Jongno-gu Hosts 'Danjonbi Queen Jeongsun Memorial Ceremony'

[Seoul District News] Jongno-gu to Hold Pre-Event Performance (Fusion Gugak), Memorial Performance (Jinhonmu), and Memorial Ceremony at Sungin Neighborhood Park Dongmangbong from 2 PM on the 22nd

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jongno-gu will hold the 14th Danjongbi Queen Jeongsun Memorial Ceremony on the 22nd at 2 p.m. at Dongmangbong in Sungin Neighborhood Park.

The event is to honor the spirit of Danjongbi Queen Jeongsun and to highlight the connection between Jongno and Queen Jeongsun, aiming to widely promote the region's valuable historical and cultural heritage.

Since its inception in 2008, the ceremony has been held annually except for 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19, and this year it has been planned to allow more residents to participate following the complete lifting of social distancing measures.

The theme of this year’s memorial ceremony is Sympathy (同情). It signifies that the feelings of the village women who sympathized with the queen, who lived alone for many years longing for Danjong, are the same as our way of honoring Queen Jeongsun today, more than 500 years later.

With the attendance of the Yeosan Song Clan Association, district office officials, and nearby residents, the ceremony will proceed from 2 p.m. with ▲pre-ceremony performance (fusion gugak) ▲greetings ▲memorial performance (jinhonmu) ▲memorial rites ▲commemorative photo session.

For the ‘pre-ceremony performance,’ the fusion gugak team Hanayeon and b-boys will convey Queen Jeongsun’s poignant love story through traditional Korean musical instruments and dance, while the ‘memorial performance’ will be presented by the creative dance and percussion performance group Ajak, offering a dance to comfort the queen’s spirit. The ‘ritual’ will be led by the Jeonju Lee Clan Daedong Jongyakwon Association.

Meanwhile, Queen Jeongsun Song, who was appointed queen at a young age in 1454, became queen dowager when Danjong abdicated the throne to Sejo and became retired king, but was expelled from the palace and reduced to a palace maid when Danjong was exiled to Yeongwol. It is said that after Danjong’s death, she climbed Dongmangbong daily to pray for his soul.

Accordingly, Jongno-gu has developed and operates a ‘Sungin-dong’ alley exploration course where visitors can tour related historic sites such as Cheongryongsa Temple where Queen Jeongsun stayed, the site of Jeongeopwon, Dongmangbong (Dongmangjeong) where she climbed daily to pray for Danjong’s safety, and Yeongdo Bridge where Danjong bid his last farewell before exile to Yeongwol.

The ‘guide program,’ which includes the Sungin-dong course to learn about Queen Jeongsun’s sorrowful life and the history of the Joseon Dynasty, as well as guided tours around various parts of Jongno, can be used by making a reservation in advance on the district office website.

A district official explained, “Every April, through the Queen Jeongsun Memorial Ceremony, we have instilled a sense of history in descendants and provided an opportunity to promote the region’s valuable cultural assets,” adding, “We ask for much interest in this year’s memorial ceremony honoring the difficult life of Queen Jeongsun.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.