Dasan Chodang

Located on the slopes of Mandeoksan Mountain overlooking Gangjin Bay, Dasan Chodang is where the great scholar Jeong Yak-yong, who systematized Silhak (Practical Learning) in the late Joseon Dynasty, lived in exile. The pen name Dasan (茶山) comes from the name of the mountain behind Gyul-dong in Gangjin, where he stayed and used as his pen name. During his 18-year exile in Gangjin starting in 1801, Dasan wrote over 600 volumes of works including *Mongmin Simseo* (Admonitions on Governing the People) and *Gyeongse Yupyo* (A Design for Good Government), consolidating Silhak's practical and empirical approach to move away from the abstract and idealistic Neo-Confucian scholarship of the Joseon period. Born as the fourth son of Jeong Jae-won, who served as the magistrate of Jinju, Jeong Yak-yong passed the civil service examination at age 28 and held positions such as Gyemungwan Gyumyeol, Byeongjo Chamji, and Hyeongjo Chamui. In 1801, due to the Sinyu Persecution, he was exiled to Janggi, Gyeongsang Province, and then moved to Gangjin because of the Hwang Sayeong Baekseo Incident. After spending eight years at various locations including a tavern outside the east gate of Gangjin-eup, Boseon Sanbang at Goseongsa Temple, and the home of his disciple Yi Hak-rye, he moved to Dasan Chodang in the spring of 1808. He lived there for about ten years until his release in September 1818, teaching disciples and writing, with most of his great achievements accomplished here. Dasan Chodang had collapsed due to aging but was restored in 1957 by the Dasan Historic Site Preservation Society, and later the Dongam (east room) where Dasan stayed and the Seoam (west room) where his disciples lodged were also restored. Other features include the Jeongseok Rock, where Dasan personally carved the characters "丁石" on a folding screen rock; Yakcheon, a spring where he found a vein of water to brew tea; Dajo, a flat rock where he boiled tea; Yeonji Seokgasu, a small artificial mountain in a pond; and Cheonilgak, a pavilion built at a place where he consoled his longing for home and his second brother Yakjeon, who was exiled to Heuksando Island.

Address: 68-35, Dasanchodang-gil, Doam-myeon, Gangjin-gun, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Jeollanam-do