Take a moment to look slowly around the space before you.

For this exhibition, a seoyeon lesson has been recreated with two low writing desks, books, and a chaekgado folding screen painted with books and scholarly objects.

The crown prince sits to the east.

Facing him sits his tutor.

The formal lessons given to a crown prince were called seoyeon.

A morning lesson.
A midday lesson.
An evening lesson.
In principle, lessons were held three times a day.

The rules for regular review sessions give us a more vivid sense of how the crown prince studied.

He first recited material he had learned previously. Only then did he study the pronunciation and meaning of the new passage.

His tutors made sure that he properly understood what he had already learned before the lesson moved forward.

Now imagine yourself sitting in the crown prince’s place.

Your tutor is seated before you.

A Confucian classic lies open in your hands.

The tutor asks you about a passage you read yesterday.

You recall it.
You explain what it means.
Only then does the next passage begin.

The crown prince’s education was not simply about accumulating new knowledge as quickly as possible.

It meant returning to what he had already learned, studying it again, and then moving forward just a little further.

That repetition continued, day after day.

Here, you can watch a filmed recreation of a seoyeon lesson.

On selected days, you may also see the lesson reenacted live by actors.