Kyeongjae is the hanging wooden plaque hung at Dojondang School that was founded by Jeong Jongno (1783-1816, pen name Ipjae) in 1809 (9th year of King Sunjo) in Usan-ri, Oeseo-myeon, Sangju. The Chinese Confucian scholar Zhu Xi explained ‘Kyeong (敬)’ to be a state of mind that mainly focuses on one thing and does not stray away from it [主一無適]. If one’s mind is restless with desires, it would stray away and never reach a proper understanding of things. Thus the term ‘Kyeong’ refers to a way in which one cultivates one’s mind in the state with no prejudice but with a full awareness. It was derived from the passage in “Kun” of the Book of Changes , which says, “The superior man by his self-reverence (Kyeong) maintains the inward, and in righteousness adjusts his external acts. His reverence and righteousness being established, his virtues are not solitary instances. [君子敬以直內 義以方外 敬義立而德不孤]” Following the teachings of Zhu Xi and Toegye, Jeong Jongno also put great emphasis on ‘Kyeong’, taking ‘Mujeok (無適)’ from ‘主一無適’ as his alternative pen name.
The calligraphy letters are written by an unknown hand in the square style with fluid vitality.