Jongmyo Light and Shadow BW
by Joan Carroll
Title
Jongmyo Light and Shadow BW
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Art
Description
We visited Jongmyo (Seoul, South Korea) on a cold December weekend morning and found it largely deserted, despite it being one of the five major temple/shrine complexes in Seoul. Perhaps the rather plain architecture compared with some of the other historic sites in Seoul accounts for the lack of crowds. Or maybe it was just the frigid temperature, when none but mad dogs and tourists are out and about! Jongmyo is a Confucian shrine dedicated to the perpetuation of memorial services for the deceased kings and queens of the Korean Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). Jongmyo's atmosphere is solemn and sacred rather than splendid like the royal palaces. The simple and elegant buildings of this shrine have faithfully kept their original forms since the 16th century. This is part of Jongmyo's main hall, Jeongjeon, where the royal ancestral rites are performed. The main hall is an outstanding example of traditional Korean architecture and is said to be the world's longest single wooden structure at 109 m. The reason for the building's great length is that new chambers were added to the ends as necessary in order to hold more memorial tablets. Jongmyo is the oldest preserved royal Confucian shrine and even today the ritual ceremonies continue in a tradition established in the 14th century. The Jongmyo Shrine was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995. The main buildings of Jongmyo were constructed in October, 1394 when Taejo, first king ofJoseon Dynasty, moved the capital to Seoul. It was destroyed by fire in the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-98), then rebuilt in 1608.
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Uploaded
February 4th, 2015
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