Seonjamdan

The first Seonjamdan was constructed sometime between the reign of King Taejo and the lunar calendar year of 1414.^[2] To comply with the Liji which required ritual silkworm breeding ceremonies to be performed in a northern suburb, Seonjamdan was located to the northeast of Hanyang in Seongbuk-dong.^[3] In 1749, King Yeongjo had a second altar constructed as a replacement for the first one.^[4]

Following the Korean Empire's loss of diplomatic sovereignty to Japan, the ancestral tablets enshrined at Seonjamdan were relocated to Sajikdan in 1908.^[5][6] The site was then damaged by Japanese authorities and abandoned for three decades while the local town repurposed it as a public space.^[7] On October 19, 1939, Japanese authorities designated Seonjamdan as historical site.^[8] In 1961, a portion of Seonjamdan's protected area was decreased to accommodate new road construction; the altar itself was also expanded and rebuilt.^[9]

Seonjamdan was designated a historic site by the South Korean government on January 21, 1963.^[1]

• Hwangudan, Seoul
• Sajikdan, Seoul
• Xiancantan, Beijing