Seowon: The Architecture of Korea's Private Academies (Korean Culture Series #2) [Hardcover]

Sang-hae Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1565912187 | ISBN-13: 978-1565912182

A look at the private institutions that were dedicated to higher learning, the same ones that eventually became the crowning glory of Neo-Confucianism, Seowon examines the role these schools had on society during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) while also taking a closer look at their architecture. Korean Culture Series #2

Product Details

• Hardcover: 201 pages
• Publisher: Hollym International Corporation (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565912187
• ISBN-13: 978-1565912182
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,712,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ground breaking work on traditional Korean Architecture., October 31, 2006

By 

Joong Won Lee "Joongwon" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seowon: The Architecture of Korea's Private Academies (Korean Culture Series #2) (Hardcover)

What's really fantastic about this book is that, even

though the subject matter of the book lies in the foreign past, the

tone of the book is extremely local and contemporary.

That was only possible because Prof. Lee cut the history in half

and kindly guided us to the founders of Seowon (medieval academic

institution in Korea) with a clear reasoning and scholarly fervor.

The founders of Seowon lived during an era when a new thought,

Neo Confucianism, was rising to take over the old order of Buddhism. In

the heart of that turmoil, the new elite class sought

architectural expressions that best reified the new world-view.

Readers will walk to the doorsteps of many schools of thought

in that period of time. Reading the book Chosun scholarship

and political-lineage will be understandable.

Readers will see the arc (both in time and quality)of the

new metaphysics and its physical applications.

Flipping thru pages, reader will gradually comprehend some

of the common elements of Korean architecture through examples

and see how these differ from Chinese & Japanese style.

(raw and buff carpentry for example..)

The ideal of Seowon was poverty (in a scholastic sense); yet, the

humility of expression brought the richness of nature.

Personally what I enjoyed most was imagining being

at the center of the courtyards of each Seowon.

Prof. Lee's explanation and illustrations show the breath-taking beauty

of landscape flowing into the built complex, as if the purpose of the

houses were to contain landscape.