Myo (shrine)
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Myo (Korean: 묘; Hanja: 廟) is a Korean term for Confucian shrines, where the ritual jesa is held. While this concept is nowadays mainly known for the Joseon dynasty's Jongmyo shrine in Seoul, its history dates back to the Three Kingdoms period.
History
The character 廟 originally encompassed two different meanings; first, it was referring to upper-class house of a noble family, and second, it was also referring to a place where emperor resides, perform rituals, and issues political orders. These various meanings of Myo later reorganized into referring a place or building where emperor performs ancestral worship rituals.[1]: 5 In Korean civilization, concept of Myo (廟) is mainly known by famous UNESCO heritage Jongmyo shrine built by Joseon dynasty. Yet it is notifiable that, according to historical records, the Myo concept appears in Korean history first in the Three Kingdoms period. In this early Korean era, while the Myo was roughly referring to place or building of ritual worship jesa, it was not an equal concept to ancetral worship following strict Confucian protocol, which tries to define and categorize exact lineage of ancestors by instructions from Confucian classics. Instead, actual practice of the Myo in early Korean history was more like a broad concept of place for ancestral worship, Sijomyo (시조묘; 始祖廟).[2]: 66–67 Later in Joseon, as architectural term, Myo was referring to a type of temple building compared to Dan (壇), a term usually referred to an open altar.[3]: 133
Concept of the Myo shrine (廟) redeveloped in Korean culture has a notable difference from Miao shrine (廟) in Chinese tradition in its usage. Roughly around East Asian cultural sphere, term of ancestral shrine (사당; 祠堂) and family shrine (가묘; 家廟; Gamyo; lit. family Myo shrine) were originally distinguishable in actual usages, as formers referred to general concept of place for worshiping distant family ancestors or sages, while latters meant place for worshiping relatively close family ancestors. However, when famous Chinense Confucian scholar Zhu Xi suggested replacing the term 家廟 with the broader term 祠堂 in the era of Southern Song empire, usage of the term 家廟 decreased in Chinese culture. So in Chinese culture, while the term "Miao shrine" became a word relatively confined to a meaning of Confucian shrine dedicated to noble entities such as royal family or famous heroes and sages, the term Cítáng (祠堂) or Ci shrine (祠) became a word that primarily refers to a type of Confucian ancestral shrine for ordinary scholar-official families other than royal family.[4]: 40–42 Yet Koreans kept using term Gamyo [ko] (가묘; 家廟) to describe family ancestral shrine. For example, when Joseon was forcing establishments to adopt the neo-Confucian culture of jesa in its early era, to drive out influence of Buddhism culture on state governance, the main term used was Gamyo.[5]: 187–188 Even in later era in Joseon, Koreans devised term Samyo to describe family ancestral shrine with portraits of ancestors, while Gamyo was referring to typical ancestral shrine with spirit tablets.[6]: 116–117 So in this manner, Koreans widely regarded concept of Myo shrine as encompassing Jongmyo (as royal ancestral shrine), Munmyo (as Confucian temple for sages) and also Gamyo (as Confucian shrine for families of ordinary scholar-officials).[7]: 33–34
See also
- Jongmyo
- Munmyo
- Dongmyo
- Korean Confucianism
Notes and references
- ^ Kim, David W.; Bang, Won-Il (2021). "Royal religiosity: Confucian thoughts in Joseon Jongmyo shrine". Cogent Social Sciences. 7 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1080/23311886.2021.1970426. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
- ^ 박, 초롱 (2021). "The royal Jongmyo (宗廟) composition and the Jongmyo system of the King Muyeol lineage (武烈王系)". 신라문화 (in Korean). 59: 65–84. doi:10.37280/JRISC.2021.12.59.65. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
- ^ Han, Seunghyun (2018). "Ming Loyalist Families and the Changing Meanings of Chojong'am in Early Nineteenth-Century Chosŏn". Acta Koreana. 21 (1): 169–203. doi:10.18399/acta.2018.21.1.007. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
- ^ 조, 인수 (2007). National Institute of Korean History (ed.). 한국문화사 제19권 그림에게 물은 사대부의 생활과 풍류 [History of Korean culture, Vol. 19., Life and pungnyu of scholar-officials according to art works] (in Korean). Jongno, Seoul: 두산동아. ISBN 9788900238006.
- ^ 이, 영춘 (2009). National Institute of Korean History (ed.). 한국문화사 제24권 유교적 사유와 삶의 변천 [History of Korean culture, Vol. 24., Confucian thoughts and changing lifestyles] (in Korean). Jongno, Seoul: 두산동아. ISBN 9788900254419.
- ^ Cho, Sunmie (2007). "A Perspective on the History of Korean Portrait Painting". Journal of Korean Art & Archaeology. 1: 106–131. doi:10.23158/jkaa.2007.v1_06. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
- ^ Center for International Affairs in Academy of Korean Studies (2014). Exploring Korean History through World Heritage. Bundang, Gyeonggi: Academy of Korean Studies Press. ISBN 9791186178164.
External links
- Encyclopedia of Korean Culture '묘(廟)' (in Korean)
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