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 Located
just across Yulgongno Street form Changgyeonggung Palace, is a heavily
wooded garden known as the Jongmyo Shrine. Built at the same time as the
Gyeongbok Palace, the Shrine was dedicated to housing the royal
ancestral tablets of the kings of the Joseon Dynasty.
Since then, all but 2 of the kings and their queens are enshrined here.
According to Confucian tradition, the royal family would perform
elaborate rituals here 5 times each year to pay respect to their royal
ancestors. Up to present day, the tradition is still followed, although
the Jongmyo Daeje (Royal Shrine Ritual) is only performed once each
year, in May.
On the first Sunday in May, the inner courtyards and shrines of Jongmyo
are opened to the public for an annual Confucian ceremonial rite. Dozens
of descendents of the royal family gather in court costumes appropriate
for the Joseon period. The rituals are accompanied by traditional court
music played by the Royal Court Orchestra.
 There
is a trifurcated path laid out in front of the main gate of Jongmyo
Royal Shrine. The middle path between the slightly raised roads is the
passageway used by the dead kings, the east road for the king and the
west road for the prince. The road in the middle is connected to
Jeongjeon, while the roads on both sides are linked to a room used for
preparing for the memorial service after performing their ablutions.
After properly preparing the body and mind, the king and the prince then
move on to Jeonsacheong. Jeonsacheong is where food for the memorial
ceremony is prepared. With the yard in the center, the buildings of
Jeonsacheong are square shaped.
The main building, Jeongjeon is where mortuary tablets of kings are
stored and displayed is where the memorial services are held. Only this
place has maintained its tradition so far, even though enshrining
successive kings was originally handed down from China.
Jeongjeon has 19 rooms where each room worships each king. There is
Gongshinjeon within a wall of Jeongjeon which enshrines the sincere
lieges. The music of Jongmyo Royal Shrine memorial services is produced
by instruments, singing, and accompanied with traditional dances as
practiced 500 years ago. The same is done with the melody, which is
handed down through the generations as it was 500 years ago. This
ceremony is the oldest complete ceremony in the world.
In 1995, Jongmyo Shrine was named to UNESCO's prestigious World Heritage
List.
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