儒敎 祭地儀禮의 역사와 구조 - 祭天儀禮와의 관계를 중심으로

Abstract

Traditional suburban sacrifices(郊祀) consist of rituals for the heaven and the earth. Most of research and studies have focused on rituals of heaven worship while giving little emphasis to rituals of earth worship. Against the current research tendency, this study aims to investigate the history and system of the ritual of earth worship with emphasis placed on rituals for the earth. The ancient rituals for the earth, which were practiced in unsophisticated ways, have become firmly established, together with the rituals for the heaven, as the Confucian's national ritual system for centuries. In the meantime, original rituals for the earth have been transformed into the altar of state (社稷) symbolizing the authority of the state, or suburban sacrifices as the Confucian's national ritual system. The ritual of earth worship was interpreted based on the Yin-Yang thought (陰陽思想) of the Book of Change(周易). In particular, the period or place and the level of the earth god decided on the basis of the relationship with the celestial supreme god. The earth god, starting from the primitive concept of the terra mother, has changed into the altar of state symbolizing the territory of the state. As the rituals for the earth god were incorporated into the Confucian ritual system of the State, Hou tu(后土) as Earth Mother compatible to the celestial supreme god, appeared. In conclusion, as the ritual for the earth god was incorporated into the Confucian's national ritual system, the uniqueness of the earth god was vanished, or transformed into the compatible counterpart of the heaven god. Accordingly, the structure and style of the ritual of earth worship were also adjusted according to the established relation with the ritual of heaven worship.