Seowon(Shuyuan: 書院) was originated from the institute where stored and arranged books in private and governmental libraries in Tang Dynasty, and then, with development in new printing technologies and under the cultural background of convergence i...
Seowon(Shuyuan: 書院) was originated from the institute where stored and arranged books in private and governmental libraries in Tang Dynasty, and then, with development in new printing technologies and under the cultural background of convergence in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, as ancient Chinese scholars conducted activities such as storing, reading, teaching, lecturing, managing, and carving books, it was a cultural organization for them to study, create, accumulate, and spread cultures. From Tang Dynasty to the Era of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it had experienced a series of wars and got new chances for development in Song Dynasty.
The Shuyuans in Northern Song Dynasty replaced the governmental school’s role with its enhancement in education, and for example, “tiān xià sì dà Shuyan”(天下四大書院). And then, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Shuyuan became completely a cultural educational system. The difficult social situations in the early Southern Song Dynasty suggested the time’s demands to maintain people’s hearts through consulting them, moral recovery, and searching for new values to the intellectuals. Jang Sik, Zhu Xi, Yeo Jo-gyeom, and Yuk Gu-hyeon’s teaching in the “Shuyuans in Southern Sung” invoked to flourish academics, contributing to form combination of Lihak(理學) and Shuyuan. In the process, Zhu Xi’s role was biggest. He established Bailudong-Shuyuan when he was a provincial for Namgang County, enacted the regulations and spread new educational ideas to the students. According to spreading of new educational ideas, the regulations of Shuyuan was completed, and six projects of study, teaching, library, book carving, sacrifice services for great scholars and managing farms were formed. It meant that Shuyuan was developed as an independent cultural organization with various functions, and that Chinese educational projects entered in the time of co-existence among governmental schools, Shuyuans, and private schools.
In the establishment of Yuan Dynasty, civil service examination was resumed, and Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism became the orthodox again. And so Zhu Xi was celebrated in various regions. The greatest contribution of Shuyuans in Yuan Dyansty was to fill lacks in Liao and Jin Eras and spread widely Shuyuans and Neo-Confucianism in northern regions, decreasing gaps between southern and northern cultures. The most remarkable characteristic of Shuyuans in Yuan Dynasty was that the Shuyuans combined with Neo-Confucianism were considered as identical with governmental schools with diversity in establishing subjects and more detailed educational regulations. As Yuan government promoted to establish Shuyuans, Mongolians and Semus also participated in establishing Shuyuans.
In early Ming Dynasty, though Neo-Confucianism became the orthodox, Shuyuans had been declined for a century because Zhu Yuanzhang’s policy to demolish them and to promote governmental schools. Bailudong-Shuyuan and Yuelu-Shuyuan damaged due to the wars in the late Yuan Dynasty were not restored for longtime. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, with problems in governmental education, establishing Shuyuans became a solution. With the model of Zhu Xi’s Bailudong-Shuyuan, Shuyuans were restored. At that time, Hu Ju Ren became a head of Bailudong-Shuyuan, enacted the regulations, and educated the students. Wang Shou Ren and Zhan Ruo Shui, criticizing the orthodox philosophy and conducted the study of heart(心學) movement, which became a national-wide controversy. Both the scholars’ students and next generations established Shuyuans and have lectures, and as a result, Chinese Shyuans and academics met a kind of renaissance since the era of Southern Song. In the process, the center of Neo-Confucianism, Bailudong-Shuyuan, through efforts and arrangement by Wang Shou Ren and his students, became the center for Wang Ming School. In the late Ming Dynasty, Shuyuans became a kind of political organization for representing the intellectual’s interest. Therefore, tey were declined with three times’ damages and closing in the eras of Emperors Jiajing, Wanli and Tianqi. However, the Shuyuan System in Ming Dynasty was introduced into Joseon and then, Bailudong-Shuyuan became the model for Seowons in Joseon.
In the early Qing Dynasty, according to the policies of academics and teachings for worshiping Zhu Xi, Shuyuans were established. Through academic activities, there were trends of refusing Wang Ming School and worshiping Zhu Xi(“辟王崇朱”). The rise of Lihak(理學) and Shuyuan in Hanam Region in the early Qing Dynasty was the result of these trends. In Emperor Yongzheng’s time, Shuyuans were established by each provincial government and the governmental parties became to intervene to establish them, and then, various grades of governmental Shuyuans became the center of academic and education in the country. With co-efforts between the government and private sectors, Shuyuans in Qing Dynasty were widely spread in cities and rural areas, having the unprecedented boom. However, through ___ and ___ were declared through governmental orders and distributed to each provincial Shuyuans. In addition, some governmental officials such as Zhang Bo Xíng and Wang Shu and private scholars, based on the theories of both great Scholars from Song and Ming Dynasties, enacted _____ and ____ and then, Zhuxi and Bailudong-Shuyuan continued to have influences on the intellectuals. However, with deepening in civil service examinations and governmental studies in Qing Dynasty, the scholars focusing in Classic Chinese studies including Ruan Yuan in the eras of Emperors Qianlong and Jiaqing, beyond the typical framework of Neo-Confucianism, concentrated on the classical studies on the history of the books and Shuyuans in Qing Dynasty open the way of reform. Since Daoguang years, Shuyuans responded actively to the western cultures from opening ports, established new systems with rearranging the contents and forms and introducing western and new studies. And then, continuing to export and spread Shuyuan system in Qing Dynasty around the world, the system of the world Shuyuan Culture focusing on the spirit of Bailudong- Shuyuan was formed.