K-Royal Palace Culture Festival Hails Children, Adults to Grand Ancestral Rite of Joseon Dynasty

연합뉴스 / 2024-04-30 15:03:42

▲ This photo, provided by the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation on April 30, 2024, shows children enjoying various traditional programs held in Jongmyo Shrine in central Seoul as part of this year's K-Royal Culture Festival. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- Jongmyo Daeje, one of the major ceremonies of the Joseon Dynasty conducted directly by the king, will take place next month.

The National Intangible Heritage Center, the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, and the Jongmyo Daeje Committee announced on the 25th that the Jongmyo Daeje will be held at Yeongnyeongjeon in Jongmyo Shrine on May 5 at 2 p.m.

Jongmyo is a shrine where the ancestral tablets of the kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty are enshrined.

This year, due to ongoing restoration work at Jongmyo, the ancestral rite will be held at Yeongnyeongjeon.

The ceremony includes rituals such as welcoming the spirits after the officials enter, offering food, and raising wine cups. There is also a custom of sharing the food used in the ceremony.

As the ceremony serves as a model for etiquette and propriety, the strict procedures followed during the ceremony are worth noting.

To observe the Yeongnyeongjeon ancestral rite up close, online reservations are required.

Pre-reservations can be made through TicketLink starting from 2 p.m. on April 29, with a capacity of 150 people.

National merit recipients, individuals aged 65 and older, and people with disabilities can make reservations by phone. Visitors without reservations can watch the ceremony on large screens installed at Yeongnyeongjeon and in front of Jeongjeon.

The ceremony will also be live-streamed on the official YouTube accounts of the Cultural Heritage Administration and the K-Royal Palaces and Tombs Center.

During the period of the "K-Royal Palace Culture Festival" (April 27 to May 5) this year, events such as experiencing the instruments used in Jongmyo Jeryeak and exhibitions reenacting the ancestral rites of Jongmyo will also be held.