Joseon Royal Tombs festival celebrated online, offline

The performance “Yungeunreung Yajo” / Courtesy of Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation

By Park Ji-won

Poster for “Joseon Royal Tombs Festival” / Courtesy of Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation

The 2nd Joseon Royal Tombs Festival, a celebration of royal court culture and heritage from the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom, will run until Oct. 24 at six different royal tomb sites around Seoul and Gyeonggi Province and via online platforms.

Jointly hosted by the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, the festival offers various participatory events for visitors at UNESCO-designated tombs, including the Royal Tomb of Sejong in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province; Donggureung (East Nine Royal Tombs) in Guri, Gyeonggi Province; and Seonjeongneung in Seoul.

Under the title “Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty,” the festival is happening at 40 tombs in 18 locations where Joseon kings and queens are buried. The U.N. organization added the sites to its world heritage list in June 2008 to protect their legacy as a symbol of “honoring the memory of ancestors, showing respect for their achievements, asserting royal authority, protecting ancestral spirits from evil and provided protection from vandalism as well as outstanding natural beauty.”

To avoid the spread of COVID-19, the festival provides events in which visitors participate individually. Visitors receive gifts and can collect different stamps at Donggureung as well as Seooreung in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. They can also sample ambient noise recordings and videos of wind and rain made in Geonwonreung, Guri.

Performances inspired by historical events and the tombs will be also showcased at the sites and online.

The opera “I am from Joseon” made to promote Hongneung in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, the joint tomb for King Gojong and Queen Min, will be projected on a screen set near the tomb and streamed on YouTube. The musical centers on King Gojong who sent a court musician to the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago to open the Joseon Pavilion.

The performance “Yungeunreung Yajo” revolves around the visitation of King Jeongjo and his mother to the tomb of his father, Crown Prince Sado, and the observation of military drills in 1795. The prince was locked in a rice chest and starved to death by order of his father King Yeongjo.

For those who want experience a night visit to Seooreung, they can apply via Naver for a free VR set and kit for making a lamp to be used when walking.