옥산서원과 여주이씨 = Oksanseowon and Yeoju Lee Clan

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study is to examine Oksanseowon, a representative academy in Youngnam region during the Joseon dynasty and the Lee clan who were responsible for Confucian ritual at the academy. The Yeoju Lee clan in Gyeongju came from Yeoju-mok, Gyeonggi-do where their ancestors lived until the late Goryeo dynasty, some of them served as Hojang in Yeoju. The clan is believed to have left Yeoju and moved to the Youngnam region around the end of the Goryeo dynasty. Early in their settlement in the Youngnam region, they lived in Youngil until Lee Su Hee, grandfather of Lee Eon Jeok married to a daughter of Lee Jeom, a saengwon in Gyeongju and the entire clan moved to Gyeongju. The clan came to power in academic aspects in Gyeongju when Lee Beon, a son of Lee Su Hee, became a son-in-law of Son Soh. Finally, Yangja-dong, home to his wife’s household, became a village of residence for generations of both Son and Lee clans. The Yeogang Lee clan in Gyeongju enjoyed prosperity all of sudden since the 17th century, produced more successful examinees in national civil service exams than any other clan in the Gyeongju area, making the clan establish itself as a representative noble family. In particular, after his death during the reign of Myeongjo, Lee Eon Jeok enjoyed the highest honor as a subject to the king and as a scholar such as Jongmyobaehyang [Myeongjong] and Munmyojongsa, which was a key influence to make this clan a leading noble family in the region.
Oksanseowon was built in the 5th year of King Seonjo in 1572 by Confucian scholars in the area after his death with the aim of inheriting academic tradition of Lee Eon Jeok. The academy was established as the then Gyeongju mayor Lee Jae Min accepted a suggestion of 13 Confucian scholars in the village including Gwon Deok Lin, a pupil of Lee Eon Jeok and reported it to Governor Im Seol E, who recommended to the Ministry of Rites. Since its foundation, Oksanseowon witnessed a rapid growth with the help of academy promotion policy of the then king of the Joseon dynasty, and especially, when its former ritual manager Lee Eon Jeok was enshrined as one of the five sages in the Orient in the 2nd year of King Gwanghae in 1610, its influence grew stronger than ever before. Afterwards, with enormous economic resources, Oksanseowon became a symbol of Confucianism in Gyeongju, playing a center of education, politics and social activities of the local Confucian scholars. Beyond that, as a representative academy of the Namin camp in the Youngnam region together with Dosanseowon, Oksanseowon played a role in providing a political cause for the entire Namin camp and uniting them amid fierce political struggles in the then central government.
While the academy’s influence considerably decreased, as the Namin camp began to lose power in political struggles in the central government such as Injobanjeong and Gapsulwhanguk, it drew attention again of the central government during the reign of Youngjo and Jeongjo. The two kings had special interest in Daehak. Accordingly, while the two kings ruled, much attention was paid to the academic achievements of Lee Eon Jeok who supplemented missing parts of Daehakjanggu of Chu Hsi and re-complied Daehakjangguboyou, and therefore, the academy which enshrined him was treated specially from the central government. In this situation, the academy established its firm status as a representative academy in Gyeonggju and Youngnam region and survived Daewongun’s full-scale destruction of academies and temples as an academy of sage enshrined in a Confucian shrine.