The purpose of the present study is to clarify the process of change to the pond at the Jongmyo Shrine(宗廟), from the Joseon Dynasty period to the modern and contemporary era. The consequent research results can be summarized as follows. The first ...
The purpose of the present study is to clarify the process of change to the pond at the Jongmyo Shrine(宗廟), from the Joseon Dynasty period to the modern and contemporary era. The consequent research results can be summarized as follows. The first record of the Jongmyo pond is confirmed in the 『Annals of King Sejong(世宗實錄)』. The pond, which was being constructed at the time, refers to the current upper pond(上池). A pair of islets(雙島) were constructed during the Sukjong(肅宗) period, with several trees planted on the middle islet(中池). The middle pond is thick with lotuses. In particular, the middle island on the middle pond subsequently changed into a single island(單島), which is likely to be related to the pond expansion during the reign of Youngjo(英祖). When the lower pond(下池), involving dualistic arrangement, was constructed in the modern and contemporary era, the pond of the Jongmyo Shrine underwent a drastic transformation phase. The lower pond was constructed before 1947 at the latest, and when the right side of the lower pond was filled in the mid 1980s, the dualistically arranged lower pond became a unified type of lower pond. On the other hand, the bank protections of the upper and middle ponds were constructed with earth, but was subsequently modified into its current form using stone.