Choe Chung’s Academy and the Rise of Private Schools

When the retired chief minister Choe Chung opened his Nine-Course Academy, twelve private schools flourished; as state schools declined, later kings revived them.

Aristocratic sons preparing for the examinations flocked to Choe Chung’s academy (the Munheon-gong-do) and eleven other private schools, and Choe was called the "Confucius of the East". Because private-school masters often served as examiners, aristocratic lineages bound themselves together through school ties.

To revive state education, Sukjong set up a printing office, Yejong created seven specialized courses (including military studies) at the National University, an endowment called Yanghyeongo (1119) and the Cheongyeongak and Bomungak research halls, and Injong reorganized the university into six colleges and expanded county schools.