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Jongmyo
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How it came to be
Jongmyo is the Confucian shrine that holds the spirit tablets of the kings and queens of the Joseon dynasty. It was built in October 1394, when Taejo, the dynasty's founder, moved the capital to Hanseong, today's Seoul. Its main hall, Jeongjeon, was a row of chambers for the tablets and was thought at the time to be one of the longest buildings in Asia. King Sejong added a second hall, Yeongnyeongjeon.
During the Japanese invasions of 1592 to 1598 the shrine was burned down, and the tablets survived only because they were hidden in a commoner's house. The buildings rebuilt in 1601 still stand. As more tablets were added, the hall was extended from west to east until it had 19 chambers. Jeongjeon now holds the tablets of 19 kings and 30 queens, and Yeongnyeongjeon those of 16 kings and 18 queens.
The ancestral rite, Jongmyo Jerye, with its music, song and dance, is still performed here. UNESCO calls Jongmyo the oldest and most authentic Confucian royal shrine to survive, with a ritual tradition that goes back to the 14th century. It was inscribed in 1995.
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