Munmyo

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Munmyo

Hangul	문묘
Hanja	文廟
Revised Romanization	Munmyo
McCune-Reischauer	Munmyo

Munmyo (also called Seonggyungwan Munmyo) is Korea's primary Confucian shrine. It is located in central Seoul, South Korea, at 53 Myeongnyun-dong 3(sam)-ga, Jongno-gu, on the campus of Sungkyunkwan University.

It was established by the scholar An Hyang in 1398, in the seventh and final year of the reign of King Taejo (r. 1392-1398), the founder and first king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

A ritual called Munmyo jerye (hangul: 문묘제례; hanja: 文廟祭禮), which involves music and dance, is held there each year in the spring (April) and autumn (September); the ritual features ancient music of Chinese origin called Munmyo jeryeak (hangul: 문묘제례악; hanja: 文廟祭禮樂), which is a form of aak. The ritual honors Confucius as well as Choe Chiwon and Seol Chong, Confucian scholars of the Unified Silla period (668–935). The musicians are provided by The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. The instruments used include flutes (hun, so, and bamboo flutes), zithers (seul and geum), stone chimes (pyeongyeong), bronze bells (pyeonjong), various drums played with sticks, tiger-shaped wooden scraper (eo), wooden box (chuk), and wooden clappers (bak).