Today, which was the first day of the program, we visitied Sungkyunkwan. Sungkyunkwan is an

educational institution where outstanding students of Joseon dynasty studied. Only the smart, male students could study there. The students were taught Confucianism because Joseon was established based on Confucianism.

 When you arrive at the entrance of Sungkyunkwan, you can see two monuments standing right next to each other. They are Tangpyeongbi, which has Yongjo's handwritten words and Hamabi, which tells us to dismount from the horse. You can also see Sinsammun and Dongsammun which are the gates of Munmyo, too. 

 There are some inportant buildings you can see in Sungkyunkwan. First, Jegigo is a place where the equipments for Munmyo ritual is kept. Subokcheong is a residence for male survents and Jeonsacheong is a place where you prepare food for the ritual. Daeseongjeon is an important shrine where the spirits of Confucius, great scholars, and sages is kept. In front of the Daeseongjeon there are two thuja trees which have three branches and five branches. And these trees mean three Confucian guides and five Confucian relationships.

 The buildings that impressed me the most was Myeongryundang, Dongjae and Seojae. Myeongryundang is a place where students had lessons. I was surprised with the chinese chracters written on the board. Dongjae and Sepjae is the dormitary for the students and there is a drum to wake students up. I was shocked when I heard that the students woke up at 6 am. It is too early!! And two 500 years old gingko trees are standing in front of the Myeongryundang too.

 Besides these buildings and monments there were many more things you can see like Jhinsa-sikdang, Jongyeonggak, and Yukilgak in Sungkyunkwan. I guess Sungkyunkwan is a really huge place. Anyway, I was little tired and irritated because of the hot sunny weather, but it was a great time for me to learn more about Sungkyunkwan. It was a great experience for me. Thank you.