Seonjamdan Altar Site, Seoul

This is the site where rites were held in honour of Seoreung-ssi, consort of an ancient Chinese emperor said to have first practised sericulture, worshipped as the god of silkworms (jamsin). The altar was first built in 983, the second year of King Seongjong of Goryeo; mulberry trees were planted at the front of the altar, and silkworms were raised in the palace's sericulture chambers (jamsil). King Sejong the Great strongly encouraged sericulture, having good sites chosen in each province for planting mulberry trees and having one or more sericulture chambers built in each to raise silkworms. Then, in 1506, the first year of King Jungjong, the sericulture chambers scattered across the provinces were consolidated near Seoul, and today's Jamsil in Gangnam is where these old sericulture chambers were once gathered. After the establishment of Seonjamdan Altar, rites were held every year in the third month, but in 1908 the spirit tablet enshrining the silkworm god was moved to Sajikdan Altar, leaving only the site as it is today.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적