Why this ride
A 251 km round trip from Eisen - roughly 5 h 11 in the saddle. On the way it passes Bongjeongsa Temple, Dosan-seowon, Byeongsan-seowon and back through Dosan-seowon.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sosu-seowon and Byeongsan-seowon
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 251 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 11
- 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. 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
Sosu-seowon is where the day begins. Next is Bongjeongsa Temple.
2. 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 comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dosan-seowon.
3. 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
about 74 km into the recorded legs you reach Dosan-seowon. Next is Byeongsan-seowon.
4. Byeongsan-seowon
Byeongsan Seowon sits above a bend of the Nakdong river, a few kilometres from the village of Hahoe and about fifteen kilometres from Andong, in the rolling, rural interior of North Gyeongsang province. The river curves around a cliff face called Buyongdae, and the academy looks across the water to the opposite cliff in a way that is almost a painting. Andong, a city of about a hundred and thirty thousand people, is the nearest place of any size.
Read the complete Byeongsan-seowon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byeongsan-seowon, about halfway. Next is back through Dosan-seowon.
5. 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 sits at 148 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 209 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sosu-seowon.
7. 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
Sosu-seowon closes the day.
Leg by leg
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 Dosan-seowon
Bongjeongsa Temple → Dosan-seowon is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dosan-seowon to Byeongsan-seowon
Dosan-seowon → Byeongsan-seowon is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byeongsan-seowon to back through Dosan-seowon
Byeongsan-seowon → back through Dosan-seowon is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dosan-seowon to back through Bongjeongsa Temple
back through Dosan-seowon → back through Bongjeongsa Temple is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bongjeongsa Temple to Sosu-seowon
back through Bongjeongsa Temple → Sosu-seowon is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.