Jongmyo

He laid out the grand palace of Gyeongbokgung, whose name means the Palace of Shining Happiness.

He placed the royal ancestral shrine of Jongmyo to the east, where the spirit tablets of the kings would be honored, and the altars of land and grain to the west.

He built a wall around the city with great gates, and even the gates carried the Confucian names of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.

The whole city was a philosophy turned into streets and stone, a physical argument about how human beings ought to live.

So you have Ikseon-dong, which century old hanoks turned into cafes, restaurants, and shops.

Then nearby there's Seosullagil, right beside the stone wall of Jongmyo Shrine.

Oh, very ke- gyopo of you.

Why?