망국 군주의 복제(服制) 논쟁에 대한 일 고찰

Abstract

National mourning was a very important issue in dynastic society as can be seen from the Gihae Yessong. This issue was a natural phenomenon at then since social orders were operated based on Confucian rituals. Around 1919 when King Gojong passed down, and around 1926 when King Sunjong passed away, debates arose over the state funeral among the Yurim people. Since it was the national funeral held after the collapse of the country, there were far more complicated problems than usual. Among the various controversies, there was a fierce debate especially over the clothing issue. The process of such controversy can be confirmed through works called “Bokbyeon” and “Bokbyeon”, and it was Jo Geung-seop and Jeon-woo who led the controversy. Jo Geung-seop argued that there was no need to wear the mourning dress because King Gojong was a monarch who led the country to its destruction. On the other hand, Jeon-woo insisted that mourning costume should be worn for King Gojong since the responsibility for the destruction of country does not lie with the king. Jo Geung-seop and Jeon-woo would cite examples or arguments in favor of them in history books and scriptures to gain an upper hand in the debate. After the death of King Sunjong, the debate repeats, and the replicated debate about the clothing was a continuous and widespread 'hot potato' for contemporaries. Each of the arguments used logic, in some cases justification or loyalty, or figurative rhetorics to justify themselves and strongly criticize voices against their own. In this paper, we summarize the specific progress of this controversy and examine the implications from this repeated events.