At the end of the 14th century, after the Joseon Dynasty replaced the fallen Goryeo Dynasty and established the capital of Seoul (then called Hanyang, now called Seoul), a temple was built on the east side of the palace, the Jongmyo of the Royal Family (Note), to worship the Joseon Dynasty. Therefore, it is the spiritual card of the monarchs of the past dynasties. At that time, the descendants of the royal family held an ancestor worship ceremony in the ancestral temple every year. This is the largest and most important sacrificial sacrifice among the state sacrifices in the Joseon Dynasty, also known as the "Jongmyo Festival".
It "is the highest-grade royal ceremonies held in accordance with the Confucian tradition. The purpose is to practice the oriental basic concept of "filial piety" in the whole country, so as to play the role of forming a sense of ties and order of the national community." offering. Regular festivals are held in the first month of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter (January, April, July, October) and the twelfth lunar month (the twelfth lunar festival held on a selected day in December); temporary festivals are held every time the country encounters good or bad things.
The ceremony is very solemn and strict. The procedure is to welcome the god, to delight the god and to send the god.
In addition to offering food, wine and other offerings, musicians in red costumes also perform ritual music during the sacrificial ceremony. Jongmyo sacrificial music originated from "Bao Taiping" and "Dong Daye" used in banquets in the palace of King Sejong of Joseon. In the 10th year of King Sejong (1428), the music required for sacrificial sacrificial music was supplemented, and it was officially designated as Jongmyo sacrificial music. The ritual music at that time used percussion instruments such as chimes and chimes to play the main melody, and orchestral instruments such as flute, bamboo flute, xiqin, and yazheng played decorative melody, with solemn rhythm and elegant tune. In the process of performing ritual music, there are also performances of "Wenwu" and "Wuwu", which are dances expressing Wenzhi and martial arts.
Since the ancestor worship ceremony was finalized in 1462, it has been passed down almost unchanged for more than 500 years, becoming one of the rare ceremonial cultures in the world. After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, with the demise of the Korean kingdom, the ancestor worship ceremony was forced to end. After 1945, although the monarchy of the Joseon Dynasty no longer existed, the ancestor worship activities of Jongmyo Temple gradually resumed in Seoul, and gradually evolved into a folk custom in Korea. Now, ancestor worship at the ancestral temple is only held once a year on the first Sunday of May in the Gregorian calendar. It was officiated by the descendants of the last dynasty, the descendants of the Li royal family, and they all wore ancient dresses. Hundreds of makeup artists and students participated in the accompaniment. The solemn sacrificial ceremony usually takes several hours to complete under the free onlookers of the public at home and abroad. A Chinese scholar said: This kind of ancestral worship ceremony at the Jongmyo "contains the essence of the Confucian thought of loyalty and filial piety, which has a major influence in various important fields in Korea."
Jongmyo ritual music has been designated by the Korean government as the No. 1 national important intangible cultural property ; The sacrificial ceremony is designated as National Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 55. Relevant departments also organize training for performing artists of sacrificial ceremonies in due course. The National Traditional Drama Center of Korea and the National Conservatory of Music are also collaborating on research on traditional costumes, supplies, musical scores and musical instruments related to ancestor worship activities.
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