year. Apart from these ceremonies, the buildings are closed and cannot be visited.

Kŏje School. ©Francis Macouin.

Kŏje school, detail of the Taesŏng. ©Christian Murtin.

Above the provincial schools there was a single establishment in the capital which served as a university, Sŏnggyun'gwan. A plan of the 18^rd century shows the north-south layout of the teaching room and the main worship room. Around it, other buildings are distributed in enclosures: student accommodation, secondary worship rooms, library, examination room, etc. The entrance door is framed by centuries-old gingko trees because, according to tradition, Confucius taught his disciples under gingko trees. The main worship room, dating from the beginning of the 17th^rd century after its destruction during the Japanese invasion, rises on a terrace accessible by two staircases. The stiffness of the consoles seems to indicate that it was rebuilt identically to the 15th century building.^rd century. The construction is very sober even though it is the national temple to Confucius where the king came to officiate. Here, too, we find two annexed buildings, very austere, where the tablets of figures less important than Confucius and his main disciples are placed. Likewise, on either side of the teaching room are two buildings for housing students who numbered around a hundred at 18^rd century. The teaching room, located on a terrace, has a raised central part with two wings. The roof is decorated with terracotta figurines to ward off evil spirits. It should be noted that this type of decoration is only found on buildings having a direct relationship with royalty.

T’aehak kyech’ŏp. 18th century plan. ©Historical Museum Seoul.

Zhu Xi (1130-1200), philosopher who was one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism, built a hermitage on Mount Wuyi Shan, in Fujian. Korean Confucians were very marked by this attitude and wanted to imitate it, sometimes by investing certain Korean landscapes to adapt them to the descriptions of Zhu Xi, or as in a painting from the 16^rd century, where the artist, who had never been to China, painted an idealized vision of the Nine Bends River (Jiǔqū Xī), which develops its sinuous course at the bottom of a deep gorge.

Some Korean Confucians had hermitages built during their lives, in imitation of Zhu Xi. The village of Hahoe, founded in the 14^rd century, was the cradle of a great aristocratic family, the Yu of P'ungsan. At 16^rd century, factions fought at court and the period being turbulent, certain members of the family preferred to retire to the countryside for a time. Wŏnji chŏngsa is a very simple hermitage built by Yu Sŏngnyong (1542-1607) who was prime minister. He also built, towards the end of his life, a second pavilion, the larger Ogyŏn chŏngsa, where he taught the doctrine to disciples.

Over time, some of these pavilions were transformed but institutes or academies were also created (sŏwŏn), where worship was taught and practiced, not to Confucius, but to a famous Korean scholar. These private institutes were founded by an association of former disciples or members of the Confucian's family. There were 376 in 1730! These institutes championed particular schools of Confucianism, often related to a political faction, and served as meeting places for local aristocrats to discuss and perhaps also plot. So much so that in 1871, the regent, Taewŏn'gun (1821-1898), decided to drastically suppress them.

These establishments appear in the same way as schools but with a slightly less rigid structure than in the official architecture and the alignment on the north-south axis is not always rigorously respected as is the case in Pyŏngsan sŏwŏn where the major worship hall is not exactly on axis. Opposite the teaching room, a longitudinal pavilion (Mandaeru) is completely open to the environment and served as a place for meetings or poetry competitions.

To summarize, Confucian architecture did not develop a construction method different from Korean architecture of the time. The buildings differ very little from the domestic architecture of the aristocracy. For all of these public or private schools, however, we note a very strong influence of Chinese architecture with a location on a north-south axis and a system of symmetry in relation to this axis. The buildings are rather austere, practically devoid of ornamental elements, and the paintings (vermilion, green and a little yellow) do not resemble those decorating Buddhist temples. The only element that gives a certain dignity to the buildings is the system of consoles which ensure the connection between the columns and the roof. In addition, the size of the buildings always remains very modest, on a human scale and, often, the constructions are surrounded by nature. This is intentional, because for Confucians, Man is only one element of nature: Man is between heaven and earth and thus forms a fundamental trilogy in Confucian thought.