Jongmyo is the royal shrine where the memorial services for the
kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty were performed. The structure represents
the greatest religious implications from a Confucian perspective. Since the
principal ideology of the Joseon Dynasty was based on Confucianism, the services
performed in Jongmyo must also be viewed as an extension of political
activities.
The Jongmyo Shrine, Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple in
Gyeongju, and the Tripitaka Koreana of Haeinsa Temple were the first monuments
to be listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The Seokguram Grotto and
Bulguksa Temple sites, are precious national treasures that feature the essence
of Buddhist art from in the times of the Shilla. The Tripitaka Koreana, is the
most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal text in the world. Korean people also
view these sites as extremely precious and were not surprised in the least when
they became World Heritage Sites.
The Jongmyo Shrine, however, is relatively small compared to
Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty, and has less
aesthetic value than other structures like, for example, Changdeokgung Palace.
In spite of this, the Jongmyo Shrine was one of the first Korean national
monuments listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This demonstrates that the Jongmyo Shrine has an indigenous value
that has been largely neglected by the Korean people. The value of the shrine
does not come from the structure itself, but rather from its historical
background. The real value of the Jongmyo Shrine is in its excellent
preservation of the history of the Joseon Dynasty through its dedication to all
the deceased kings and queens over 500 years in one place. As more is learned
about the Jongmyo Shrine, more values are discovered that justify the legitimacy
of it as one of most precious national monuments in Korea.
In 1394, King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, ordered
that the capital should be moved to Hanyang, present-day Seoul. King Taejo
ordered the building of the Jongmyo, the royal shrine for the memorial service,
to the left of Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Sajikdan, the altar for the god of
the earth and grain, to the right of the palace. The Jongmyo Shrine was
completed in 1395, one year after moving the capital and before the completion
of the construction of Gyeongbokgung Palace itself.
What was the reason behind building the Jongmyo and Sajikdan on
each side of the main palace? The Jongmyo is the royal shrine dedicated to the
memorial services for deceased kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty, and the
Sajikdan is the altar for the god of the earth and grain. Having these two
structures on each side of the main palace implies that the legitimacy and
authority of founders of the Joseon Dynasty had been approved by the divinely
sanctioned.
The Jongmyo Shrine is regarded as a sacred ground of Confucianism.
Since Confucianism does not worship a deity or God as in Christianity or
Buddhism, the legitimacy that runs from the ancestors becomes the sacred
ideology of Confucianism. That is why the shrine was the first royal structure
built by King Taejo, founder of the Joseon Dynasty. Not surprisingly, the
Jongmyo Shrine was the first building structure to be rebuilt after the complete
destruction of all the palaces and the main building structures during the
Japanese invasion of 1592. This suggests that the Jongmyo Shrine had the
greatest religious and political significance within the Joseon Dynasty.
In China, the Taemyo is a counterpart of the Jongmyo in Korea. But
the culture of Confucianism has been dying out in China since the Communist
Revolution of 1949. Although the building structure of the Taemyo still remains
in Beijing, no memorial services are conducted on this site. The shrine for
commemorating the deceased emperors of Japan is somewhat different from the
Jongmyo Shrine of Korea as the system for appointing an Emperor is still
maintained. The uniqueness of the Jongmyo is its continuity of the spirit of
Confucianism even today after the fall of the Joseon monarchy. From this
perspective, the Jonmyo Shrine is the represents the spirit of Confucianism
throughout the world.
The aesthetics of Jongmyo Shrine
The Jongmyo shrine dedicates 83 ancestral tablets of Taejo, a
founder of the Joseon Dynasty, his ancestors to four generations, high-ranking
officers who helped King Taejo in the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, and kings
and queens thereafter for over 500 years. The Jongmyo features an architectural
style of magnificence and divinity as it represents the supreme royal shrine of
the Joseon Dynasty. Its subtle beauty of dignity and prestige is unmatched in
the palaces of Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung Palace. Since the Jongmyo was the
most sacred and solemn space in Joseon, the structures were not decorated with
the usual colorful paintings and patterns. The Jeongjeon, the main hall
dedicated to the 48 tablets of deceased kings and queens, has a great
solemnity.
The image of Jeongjeon Hall viewed from the Nam-mun, the main
gate, holds the beauty of a simple black tiled roof top and presents a formal
calmness. The plain design of the structure looks like the plain face of a
person. The Jeongjeon Hall has asymmetric dimensions of101 meters long to the
side on a foundation to 110 meters wide and 70 meters vertically.
It resembles the figure of coupled trains. The Jeongjeon Hall was
meant to be built this way to serve its unique function during the Joseon
Dynasty. Yet, another aesthetic perspective has been added to the structure. The
Jeongjeon Hall had 25 kan (compartments) with 19 Kan for the ancestral tablets
and 3 kan of spacing compartments on each end. The original design had only 7
kan when King Taejo ordered its construction, however, as the dynasty passed
throne after throne through 500 years, the Jeongjeon Hall had to be extended at
the ends to accommodate more tablets of deceased royalty, and maintain the
divine order of the Dynasty’s ancestral tablets.
| There were four major extensions to the original structure that led to the current configuration of the Jeongjeon Hall. These major extensions notwithstanding, the Jeongjeon Hall has maintained its original structural integrity of one complete building. |
It features different architectural styles shown in the extensions
while maintaining the beauty of the uniformed integrity of the building. Many
scholars of historical monuments both foreign and domestic are often charmed by
the monotone architectural configuration with variations in the style of the
Jeongjeon.
The legacy of Jongmyo
The Jongmyo Shrine was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and
the Jongmyo Jerye cermemony, held for the worship of the late kings and queens
of the Joseon Dynasty, with Jongmyo Jeryeak, court music played
at the ritual, were inducted as UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity in 2001. The three elements completing the legacy of the
Jongmyo Shrine, the physical structure of Jongmyo, the Jongmyo
Jerye, and the Jongmyo Jeryeak must be
evaluated as one. These three elements become one and represent the prototype of
Korean cultural heritage from its monarchy. UNESCO placed a high value on its
continuing legacy and heritage even after the end of the Joseon Dynasty by
listing both the site and the rituals as world heritage sites.
The Jongmyo Jerye is held on the first Monday of May every year. In the Joseon Dynasty, there were at least five rituals held at the shrine each year. Today, the rituals have been revived, beginning with the King’s Parade to the Jongmyo. The royal carriage starts its march to the shrine from the Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the Gyeongbokgung, to the Sejongro, Jongro, and the Jongmyo. The primary cast members for the rituals are provided by the organization representing the descendants of the royal family, Daedong Jongyakwon, with the help of 1,200 other actors. The total cost of one ritual event is over 0.8 billion KRW even though the scale has been downsized from its original magnitude. A total of 3,500 utensils are used for the ritual, many of them are customized to uphold the philosophical representation embedded in the unique shapes of dishes, cups, and bowls.
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