Comparative Study On The Altars In Ming-qing Dynasties Of China And Choseon Dynasty Of Korea

Altar architecture was the construction for ancestral rites, mainly formed in altar.Although architectural design of altar is simpler than other ancient architectures, sinceancestral rites were one of the most important social activities during the ancient period,altar has great sociocultural meanings.China and Korea are neighboring countries, which are in the same East Asianculture area sharing similar customs and values. This study compares the altars inMing-Qing Dynasties of China and Joseon Dynasty of Korea.This study is composed of two parts, the comparison of capital altar and thecomparison of altars in local cities. The first part analyze three capital cities, Nanjing,Beijing (China), and Seoul(Korea). Each city is analyzed by the system formation andconstruction of altar and each altar’s architectural system. The Second part is classifiedin three sections, Ming-Qing Dynasties’ local cities, Ming Dynasty prince’s palace,and Joseon Dynasty’s local cities. Because both countries disvalued the altars oflocal cities in the past, very little remains. Therefore, this part mainly referred toboth countries local cities’ record of chorography. Altar of local cities in China werecomposed of Shejitan(社稷坛), Fengyunleiyushanchuantan(风云雷雨山川坛),Litan(厉坛), and Xiannongtan(先农坛). Altar of local cities in Korea were composed ofShejitan(社稷坛), Chenghuangtan(城隍坛), and Litan(厉坛). Each section includes theconstruction and architectural system of the altars. At the end of each two parts,architectural system of altar in both countries is compared.By organizing the characteristics of altar’s system of China and Korea, similaritiesand differences between the two countries are drawn as a conclusion.