<서원십영> 배향 인물을 통해 본 퇴계 이황의 서원관

Abstract

This article investigates Yi Hwang’s view of Confucian scholars canonized in private academies in his Ten Poems of Private Academies. Yi Hwang played a prominent role in elevating the White Cloud Grotto[Baekundong 白雲洞書院] Academy, the first neo-Confucian private academy in Korea, to the status of the “Royal Plaque Private Academy”[賜額書院]. This academy had been established by Ju Sebung(1495–1554), magistrate of the Punggi County, in 1543 to commemorate the famed Goryeo scholar An Hyang(1243-1306), and in emulation of the White Deer Grotto Academy[Bailudong shuyuan 白鹿洞書院] restored by Zhu Xi in Song China. The academy was renamed as the Sosu (紹修) Private Academy after it was granted a plaque by the throne. Yi Hwang advocated establishment of private academies in places where one can find traces of great scholars as Choe Chung(984-1068), U Tak(1262-1342), Jeong Mongju(1337-1392), Gil Jae(1353-1419), Kim Jongjik (1431-1492), and Kim Goengpil(1454-1504). Yi Hwang and his disciples were instrumental in establishment or restoration of more than ten private academies, and their efforts are well documented in Record of Isan Private Academy, Record of Yeokdong Private Academy, Record of Yeongbong Private Academy, and Ten Poems of Private Academies. Yi Hwang stated that Confucian scholars of the time established private academies as places of learning. Conditions of the National Academy and local schools had deteriorated since the flourishing of learning in ancient Xia, Yin, and Zhou periods. Yi Hwang was confident that private academies were more effective in teaching of the Confucian study of self-cultivation. On the other hand, the government sponsored National Academy and local schools, located within crowded town centers, were subjected to various regulations and practices. Yi Hwang’s Regulations for Isan Private Academy is a very valuable source for the study of management standard of private academy in Southeastern region of Korea.