SONGGYUN'GUAN

original name Kukhak national university of Korea under the Koryo (9351392) and Yi, or Choson (13921910), dynasties. Named the Kukhak (National Academy) during the Koryo dynasty, it was renamed the Songgyun'guan and served as the sole highest institute for training government officials during the Yi dynasty. The national university at first had 200 students, but the number was later reduced to 126. The students were selected from four groups: the official candidates who had passed the lower civil-service examinations and thus qualified for the saengwon or chinsa degrees; graduates of the four secondary public schools in Seoul; sons of merit subjects; and lower officials. The university, located in Seoul, had two residential halls, a lecture hall, and a shrine where rites were held regularly in spring and in autumn in honour of Confucius and eminent Confucian scholars. It also offered two programs of study: readings in Confucian classics and literary composition in Chinese. Upon the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, the institute became a centre of Korean Confucianism. After Korea's liberation in 1945, it was reorganized as Songgyun'guan University and equipped with modern educational facilities. Rites honouring Confucius are still held in spring and autumn in the shrine within the compound of the university.