Jwajeon, Royal Ancestral Shrine

The royal ancestral shrine, or Jwajeon, located outside the northern wall enclosing Namhansanseong Emergency Palace was built in 1711 by Kim Chi-ryong (1654-1724), then serving as the Buyun (Magistrate of the Administrative Unit) of Gwangju, to store the spirit tablets of the royal ancestors of the Joseon Dynasty in times of emergency. The existence of the Jwajeon at Namhansanseong Emergency Palace shows that the palace was not just one of many ordinary palaces set up outside the capital of Joseon, but rather a special establishment designed to make the fortress containing the palace function as a temporary capital. The name of the shrine was coined by combining the character Jwa (“left”), which refers to its location on the left-hand side of the palace, with Jeon (“palatial hall”).
The palace also contains the Usil, literally “Room on the Right,” which was originally built in 1711 together with the Jwajeon as a shrine honoring the state deities. The location of the two shrines was determined based on the tradition established during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE), by which the royal ancestral shrine is placed on the left, and the altar for state deities on the right, of the central royal palace.