Ceremony Held at Daeseongjeon on the 10th... National Intangible Cultural Heritage
Jeonbuk Jeonju Hyanggyo (Jeongyo Choi In-yeol) held the 'Autumn Seokjeon Daeje' for the year 2575 of the Gonggi calendar on the 10th at the Daeseongjeon of Jeonju Hyanggyo. This ritual is the largest and most exemplary ceremony among all Confucian rites.
The Seokjeon Daeje was organized by Jeonju Hyanggyo and sponsored by Jeonju City. It was held with the attendance of Woo Beom-gi, Mayor of Jeonju, guests, Confucian scholars including the officiants and ritual participants, general citizens, and tourists.
On the 10th, the Autumn Seokjeon Daeje ceremony of the year 2575 in the Gonggi calendar was held at the Daeseongjeon of Jeonju Hyanggyo. [Photo by Jeonju City]
The ceremony began at 8 a.m. with the Gyesungsa ritual honoring the ancestral tablets of the Five Sages (Oseongwi: Confucius, Anja, Jeungja, Jasa, Mencius). From 10 a.m., the grand ritual proceeded solemnly in the order of Jeonpye-rye, Chohun-rye, Ahun-rye, Jonghun-rye, Bunhun-rye, Eumbok-rye, and Mangnyo-rye, accompanied by a performance of Munmyo Jeryeak by the Jeonju Municipal Gugak Orchestra.
The ritualists offering cups of wine to the ancestral tablets of the Five Sages were Jeonju Hyanggyo Jeongyo Choi In-yeol (Chief Officiant, Chohun-gwan), Lee Ho-hee, President of the Jeonju Branch of the Confucian Way Association (Ahun-gwan), and Hong Han-pyo, Chief Mourner (Jonghun-gwan), respectively.
Meanwhile, the Seokjeon Daeje was designated as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 1986. Seokjeon means the greatest ritual, hence the name Seokjeon Daeje. This ceremony is held annually on the spring and autumn ancestral memorial days (the 2nd and 8th lunar months), offering wine and ceremonial food to the spirit tablets of sages. It honors the scholarship and virtue based on Confucius's benevolence and morality.
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