Seogangsa Temple (Gwangju)

This is the only shrine-temple complex of its kind in the country, enshrining six worthy ancestors: enshrined as the main figure is Taesagong, whose name was Sindal (諱 莘達), the founding contributor who helped King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo and was titled Goryeo Tonghap Samhan Ikchan Gongsin Samjung Daegwang Taesa, and the founder of the Papyeong Yun clan; together with the 5th-generation ancestor Munsukgong, whose name was Gwan (諱 瓘); the 6th-generation ancestor Mungangong, whose name was Eoni (諱 彦頤); the 8th-generation ancestor Namwonbaek, whose name was Wi (諱 威); the 10th-generation ancestor Hamanbaek, whose name was Don (諱 敦); and the 11th-generation ancestor Munheongong, whose name was Bo (諱 珤). A memorial rite is held every year on the 18th day of the 3rd lunar month.
The founding ancestor Yun Sindal was a meritorious subject of the early Goryeo period who assisted King Taejo Wang Geon and became a Samhan Ikchan meritorious subject; Yun Gwan was a famous general of the Goryeo period who conquered the Jurchens and left the achievement of building nine fortresses in the northeast, and was enshrined in the mortuary tablet chamber of King Yejong of Goryeo. Yun Eon-i was a civil official of the early Goryeo period, son of Yun Gwan, and was politically active during the reign of King Yejong of Goryeo. The eighth-generation ancestor Yun Wi became the founding ancestor of the Namwon Yun clan, and the tenth-generation ancestor Yun Don became the founding ancestor of the Haman Yun clan.
The grounds comprise a shrine enshrining the Six Sages (Yuk Hyeon), the auditorium Gyeongmojae, Yukyeonggwan (which served as a school for the children of clan members who came to study in Gwangju, today functioning like Namdo Haksuk), and administrative buildings, along with the Seogangsa Myojeongbi stele, the stele of the deeds of the Six Sages, the equestrian statue of Grand Marshal Yun Gwan (Munsukgong), and a well.
The shrine enshrining the six-hyeon ancestors has jeongpyeong jucho placed on a three-tier granite platform with round pillars erected, forming a gable-and-hip roof with 8-jak tiles, three bays in front and one bay on the side; at each of the four corners three hwalju pillars support the eaves, and at the judu atop the changbang a ppeolmok is joined, while between the pyeongju one modified bracket is inserted to connect the janghyeo and napdori. The interior has a coffered ceiling and is a two-high-pillar, five-beam structure.
The windows are decorated with double-leaf side doors and, in the center, a two-panel double door with lattice windows; a meoreum is placed below the inbang and also above the sanginbang, into which the ansang pattern was inserted. The eaves are double eaves with pyeonggodae inserted and follow the two-ikgong style. The front has relatively well-preserved dancheong, and the main gate consists of three pyeong gates.
Gyeongmojae is the auditorium of Seogangsa Shrine. The auditorium has a stone platform of granite about 1.8m high, on which concrete was compacted and wooden columns erected; it is a single-story building with 5 bays in front and 1 bay on the side, covered with Japanese-style tiles in an 8-jak hip-and-gable roof. Inside, a central wooden-floored hall (daecheong) is arranged with ondol rooms on both sides, divided by folding doors. The ceiling is a coffered ceiling, and it is a 5-ryang structure with trapezoidal board struts placed on the main beam through which the ridge purlin passes. The column capitals are fitted only with janghyeo and napdori, but in the front left and right toe bays, soros and changbang were added. The windows consist of 2-panel double doors on each of the left and right bays and 4-panel doors in the center, all with banded lattice. Entry doors with 2-panel doors are placed on both sides of the ondol rooms, and at the rear two 2-panel doors open onto the daecheong, with round windows at the back of the ondol rooms. Glass windows were recently installed at the front to block wind and rain, and the main gate (Pilsikmun) is a double-leaf gate decorated with woodcarvings of holsil and geobukgwi patterns; the construction date is Dangi 4301 (1968).

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