I visited this WHS in May 2017 using the combination ticket to 4 Palaces and this shrine. Unlike most sites in South Korea, it is closed on Tuesdays. Having done some reading prior to visiting the site and also by attentively reading the superb information boards on site, I opted to visit on a Saturday to be able to visit at leisure. Even though I visited the site when it's truly active with the Royal Culture Festival taking place during the first week of May, the crowds were not that huge and the nighttime performance (entrance with prior registration) with royal ancestral ritual music was a truly unexpected highlight.

Jongmyo Shrine is the supreme shrine of the state where the tablets of royal ancestors (top right photo) are enshrined and memorial services are performed for deceased kings and queens. The construction of Jongmyo predates that of the main palace of Seoul, Gyeongbokgung. According to Confucian philosophy and the concepts of geomancy, it was built on the east side of the royal palace, while the Sajik Shrine, where ritual services for the gods of earth and crops were performed, was built on the west side.

Several kings and queens were enshrined with the passage of time, making it necessary to expand to what we see today. When a king or queen died, mourning at the palace would continue for 3 whole years! After that period of mourning, memorial tablets of the deceased were moved to Jongmyo and enshrined in Jeongjeon (top left photo), which now has 19 spirit chambers and houses a total of 49 tablets. The second largest is Yeongnyeongjeon, which has 16 spirit chambers and houses 34 tablets.

Apart from being a truly unique Confucian site, what gives this site OUV is the fact that of all the Confucian sites in Asia, Jongmyo is the only preserved one and continues to be used today for royal ancestral rites. The most important state ritual, Jongmyo Jerye, performed once a year in May with ritual instrumental music, singing and dancing, is inscribed on the Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Moreover, other ceremonies to report important state affairs or to pray for the state are performed at Jongmyo.

None of Jongmyo's facilities are lavishly adorned. The idea is to emphasize solemnity, piety and sublimity. Through its extreme simplicity, one is supposed to feel the deep meaning of life and death as well as the sacred legacy of the Joseon Dynasty. A similar passageway to the Royal Joseon Tombs, called Sillo, consists of 3 separate footpaths paved with stones for ancestral rituals. The slightly raised one in the centre was for those carrying the spirit tablets, incense and written prayers. The path on the right was for the king and the one on the left was for the crown prince.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit and I'm glad I allowed a full day to visit the site and to enjoy the royal culture festival. Visiting together with Changdeokgung with be a bit too much (although perfectly doable) as there is obviously much more to see there.