The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of Chinese seowons and to obtain data based on the characteristics of waterscapes unique to Korean seowons. The conclusion of this study from the results of investigation and analysis of the location, water system, and design characteristics of 10 representative traditional seowons in China including Yuelu Seowon(嶽麓書院) conducted based on literature research and field observation is as follows. The water system of Chinese seowons is dualized into an inner and an outer water system, and in general, two and a maximum of three water bodies are superimposed on the outside. The locations of seowons are classified into five types: Four double-sided round water type sites, three converted face water type sites, one three-sided round water type site, a four-sided round water type, and a waterproofing type(依山傍水型). Therefore, compared to the typical Korean seowon facing water in the front and a mountain in the back(背山面水型), the Chinese seowons showed a highly hydrophilic property. The water shapes of the external water system were meandering(46.0%), mooring(36.0%), and broad and irregular(9.0%). In addition, water conception(水態) were streams(31.8%), rivers(27.3%), springs(13.6%), falls(9.1%), lakes(4.5%) and ponds(4.5%), in that order. As for waterscapes of the water system inside the seowon, there were seven in Akrok Seowon and four in Mansong Seowon, indicating a comparatively higher number of waterscapes. Since the 27 detailed waterscapes in 10 seowons that were the subject of the study were classified into six types including ponds and half-moon ponds, they appeared to be more diverse than the Korean seowon. It is noteworthy that in the interior waterscape of the traditional Chinese seowon, the ritualistic order, where at least one half-moon pond or square pond(方池) was arranged, is well displayed. In particular, the half-moon pond(伴池), which is difficult to find in Korean seowon, was found to be a representative waterscape element, accounting for 42.8%. If the square pond of Nanxi Seowon based on Zhu Xi's poem 「Gwanseoyugam(觀書有感)」 is also treated as a square-shaped half-moon pond, the proportion of half-moon ponds in the waterscape will be as high as 50%. The pond shapes consisted of 28% square, 24% each for free curve and round shape, 20% for semi-moon shape, and 3.8% for mountain stream type. This seems to differ greatly from the square-shaped Korean seowon. On the other hand, there were a total of 10 types of structures related to the waterscape inside the Chinese seowon: 11(26.8%) pavilion and bridge sites, five gate room sites(牌坊: 16.5%), four gate and tower sites(樓, 1.4%), two Jae sites(齋, 6.2%), and one site each(3.1%) of Heon(軒), Sa(祠), Dae(臺), and Gak(閣). In particular, the pavilions inside seowon were classified into three types: landscape pavilion(景觀亭 27.2%), tombstone pavilion(碑亭, 18.2%), and banquet pavilion(宴集亭, 54.5%). In general, it was confirmed that the half-moon pond with a pedestal bridge, and the pavilion were the major components with a high degree of connection that dominate the waterscape inside the Chinese seowon.