World Heritage Sites
Changdeokgung Palace
Changdeokgung Palace, located in Waryong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, is one of the five Royal Palaces of Joseon (1392-1910), and still contains the original palace structures and other remains intact. It was built in 1405 as a Royal Villa but became the Joseon Dynasty’s official Royal Residence after Gyeongbokgung, the original principal palace, was destroyed by fire in 1592 when Japanese forces invaded Korea. Thereafter it maintained its prestigious position until 1867, when Gyeongbokgung was and renovated and restored to its original status. Changdeokgung was
listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
A l t h o u g h i t wa s b u i l t d u r i n g t h e J o s e o n Pe r i o d , Changdeokgung shows traces of the influence of the architectural tradition of Goryeo, such as its location at the foot of a mountain. Royal palaces were typically built according to a layout planned to highlight the dignity and authority of its occupant, but the layout of Changdeokgung was planned to make the most of the characteristic geographical features of the skirt of Bugaksan Mountain. The original palace buildings have been preserved intact, including Donhwamun Gate, its main entrance, Injeongjeon Hall; Seonjeongjeon Hall, and a beautiful traditional garden to the rear of the main buildings. The palace also contains Nakseonjae, a compound of exquisite traditional buildings set up in the mid-19th century as a residence for members of the royal family.
Injeongjeon Hall in Changdeokgung Palace The Palace Hall was used for important state events such as the Coronation of Kings, royal audiences, and formal reception of foreign envoys.
Jongmyo Shrine
Jongmyo, located in Hunjeong-dong, Jongno-gu in Seoul, is the royal ancestral shrine of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). It was built to house eighty-three spirit tablets of the Joseon Kings, their Queen Consorts, and direct ancestors of the dynasty’s founder who were posthumously invested with royal titles. As Joseon was founded according to Confucian ideology, its rulers considered it very important to put Confucian teachings into practice and sanctify the institutions where ancestral memorial tablets were enshrined.
The two main buildings at the Royal Shrine, Jeongjeon Hall and Yeongnyeongjeon Hall exhibit a fine symmetry, and there are differences in the height of the raised platform, the height to the eaves and the roof top, and the thickness of the columns according to their status. The entire sanctuary retains its original
Jongmyo Shrine The central Confucian shrine of Joseon housing the spirit tablets of Joseon Kings and their Consorts
features, including the two shrine halls which exhibit the unique architectural style of the 16th century. Seasonal memorial rites commemorating the life and achievements of the royal ancestors of Joseon are still performed at the shrine.
Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon
Located in today’s Jangan-gu of Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Hwaseong is a large fortress (its walls extend for 5.7km) built in 1796 during the reign of King Jeongjo (r. 1776-1800) of the Joseon Dynasty. Construction of the fortress was begun after the King moved the grave of his father, Crown Prince Sado, from Yangju in Gyeonggi-do to its current location near the fortress. The fortification is elaborately and carefully designed to effectively perform its function of protecting the city enclosed within it. The construction of the fortress and related facilities involved the use of scientific devices developed by the distinguished Confucian thinker and writer Jeong Yak-yong (1762- 1836), including the Geojunggi (type of crane) and Nongno
(pulley wheel) used to lift heavy building materials such as stones.
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
Seokguram, located on the middle slopes of Tohamsan Mountain in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, is a Buddhist hermitage with an artificial stone cave built in 774 to serve as a dharma hall. The hall houses an image of seated Buddha surrounded by his guardians and followers carved in relief, which is widely admired as a great masterpiece. The cave faces east and is designed so that the principal Buddha receives the first rays of the sun rising from the East Sea on his head.
Completed the same year as Seokguram Grotto, Bulguksa Temple consists of exquisite prayer halls and various monuments, including two stone pagodas, Dabotap and Seokgatap, standing in the front courtyard of the temple’s main prayer hall, Daeungjeon. The two pagodas are widely regarded as the finest extant Silla pagodas: the first is admired for its elaborately carved details, the second for its delightfully simple structure.
Dabotap, or the Pagoda of Abundant Treasures, is marked by a unique structure built with elaborately carved granite blocks. It also features on the face of the Korean 10 won coin. By contrast, Seokgatap, or the Pagoda of Shakyamuni, is better known for its delightfully simple structure which exhibits fine symmetry and balance. The pagoda is now generally regarded as the archetype of all the three-story stone pagodas built across Korea thereafter.
Among the other treasures preserved at the temple are the two exquisite stone bridges, Cheongungyo (Blue Cloud Bridge) and Baegungyo (White Cloud Bridge), leading to Daeungjeon, the temple’s principal dharma hall. The bridges symbolize the journey every Buddhist needs to make to reach the Pure Land of Bliss.
Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty
The Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) left behind a total of forty- four tombs of its Kings and their Queen Consorts, most of which are located in and around the capital area including the cities of Guri, Goyang and Namyangju in Gyeonggi-do. Some of these Royal Tombs are arranged in small groups in the Donggureung, Seooreung, Seosamneung and Hongyureung. Of these, forty tombs are registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Royal Tombs of Joseon are highly regarded as tangible
1. Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon
This 18th century fortification was built on the basis of the most advanced knowledge and techniques known to both East and West at that time. 2. Bulguksa Temple This Silla temple established in the 6th century is architecturally known for being one of the finest examples of Buddhist doctrine anywhere in the world. 3, 4. Seokguram Grotto The principal Buddha seated on a lofty lotus pedestal at the center of the grotto
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heritage that reflect the values held by the Korean people, which were drawn from Confucian ideology and the feng shui tradition.
These historical remains are also valued highly for having been preserved in their original condition for anywhere from one to six hundred years.
Janggyeongpanjeon Depositories of Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon
The Printing Woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana, which was
made during the Goryeo Period (918-1392), are housed in two depositories specially made for that purpose in 1488 at Haeinsa Temple. As the oldest remaining buildings at the temple, the Tripitaka depositories are marked by the uniquely scientific and highly effective method of controlling ventilation and moisture to ensure the safe storage of the age-old woodblocks. The buildings were built side by side at the highest point (about 700m above sea level) in the precincts of Haeinsa Temple, which is located on the mid-slope of Gayasan Mountain.
1. Donggureung A complex of Royal Tombs built for nine Joseon Kings and their seventeen Queens and Concubines. 2. Yeongneung The tomb of King Sejong and his consort Queen Soheon
3. Mongneung The tomb of King Seonjo and his consort Queen Inmok
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Stone Warrior, Guardian of the Royal Tombs
Each of the royal tombs of Joseon consists of one or more semispherical mounds protected with curb stones set around the base, and with elaborately carved stone railings and stone animals, including a lamb and a tiger in particular, representing meekness and ferocity. In the front area there is a rectangular stone table that was used for offering sacrifices to the spirits of the royalty buried there, a tall octagonal stone pillar, a stone lantern, one or more pairs of stone guardians, and civil and military officials, with their
What makes these depositories so special is their unique design which provides effective natural ventilation by exploiting the wind blowing in from the valley of Gayasan. Open lattice windows of different sizes are arranged in upper and lower rows on both the front and rear walls of the depositories to promote the optimum flow of air from the valley. Similarly, the floor, which was built by ramming layers of charcoal, clay, sand, salt and lime powder, also helps to control the humidity of the rooms.
Namhansanseong Fortress
Namhansanseong Fortress, located about 25km southeast of Seoul, underwent large-scale restructuring in 1626, during the reign of King Injo of the Joseon Dynasty, to create a refuge for the King and his people in the event of a national emergency. The foundations of Jujangseong Fortress, built almost one thousand years earlier in 672, during the reign of King Munmu of Unified Silla, served as the base of the renovated structure.
Namhansanseong Fortress
A mountain fortress that served as a temporary capital during the Joseon Dynasty, showing how the techniques for building a fortress developed during the 7th-19th centuries
The defensive position of the fortress was reinforced by exploiting the rugged topography of the mountain (average height: at least 480m). The perimeter of its wall is about 12.3km. According to a record dating from the Joseon Period, about 4,000 people lived in the town built inside the fortress.
Temporary palaces, Jongmyo Shrine, and Sajikdan Altar were built in the fortress in 1711 during the reign of King Sukjong of Joseon. The fortress is also a result of the wide-ranging exchanges made and wars waged between Korea (Joseon), Japan (Azuchi- Momoyama Period), and China (Ming and Qing) during the 16th-18th centuries. The introduction of cannons from western countries brought many changes to the weaponry inside the fortress and the way the fortress was built. The fortress is a “living record” of the changes in the way fortresses were built during the 7th-19th centuries.
Memory of the World Register
Hunminjeongeum (The Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People)
Hangeul is the name of the Korean writing system and alphabet, which consists of letters inspired by the shapes formed by the human vocal organs during speech, making it very easy to learn and use. Hangeul was promulgated in 1446 by King Sejong, who helped
devise it and named it Hunminjeongeum, or The Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People. It was also in that same year that he ordered his scholars to publish The Hunminjeongeum
Hunminjeongeum Manuscript The pages shown here contain a commentary on the three sounds, first, middle and last, that form the sound of a Korean character
haeryebon (Explanatory Edition) to provide detailed explanations
of the purpose and guiding principles of the new writing system. One of these manuscripts is currently in the collection of the Kansong Art Museum and was included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 1997.
The invention of the Hunminjeongeum opened up a broad new horizon for all the Korean people, even women and those in the lowest social class, enabling them to learn to read and write and express themselves fully. The Hunminjeongeum alphabet originally consisted of 28 letters, but only 24 are used now. In 1989, UNESCO joined the Korean government to create the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize, which it awards to organizations or individuals who display great merit and achieve particularly effective results in contributing to the promotion of literacy.
Joseon Wangjo Sillok: Annals of the Joseon Dynasty
The Joseon Dynasty left behind a vast collection of annual records of Joseon rulers and their officials covering the 472 years from 1392 to 1863. The records, Joseon wangjo sillok (Annals of the
Joseon Dynasty), comprise 2,077 volumes and are stored at the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, Seoul National University.
The annals of each Joseon ruler were usually compiled after his death during the early phase of his successor’s rule based on the daily accounts, called “historical drafts” (sacho), made by
historiographers. The annals are regarded as extremely valuable historical resources as they contain detailed information about the politics, economy, culture and other aspects of Joseon society.
depositories” (sago), they would not be opened to anyone except
in special circumstances where it was necessary to refer to past examples with regard to the formal conduct of important state ceremonies such as the memorial rites for royal ancestors or the reception of foreign envoys. Originally there were four history depositories, one in the Chunchugwan (Office of State Records) at the Royal Court, and three more in the main regional administrative hubs in the south, namely, Chungju, Jeonju and Seongju. However, these were destroyed in 1592 when Japan invaded Korea, and the Joseon Dynasty was compelled to build new depositories on some of the remotest mountains in the country, Myohyangsan, Taebaeksan, Odaesan and Manisan.
Seungjeongwon Ilgi: Diaries of the Royal Secretariat
This collection of documents contains the records of the Joseon rulers’ public life and their interactions with the bureaucracy; they were made on a daily basis by the Seungjeongwon, or Royal Secretariat, from the third month of 1623 to the eighth month of 1910. The records are collected in 3,243
volumes and include the details of royal edicts, reports and appeals from ministries and other government agencies. The diaries are currently kept in the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, Seoul National University.
Ilseongnok: Daily Records of the Royal Court and Important Officials
This vast collection of daily records made by the Kings of the late Joseon Period (from 1760
Ilseongnok
Private journals concerning personal daily activities and state affairs kept by the rulers of late Joseon from 1760 to 1910
to 1910) is compiled in a total of 2,329 volumes. The records provide vivid and detailed information on the political situation in and around Korea and the ongoing cultural exchanges between east and west from the 18th to the 20th century.
Uigwe: Royal Protocols of the Joseon Dynasty
This collection of beautifully illustrated books contains official manuals recording the details of Court Ceremonies or events of national importance for the purpose of future reference. The most frequently treated subjects in these books are Royal Weddings, the investiture of Queens and Crown Princes, State and Royal Funerals, and the construction of Royal Tombs, although other state or royal occasions such as the “Royal Ploughing”, construction or renovation of Palace buildings, are included. As for the latter, those published to mark the construction of Hwaseong Fortress and King Jeongjo’s formal visit to the new walled city in the late 18th century are particularly famous. These publications were also stored in the history depositories, sadly resulting in the destruction of early Joseon works by fire during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592. The remaining 3,895 volumes of Uigwe were published after the war, some of which
were stolen by the French Army in 1866 and kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France until 2011, when they were returned to Korea following an agreement between the governments of Korea and France.
Protocol on the Marriage of King Yeongjo and Queen Jeongsun (Joseon, 18th century) This is a manual of the state ceremony held for the marriage between King Yeongjo, the 21st ruler of Joseon, and Queen Jeongsun in 1759
Printing Woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana and Miscellaneous Buddhist Scriptures
The collection of Tripitaka woodblocks stored at Haeinsa
Temple (established 802) in Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam- do was made during the Goryeo Period (918-1392) under a national project that started in 1236 and took fifteen years to complete. The collection is generally known by the name Palman Daejanggyeong, literally “the Tripitaka of eighty thousand
woodblocks,” as it consists of 81, 258 blocks of wood.
The Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks were made by the people
of Goryeo who sought the Buddha’s magical power to repel the Mongol forces that had invaded and devastated their country in the 13th century. The Tripitaka Koreana is often compared with
other Tripitaka editions produced by the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties in China, and has been highly praised for its richer and more complete content. The process of manufacturing the woodblocks played an important role in the development of printing and publication techniques in Korea.
Human Rights Documentary
Heritage 1980: Archives of the May 18th Democratic Uprising in Gwangju
The May 18th Gwangju Uprising was a popular rebellion that took place in the city of Gwangju from May 18 to 27 1980, during which Gwangju’s citizens made a strong plea for democracy in Korea and actively opposed the then military dictatorship. The pro-democracy
Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks A total of over 80,000 woodblocks carved with the entire canon of Buddhist scriptures available to Goryeo in the 13th century
struggle in Gwangju ended tragically but exerted a powerful influence on similar democratic movements that spread across East Asia in the 1980s. This UNESCO inscription consists of the documents, videos, photographs and other forms of records made about the activities of Gwangju’s citizens during the movement, and the subsequent process of compensation for the victims, as collected by The May 18 Memorial Foundation, the National Archives and Records Service, the National Assembly Library, and various organizations in the USA.
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Royal Ancestral Rite and Ritual Music
The Royal Ancestral Rite (Jongmyo Jerye) now held on the first Sunday of May to honor the deceased Joseon Kings and their Queen Consorts at the Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul remained one of the most important state ceremonies after the establishment
Jongmyo Jeryeak (Royal Ancestral Rite and Ritual Music at Jongmyo Shrine) The Royal Ancestral Memorial Rite held seasonally at the Jongmyo Shrine involves the performance of the civil and military dances Munmu and Mumu.
of Joseon as a Confucian state in 1392. Designed to maintain the social order and promote solidarity, the ritual consists of performances of ceremonial orchestral music and dances praising the civil and military achievements of the Royal ancestors of Joseon. This age-old Confucian ritual combining splendid performances of music and dance is widely admired not only for the preservation of original features formed over 500 years ago, but also for its unique syncretic or composite art form.
Pansori
Pansori is a genre of musical storytelling performed by a vocalist
and a single drummer in which he or she combines singing (sori)
with gestures (ballim) and narrative (aniri) to present an epic
drama conceived from popular folk tales and well known historic events. The art form was established during the 18th century and has generated enthusiastic performers and audiences ever since.
Gangneung Danoje Festival
This summer festival held in and around Gangneung, Gangwon- do, for about 30 days from the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to Dano Day on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, is one of Korea’s oldest folk festivals and has been preserved more or less in its original form since its emergence many centuries ago. The