英祖의 綸音과 王政전통 만들기

Abstract

In the early days following his enthronement, King Yeongjo chose faithfully to follow the political tradition established by his predecessors with the utmost prudence, as if walking on thin ice. As state affairs gradually stabilized and he came to lead them personally, however, he recovered confidence and therefore made diverse new attempts. In addition, because King Yeongjo reigned for over half a century, the policies that he implemented came to be established as yet another unique tradition of monarchical rule. 18th‐century monarchs could not argue for the legitimacy of their rule solely based on their sacred lineage. In fact, through the cultivation of the study of the sage‐king, they did not hesitate to reveal their political views to their subjects, displaying their aspects as scholar‐kings internally and externally. Here, the form of the yuneum (royal exhortations), personally authored by monarchs, too, was actively used. Early yuneum were issued so as to express monarchs’ intentions regarding and through national projects such as tangpyeong (impartial appointment) and major policies such as gyunyeok (equalized taxation). As yuneum gradually came to be regularly issued during specific solar terms such as the first day of the first month of the lunar year and the winter solstice, their repetitiveness increased. Moreover, they were used without fail when expressing monarchs’intentions even regarding and through particular policies such as those on alcohol prohibition, frugality, judicature, civil and military service examinations,and rituals and ceremonies of the royal household. Afterwards, monarchs enjoyed proclaiming even their personal sentiments such as delight internally and externally through yuneum. This signifies that, during the 18th century,yuneum were used to express monarchs’ intentions omnidirectionally