Taebaeksan Cheonjedan

Sacred Mountain · Korea

Cheonwangdan

Miscellaneous

Researched and translated with AI assistance. Every claim is linked to its source, but errors get through, so check the official site for opening times, fees and closures.About

In short

A stone altar for heaven rites on the summit, where a rite is offered each National Foundation Day and where the state has sacrificed since Silla.

The stacked-stone heaven-rite altar on the summit of Taebaeksan, open sky above the ridge behind it. — 윤호철 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Quick facts

Address: 4834-31 Taebaeksan-ro, Sodo-dong, Taebaek-si, Gangwon

About this place

The Cheonjedan stands on the summit of Taebaeksan in Taebaek, Gangwon, and was designated National Folklore Cultural Heritage in 1991. The Cheonwangdan at the peak has the Janggundan behind it to the north and a lower altar below the southern slope. The Cheonwangdan is an oval stone platform 2.4 metres high and 27.5 metres around. A rite is offered every 3 October, National Foundation Day.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records that the altar was designated National Folklore Cultural Heritage in 1991. The Cheonwangdan at the summit has the Janggundan behind it to the north, and a lower altar below the slope to the south.

The Cheonwangdan is a great oval stone platform: 2.4 metres high, 27.5 metres in circumference, 7.36 metres across and 8.26 metres front to back.

Taebaeksan was early counted the northern peak among Silla’s three mountains and five peaks, held as a guardian mountain, and a record of state sacrifice there survives in the rites section of the Samguk Sagi.

What it is locally associated with

Power spot
Three altars
The Cheonwangdan at the summit, the Janggundan behind it to the north, and a lower altar below the southern slope.
documented history
Power spot
2.4 metres high, 27.5 around
The Cheonwangdan is a great oval platform of stacked stone.
documented history
What people do here
The rite on 3 October
Performed each National Foundation Day and called the heaven rite, or the heaven-king rite.
local custom
Origin
The northern peak of Silla
A record of state sacrifice here survives in the rites section of the Samguk Sagi.
documented history

What this altar is for, the record does not say. What survives is who sacrificed, when, and in what form. A rite is performed every 3 October, National Foundation Day, and is called the heaven rite or the heaven-king rite.

This site files the place under "other" for the same reason it does Chamseongdan on Ganghwa: a rite offered to heaven cannot be rewritten into any of the existing petitions.

One thing more is worth recording. The encyclopedia notes that the Taebaeksan area is still regarded as a sacred mountain and as a training ground for becoming a shaman. It is a place where people become mudang and where they train — which is also to say that it is not a preserved ruin.

Claims and evidence levels 5

The Cheonjedan on the summit of Taebaeksan was designated National Folklore Cultural Heritage in 1991. documented history
The Cheonwangdan stands at the summit with the Janggundan north behind it and a lower altar below the southern slope; the Cheonwangdan is 2.4 m high and 27.5 m in circumference. documented history
A rite called the heaven rite or heaven-king rite is performed at the altar every 3 October, National Foundation Day. local custom
Taebaeksan was counted the northern peak among Silla’s three mountains and five peaks, and the rites section of the Samguk Sagi records state sacrifice there. documented history
The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records that the area is still regarded as a sacred mountain and a training ground for becoming a shaman. documented history

Related guides

Musok and gut — Korea’s living folk religionWho the mudang are and what a gut is. And what to do if you walk in on one.
Prayer sites and the one wishThe three great Gwaneum sites, the five relic halls, and the crowds before the entrance exam. Where the saying about one wish comes from, and where the record stops.