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National rituals and symbolic existence that lose the public worth are decayed by new authority. National shrine(Jong Myo, 宗廟) became a place of conflict, especially among the forses of Joseon Aristocracy and colonial power and was piled up with an ugly rumor. Joseon Governor General office’s policy regarding Yi Royal Family(李王家) and the Joseon Aristocracy is closely related on various incidents and transition of the National shrine(Jong Myo, 宗廟). These incidents and transformation were a product generated by the tension between the various forces. And These were occurred in long conflict, not at a time. This transition had a big hit on Korean identity. The image of decline in the National shrine(Jong Myo, 宗廟) was the embarrassing self-portrait of a Korean. The change of National shrine(Jong Myo, 宗廟) shows us well how to leave the traumas of Japanese colonial period by loss of a large symbolic and social meanings.

“Bu’myo( 廟)” is a term that refers to the act of ‘Enshrining a tablet of a deceased ancestor, at the Shrine of the ancestors, after a three-year mourning period.’According to acclaimed ritual manuals such as『 Ye’gi(禮記)』,『 Eui’rye(儀禮)』and 『Juja Ga’rye(朱子家禮)』, the ‘Bu-je( 祭) ritual,’ performed at the time of the ‘Bu’myo’ ceremony, was the stage that followed the Jol’gok-je(卒哭祭) ritual, performed to declare the ‘end of mourning.’ In China, since the Dang dynasty period the Emperor was no longer to observe the rituals for ‘inauspicious occasions(“凶禮”),’ and such protocol continued through the Ming dynasty period. In case of Goryeo the funeral process, as well as the protocols that were observed together, are rarely known due to insufficient data. Yet, we can see that the Chinese funeral rituals observed by the Dang Pum’gwan(品官) officials were very similar to those held by the Joseon Royal family members, and it seems that the Goryeo governmental officials too, although they did not have ‘House shrines(家廟)’ which would show us whether or how they performed the Bu’myo stage, displayed a similar three-year mourning period. In the Joseon dynasty’s National funeral(國葬), the Bu’myo practice was performed at the final stage, and that was the case at the national funeral arranged for the death of king Jeongjo as well. When a tablet of the king was enshrined, the tablets of the king’s most trusted advisors or colleagues(功臣) were shrined at the Gongshindang(功臣堂) shrine as well.

Examined in this article, are all the official institutions that were related to the Sajik-dan altar(Altar for the Grain & Land Deities) established inside the Capital city of Hanseong(Han’yang), in the early days of the Joseon dynasty: How they were formed, and what was the meaning of them. The actual discussions that led to the establishment of such institutions are presented in graphics here. In the 14th and 15th centuries, many or most of the regions in East Asia were experiencing regime changes, and that phenomenon included the transition between the Mongol Yuan empire and the new Ming dynasty. In many of those regions, the state’s control over the local regions was reinforced, and reforms elevated Neo-Confucianism to the level of a new state ideology. The Chinese Ming dynasty itself intended to establish a new international order based upon ritual protocols from its very beginning. It is my belief that such atmosphere upon the international stage, and the changes that were made to the Korean institution of National memorial services in Joseon’s early days, were somehow deeply connected. The Sajik-dan altar seems to have been one of the focal points of such connection. With its foundation, the Joseon government initiated a full-scale overhaul of the dynasty’s national system of ritual services(祀典). The task continued through the reigns of Taejo, Taejong and Sejong, and it was finally completed during the reign of king Seongjong, with the compilation of 『Gukjo O’ryae-eui(Dynastic Ritual Protocols for Five Categories of events)』. The Sajik-dan altar, which was mentioned in the Foundation Proclamation as a facility that should go through extensive modifications alongside the National Shrine, was founded during king Taejo’s reign, modified once during Taejong’s, and became a subject of controversy during Sejong’s reign over the issue of renovating the Altar’s form. Previous studies considered such progress as ‘influenced’ by the time’s rising level of understanding for Neo-Confucian studies or ritual protocols, or dictated by the Ming dynasty’s alleged ‘Contemporary Institutions(時王之制)’ or Ancient, ‘Classical’ institutions of the Tang and Song periods(唐宋). Yet examination of the Sajik-dan institution reveals that discussions regarding the Sajik-dan altar that continued from Taejo’s reign and through subsequent periods did not display any different levels of understanding. Even the controversy in Sejong’s reign seems to have been caused by a implementation problem, so it would need more bases to suggest the existence of an evolutionary trail to be found from the entire chain of events. In the early days of Taejo’s reign, the capital city was being transferred from Gaeseong to Han’yang, and the new capital was being rapidly built, so changes that were made to the Sajik-dan altar was less than extensive. The overall size was only modified from 5 Jang units to 2 Jang and 5 Cheok units, and the previous format, which was only equipped with a 周垣(fence) and without a Yu/ (platform with small fences around outside altar), was never changed. Yet at this occasion, there was a concern that the chosen size(from the Ju-dynasty measurement) would cause some problems in holding ritual performance, so a same size but by another measurement system(영조척) was chosen, and the finalized altar measured 7.5 meters in size. In the later days of Taejong’s reign, a series of shrines and altars were created as facilities where services of the ‘Auspicious’ category would be held, and the Sajik-dan altar was renovated as well. At this time, a Yu/ (platform with small fences around outside altar) unit measuring 30 meters in width(25 Bo units, counted from the Judynasty measurement) was deployed, and a surrounding 垣墻[ 墻, 周垣](fences) outside the altar surrounded by a small fence) was established outside, according to the geographic features of the area. Naturally, a mismatch between an altar which was built with a Yeongjo-cheok scale, and the Yu and fences built with Ju-measurements, caused the controversy that occurred during Sejong’s days. During the reign of Sejong, Park Yeon pointed out the problem of operating the altar with only single Yu fence. The Jib’hyeon-jeon office examined the altar, the Yu and the surrounding fences, and its recommendation was put upon the table for discussion. Park Yeon argued that the upper and lower Yu fences would both be required, yet his suggestion was never actively discussed. Instead, the discrepancy between two measurement systems was discussed, and the width of the Yu fence was modified to 45 meters(15 Jang units, according to the Yeongjo-cheok system), while the space between the altars was also a little enlarged. We can corroborate the employment of Yeongjo-cheok in all aspects, from the 『Gukjo O’ryae-eui』. Yet the vestige that remains today suggests that the overall size and width remained the same, even after the above-mentioned ‘discussions.’ We cannot be sure whether they actually went through a modification, or went through it and was later reversed to their original forms. Unlike how it was stated in the proclamation which was made when the dynasty was founded, modifying the format of the Sajik-dan altar to conform to those of the vassal states, the Joseon Sajik-dan altar came to display a unique feature. Only the size of the altar was reduced with the tablets changed as well, while the actual proceedings reflected that of an imperial level, using the Major Sacrifice(태뢰) instead of the Minor Sacrifice(小牢), even though it was referred to the vassal-level Sajik services. According to Joseon’s status, only the soil with the color of the country’s direction was to be used, and not all five colors that could be used by the emperor, yet Joseon’s Sajik-dan altar used all five colors anyway. Also, the reduced size was not that ‘reduced’ after all, as it used the Yeongjo-cheok system and not the Ju system. Although the Joseon officials argued that they were abiding by the Contemporary protocols and their own studies of the Classical institutions, the protocols they were employing were new and unique. This seems to have been a result of the Joseon government’s will to, while embracing the hierarchy order in protocol terms laid out by Ming, establish Joseon’s own image as a country upholding the values and principles of the Extraordinary Sino-centric culture.

Joseon Dynasty was a Confucian based society and Jongmyo(宗廟, Royal ancestral shrine, designated as Historic Site of Korea and also UNESCO’s world heritage) was representative architecture of Confucian ideology of Joseon Dynasty. Jongmyo was started with foundation of Joseon Dynasty and grew with growth of Joseon Dynasty and halted with demolition of Joseon Dynasty. As with any building over time, depending on the shape and alters the number of initial repair and modification, and expansion followed. For these changes, I have researched transition process of Jongmyo through 3 different Uigwe(儀軌, records of Royal Protocols in the Court of Joseon Dynasty), and reviewed each of the evolution of architectures, such as historial documents and drawings been investigated as a reference. By doing this, I tried to understand Jongmyo more deeply and thought about its conservational meaning in our times. Main architecture of Jongmyo are Jeongjeon(正殿, Main hall) and Yeongnyeongjeon (永寧殿). As dynasty flourished along with the increasing tablet should escort, Jongmyo had undergone many repairs and modification. Especially in case of Jeongjeon and Yeongnyeongjeon, their architectural scale went bigger and bigger as increasing tablet should escort based on Confucian manner. And annexed many buildings were changed according to the Confucian manner and geographical characteristics. A review on these transition enables deep understanding of present architectures and can be a very important basic documents of repair or restoration. Three Uigwe, main material of this review are ‘Yeongnyeongjeon sugaedogam uigwe(published in King Hyeonjong’s reign 8th year, 1667)’,‘ Jongmyo gaesudogam uigwe(published in King Yeongjo’s reign 1st year, 1725), and‘ Jongmyo yeongnyeongjeon jeungsudogam uigwe(published in King Heonjong’s reign 2nd year, 1836). They have lots of resources about each repair or modification. In case of the uigwe published in King Hyeonjong’s reign is focused on change of Yeongnyeongjeon’s scale. In case of the uigwe published in King Yeongjo’s reign have contents mainly about extension of Jeongjeon. In case of the uigwe published in King Heonjong’s reign have contents about both extension of Jeongjeon and Yeongnyeongjeon. They also have lots of resources about transition of annexed architectures due to repairs. So they are very important documents to understand transition process of Jongmyo architecture. ‘Jongmyo sugae deungrok(published from 1658 to 1735)’,‘ Jongmyo chinjegyuje doseol byeongpung(published around 1920s, folding screen described in manner of ritual ceremony in royal shrine)’and other documents which have lots of minute resources about repair are also referred. Through analysis on these resources, I have totalized foundations and transitions of Jeongjeon, Yeongnyeongjeon and annexed architectures. As result, including transition process of Jeongjeon and Yeongnyeongjeon, it could be possible to know about various transition process of many architectures of Jongmyo.

The city of Seoul was reconstructed hastily in terms of “the priority to any other thing”in a short time after Korean War without any process of collecting various opinions or concrete and detailed long term project for that. I am sorry that Seoul missed the proper opportunity to be reborn as historical city at that period. I remember Commitment of Unesco had a round exhibition in 1981 in Korea in celebrating of the registration of Angkorwat in World Heritage with the education and information of Unesco World heritage. The development of the southern area of Han River(漢江) in Seoul came to be the zenith at that time but the inner area of Four Gates in Seoul was left out of any concern of historical site. While traditional Korean style house area was displaced for multiplex house and the surrounding area of Four Gates was destroyed carelessly for the development of the super-high apartment complex, large-scale office areas and commercial buildings encroached on the other sites of the historical city. After all, old structure of the city has been broken rashly by the development of grand-scale apartment complex and multiplex houses with high-developed underground area. For the period of the first and second Mayors of Seoul elected by the people, we should have remove and clean away various adverse effects of development project accomplished by the former government to recover the historical sites in priority. But the city projects of restoration of Cheong-Gye Cheon(淸溪川), Economy Herb, Seoul Renaissance and Design City has been planed to be fulfilled in discord with the recovery and preservation of historical sites in Seoul or with indifference to it. I am not sure that these projects have certain meanings in the long-term prospect of the city. Seoul has the best condition of location to provide citizen with the circumstances for the high-level quality of life. We should think over what urbanity should be given to the city and what we do to search for the unique and special property of Seoul.

Examined in this article, is the political meaning of king Gwang’hae-gun’s construction of a ‘New Palace(新闕), as well as the changes that happened in the meaning and status of the Western Special palace(西別宮, also named as Gyeongdeok-gung/慶德宮). After his enthronement, king Gwang’hae-gun renovated certain palaces like Changdeok-gung/昌德宮and Chang’gyeong-gung/昌慶宮, and eight years later, decided to pursue the construction of a new palace, in his 9th year in the throne. He intended to create a special(separate) palace in the vicinity of the West Grandgate( “Western Special palace”), and create an additional Ih’gung/離宮structure in its rear area, so that he could meet with the foreign emissaries without revealing too much information to them, such as the inside layout of the main palace or the internal situations of the capital city. Yet as construction began, the Western Special palace became so large that it practically came to serve as an Ih’gung structure. And at the same time, after prince Yeongchang Daegun was killed and Queen Inmok Wang’hu was expelled, the Gyeong’un-gung/慶運宮palace was renamed as Seo’ gung/西宮and was stripped of its prior status as an Ih’gung structure. The structures inside the Gyeong’un-gung palace were dismantled, and summarily relocated to Gyeongdeok-gung.