Jongmyo Shrine [UNESCO World Heritage]

About this place

Jongmyo (宗廟) is the state shrine where the spirit tablets of the successive kings and queens of Joseon and the emperors and empresses of the Korean Empire are enshrined and ancestral rites are performed. Jongmyo includes the main building, Jeongjeon, and a separate shrine, Yeongnyeongjeon, as well as several ancillary structures. After the founding of Joseon, Jongmyo was established at its present site in 1395 (the 4th year of King Taejo), following the rite that 'the royal ancestral shrine (Jongmyo) is placed to the left of the palace and the shrine of state (Sajik) to the right.' At its founding only the present Jeongjeon existed, so it was called 'Daemyo, Taemyo, or Jongmyo.' As a vassal state, Joseon enshrined spirit tablets in Jongmyo under the five-shrine system (obmyoje), honoring the founding progenitor (Taejo) and the four preceding generations of the reigning king (great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, and father). Later, in the reign of King Sejong, after repeated deliberations about the tablets of kings whose four generations had passed—excluding Taejo—under the five-shrine system, a new separate shrine (byeolmyo) was built beside Jeongjeon and named 'Yeongnyeongjeon.' The tablets of kings past four generations were all moved to and enshrined in Yeongnyeongjeon; then, in the reign of Yeonsangun, tablets came to be enshrined according to the rites of 'sesil' (permanently enshrining a tablet in Jeongjeon for generations) and 'jocheon' (moving a tablet to Yeongnyeongjeon). Under these rites, at the bumyorye (the ceremony of enshrining a spirit tablet in Jongmyo) held after the three-year mourning (27 months) for a king and queen had ended, the tablet was first enshrined in Jeongjeon, and thereafter, designated as either 'sesil' or 'jocheon,' the tablets were enshrined in Jeongjeon and Yeongnyeongjeon respectively. As the number of enshrined tablets grew, the spirit chambers were expanded several times, reaching the present scale of 19 bays in Jeongjeon and 16 bays in Yeongnyeongjeon. In addition, within the Jongmyo grounds there are buildings such as Mangmyoru (望廟樓, where officials of the Jongmyo Office (Jongmyoseo) handled affairs related to the rites), Hyangdaecheong (香大廳, where incense and written prayers were kept), Jaegung (齋宮, where the king and crown prince prepared to perform the rites), and Jeonsacheong (典祀廳, where the ritual food was prepared).