Why this ride
398 km from Andong to Andong, about 8 h 18 of riding. On the way it passes Dosan-seowon, Sosu-seowon, Bongjeongsa Temple and Buseoksa Temple. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A and Buseoksa Temple
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 398 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 18
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A
Byeongsan Seowon looks across the Nakdong river at a cliff that is, quite literally, the best view in the neighbourhood. The academy stands in a bend of the river a short ride from the famous village of Hahoe, and its old lecture hall, called Manhyudae, was built with one aim: to frame the opposite cliff like a painting. Students sat on the open wooden floor and read the classics while the river slid past below. That is the Korean idea of education, a mind sharpened by the best possible landscape.
Read the complete Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A is where the day begins. Next is Dosan-seowon.
2. Dosan-seowon
If you have handled a Korean thousand-won note, you have already seen Dosan Seowon. The building on the back of the note is this Confucian academy, and the scholar on the front is Yi Hwang, known by his pen name Toegye, one of the most influential Neo-Confucian thinkers of Korea. He set up a small study hall here in the sixteenth century, on a quiet slope above the Nakdong river, and after his death in 1570 his disciples expanded it into a full academy, a seowon, where students came to study the classics and honour his memory. It is one of the nine Korean Confucian academies listed by UNESCO in 2019.
Read the complete Dosan-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dosan-seowon comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sosu-seowon.
3. Sosu-seowon
Pine trees older than anyone can remember shade the entrance to Sosu-seowon, the first Confucian academy in Korea to receive a royal charter. It was founded in 1543 by Ju Se-bung, a local magistrate, to honour An Hyang, a scholar of the Goryeo period who brought Neo-Confucianism to Korea from China. A few years later, the famous philosopher Yi Hwang, who also served in the area, petitioned the king to grant it official recognition, and the academy received a royal plaque in 1550 with the name Sosu. Since 2019 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies.
Read the complete Sosu-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 102 km into the recorded legs you reach Sosu-seowon. Next is Bongjeongsa Temple.
4. Bongjeongsa Temple
Tucked into the wooded slopes of Cheondeungsan, a modest mountain north-west of Andong in North Gyeongsang province, Bongjeongsa is a temple that wears its age quietly. Its main claim to fame is a small, plain hall called Geungnakjeon, believed to be the oldest surviving wooden building in Korea, dating back to the Goryeo dynasty. Repairs in the twentieth century turned up records suggesting the hall had been rebuilt in the thirteenth century, which makes it older than almost anything else made of timber in the country. Bongjeongsa is one of seven mountain monasteries inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 as Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea.
Read the complete Bongjeongsa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bongjeongsa Temple, about halfway. Next is Buseoksa Temple.
5. Buseoksa Temple
The name Buseoksa means temple of the floating stone, and the legend behind it involves a monk, a princess and a dragon. When the monk Uisang founded the temple in 676, after returning from studies in China, a young woman named Seonmyo who had fallen in love with him there is said to have followed him in the form of a dragon, and when local bandits opposed the new temple she lifted a huge rock into the air to frighten them off. A large boulder behind the main hall is still pointed out as the floating stone, and you will be told that a thread can be passed beneath it.
Read the complete Buseoksa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Buseoksa Temple sits at 183 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bongjeongsa Temple.
6. back through Bongjeongsa Temple
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bongjeongsa Temple write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bongjeongsa Temple comes up about 253 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Sosu-seowon.
7. back through Sosu-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sosu-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 296 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Sosu-seowon. Next is back through Dosan-seowon.
8. back through Dosan-seowon
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dosan-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dosan-seowon, late in the day. Next is Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A.
9. Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 398 km.
Leg by leg
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A to Dosan-seowon
Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A → Dosan-seowon is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dosan-seowon to Sosu-seowon
Dosan-seowon → Sosu-seowon is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sosu-seowon to Bongjeongsa Temple
Sosu-seowon → Bongjeongsa Temple is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bongjeongsa Temple to Buseoksa Temple
Bongjeongsa Temple → Buseoksa Temple is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Buseoksa Temple to back through Bongjeongsa Temple
Buseoksa Temple → back through Bongjeongsa Temple is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bongjeongsa Temple to back through Sosu-seowon
back through Bongjeongsa Temple → back through Sosu-seowon is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sosu-seowon to back through Dosan-seowon
back through Sosu-seowon → back through Dosan-seowon is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dosan-seowon to Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A
back through Dosan-seowon → Hahoe Cluster: Byeongsanseowon Confucian A is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.