오희문 誌石 연구

Abstract

In the Joseon Dynasty, people considered Confucian funeral rites as a very important ceremony at the national level and found the norms of life in Family Rites of Zhu Xi. There was a greater emphasis on a need for courtesy in the 18th century than previous periods. Many books on family rites were published and provided to spread even among common people. As a result, Confucian funeral rites were expanded to various social classes. The nobility, in particular, believed that it was a highly important process to bury a memorial stone containing records about the achievements of the dead ancestor along with his body and to leave the traces of life from ancestors to their descendents. A memorial stone is valuable material for its value itself. In April, 2014, the Cultural Heritage Administration collected 588 memorial stones stolen from 93 family tombs around the nation. This study analyzed the Memorial Stone of Oh Hee-mun housed by the Chutan family of the Haeju Oh clan as one of the memorial stones collected by the Cultural Heritage Administration. This memorial stone consists of a pair of blue and white porcelain memorial stones made in the 18th century and has not been fully reported yet in academic circles. With his family clan in Haeju, Oh Hee-mun had the courtesy name Biyeon and was a nobleman from Hanyang who went through Imjinwaeran in the 16th century. He excelled in study, but he never passed the state exam and held a government post. However, he is considered as one of the great figures that brought honor to the Haeju Oh family along with his son Oh Yun-gyeom who served the country as a prime minister. In addition to the father and son, the Haeju Oh family produced many more scholars and government officials including Oh Dal-je, his grandson who was famous as Samhaksa during Byeongjahoran; Oh Do-il, his great-grandson who won a reputation for his writing skills as Taehaksa during the reign of King Sukjong; Oh Du-in who served as Taehaksa; and Oh Myeong-hang who served as a prime minister during the reign of King Yeongjo. Oh Hee-mun wrote a journal as he evacuated during Imjinwaeran. His Soaemirok is well-known to the public along with Nanjungilgi and Jingbirok. However, this study was the first to research him through his memorial stone. The findings of the study supplemented his records through his new memorial stone.