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 Jongmyo |
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Throughout much of traditional Asian culture,
including China and Korea, rite has been highly important, and in
modern society preserving rite carries with it the meaning of maintaining
basic social order. There are a number of rituals which are considered
important forms of rite, and the most significant of these in Korea
are the Jongmyo and the Sajik rituals. Jongmyo is the term used for
a place where memorial services are performed for deceased kings,
and Sajik is the term for a place where services for the Gods of Earth
and Crops are performed. These rituals are symbols for nations themselves
in that they guarantee order and successful ruling of the nation.
Consequently, due to the importance of these rituals, the Jongmyo and Sajik shrines where the rituals are performed are classic in their architectural grace, detail and beauty.
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Although such facilities existed in Korea as
early as the Three Kingdoms Period, those that remain today in Seoul
are from the Joseon Dynasty(1392-1910).
The first Jongmyo of the dynasty was erected in Seoul in 1395, and
the main hall, Jeongjeon, contained 7 rooms, One room was used for
the memorial tablets of one king and his queen. The 4th king of the
dynasty, King Sejong, had an additional hall, Yeongnyeongjeon("Hall
of Eternal comfort"), built beside the main hall to house all
of the tablets which could not be housed in the main hall. With successive
reigns and an increasingly large number of memorial tablets, however,
additions had to be made to the facilities.
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| Rooms were added from west to east
until there ware a total of 19. The original Jongmyo, however, was
destroyed in 1592, and today's Jongmyo was built in 1601. Jongmyo
was located to the left of the main palace, Gyeongbokgung, and Sajik
was built to the right (as viewed from the king's throne), a tradition
of planning which goes back to ancient China. The main hill of the
Jongmyo complex is called Yeungbong, and from it a number of smaller
hills extend southward until they encompass the Jongmyo compound of
the Jeongjeon, Yeongnyeongjeon and other auxiliary buildings. They
were built according to terrain, however, and in totality they appear
to the modern eye not to be very balanced in distribution. Jeongjeon
is comprised of 19 identical rooms, and they are extremely simple
with no ornamentation. However, the building as a whole is both grand
and impressive, and the twenty thick, round pillars sufficiently project
the dignity and grandeur of royalty. In front of Jeongjeon is an impressive
150-meter-long, 100-meter-wide elevated stone yard called "Woldae"
which is used during ceremonies by musicians, dancers and other participants.
The large stone blocks which compose the yard provide a striking and
solemn atmosphere as they lay in silence before Jeongjeon, and the
yard greatly complements the architecture. The Jongmyo ritual itself
has been designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property by the
government not only for its historical importance but for the splendor
of the music, dance and ceremony. |
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