Seonnongdan Altar, Seoul

Seonnongdan Altar is the place where rites were performed to Sinnongssi (Shennong) and Hujikssi (Houji), ancient Chinese sovereigns said to have taught the people the art of farming, as the principal deities. Records show that the Seonnong rite in Korea was performed as early as the Silla period of the Three Kingdoms, and that from this time rites were already held to the Three Spirits of Agriculture — Seonnong, Jungnong and Hunong. The Seonnong rite continued to be performed in the Goryeo period, when, following Chinese ritual practice, sacrifices were offered to Sinnongssi and Hujik at the jeokjeon, the royal demonstration field, on the Day of the Boar in the first lunar month. In the second year of King Seongjong (983), a prayer rite for a good harvest was held at Hwangudan Altar, and in the same month a sacrifice was offered at the jeokjeon and the king performed the rite of ceremonial ploughing in person. However, because Goryeo relied heavily overall on Buddhism and on native traditions such as the Palgwanhoe festival, the Seonnong rite in this period was carried out only under highly limited circumstances. In the Joseon period, the Seonnong rite, based on Confucian ritual propriety, became one of the state's major ceremonies, and its significance was strengthened. King Taejong changed the date of the rite from an auspicious Day of the Boar in the first month to an auspicious Day of the Boar after Gyeongchip, and established regulations for the king's ceremonial ploughing; the rites to Jungnong and Hunong were abolished, and only the Seonnong rite, representing all Three Spirits, was thereafter observed. In the first year of King Taejo (1392), a field near Hanyang where the king ploughed in person, the Dongjeokjeon, was established and cultivated, and officials were appointed to oversee its cultivation and harvest. In the fourteenth year of King Taejong (1414), regulations were laid down for the construction of the altar and its enclosure. During the reign of King Sejong, protocols for the king's personal offering and for ceremonial ploughing were established, and the rites relating to Seonnongdan Altar and ploughing were set out in the Gukjo Oryeui (National Five Rites) and the Gillye (Auspicious Rites). King Seongjong revised and supplemented the ceremonial-ploughing rites in the Gukjo Oryeui, and in the seventh year of his reign (1476) he newly built the ceremonial-ploughing platform and performed the rite for the first time. In the forty-third year of King Yeongjo (1767), the Chingyeong Uigwe, a set of Royal Protocols for ceremonial ploughing, was compiled, in a particular effort to restore the encouragement of agriculture and the ancient rites. Just before the Japanese colonial period, in the third year of Emperor Sunjong (1909), the spirit tablets were moved to Sajikdan Altar, the area around Seonnongdan Altar was nationalised, and the rite was abolished. The Japanese colonial authorities subsequently built a park on the site and established a women's normal school there, erasing the historical and cultural meaning of the Seonnong rite. The abolished rite was finally revived in 1979 by a friendship association of local residents, and since 1992 it has been taken over by Dongdaemun-gu, which holds the Seonnong rite every year. (Notice: the name was changed from "Seonnongdan" to "Seonnongdan Altar, Seoul", announced 28 July 2011.)

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul

Designation

Historic Site · 사적