18세기 후반 정조대 ‘元子’의 탄생과 胎室의 조성 -『胎峯謄錄』과 『元子阿只氏安胎謄錄』을 중심으로-

Abstract

This article tries to reveal a couple of historical facts and their meanings. In the royal family of Joseon Dynasty, what was the reality of 'the burial of placenta'(藏胎) as a ritual? How were 'the placenta chamber'(胎室) set up? This is all achieved by looking into the life of the king JeongJo and his family. Expecially, I focus on the birth and death of the king's 'eldest son'(元子) among his children. Since the 17th century, it was considered to be ideal that the oldest legitimate son succeed to the family. So, in the case of the royal family, the social status of Wonja(元子) needed to be separated from those of other siblings through rituals in the family order. After birth, the king's children went through a variety of rites of passage in their lifetime. But Wonja(元子) as a successor to the throne took a different way from the others' ones. It is the burial of placenta that was the starting point. This was publicly announced all across the country and was 'seen' by people in local. For example, King JeongJo had his two Wonja(元子)’s Taesil(胎室) set up. In spite of his grandfather King YoungJo's commands about setting up Taesil(胎室), King JeongJo was forced to reinterpret them. He thought that keeping the jar in Taesil(胎室) caused a public nuisance, but he couldn't break up the royal family's cultural tradition. Thus, maintaining the tradition, he ordered not to cause a public nuisance so much. His loving of people went further to the point where the scales of the rituals were getting smaller, but the meanings of them were getting bigger. This is well shown in both the commands through which, after the first Wonja(文孝世子)'s death, the next Wonja(純祖)’s placenta was buried in Boeun(報恩) in 1790 and the written prayers(祝文) which were three writings for the ritual.