Dosan Seowon Confucian Academy도산서원

At a glance

The scholar Toegye Yi Hwang built Dosan Seodang, a small schoolhouse said to follow his own design, in 1561 after retiring to his home region; it is the oldest building on the site. After his death in 1570 his followers added a shrine, lecture hall and dormitories, completing the academy in 1576, and a royal name board in the hand of the calligrapher Han Seok-bong made it a chartered academy. It became the center of Confucian learning in the Yeongnam region and escaped the 19th-century order that shut most seowon.

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Dosan Seowon Confucian Academy · 3 tours & tickets

1. KKdayAndong culture tour from Busan with hanbokAn 11-hour tour from Busan: Sohoheon, the Andong Soju Museum, a jjimdak lunch, Yekki Village, hanbok and archery at the Korean Culture Theme Park, and Dosan Seowon.Book
2. GetYourGuideAndong UNESCO day tour with a local guideA 7-hour private tour from Andong with a local guide to Dosan Seowon, Hahoe Folk Village and Woryeonggyo Bridge. Entry fees are extra.Book
3. KKdayAndong UNESCO day tour with a local guideA private day tour from Andong with a local guide to Dosan Seowon, Hahoe Folk Village and Woryeonggyo Bridge.Book

Places to stay nearby

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Map

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Tips

• 01
  Walk the trail around the academy to see the old willows and Sisadan, the platform marking a special state exam King Jeongjo held here in 1792.

Nearby

Bongjeongsa TempleA quiet mountain temple on Cheondeungsan, founded in 672 and home to Korea's oldest surviving wooden building; a UNESCO World Heritage site.Woryeonggyo BridgeA bridge over the Nakdonggang in Andong shaped after the hemp sandals a local wife wove from her own hair for her late husband.Museom VillageA Yeongju hanok village whose name means 'island on the water', known for the single-log bridge that was once its only way out.