조선왕조 儀軌의 현존 상황과 연구 활성화 방안

Abstract

Ritual protocol manuals, usually referred to as ‘Euigwae/儀軌’, were generally created for national rituals and ceremonial occasions, and therefore are very invaluable historical documents that can hardly be found anywhere else in the world. The Joseon dynasty aspired to establish Confucian- based governing, and made it a principle to document all the process and procedures of national rituals and ceremonies, with not only written explanations but also vivid illustrations. These Euigwae manuals of the Joseon dynasty were recognized for its importance and value as historical documents in literally global terms, and therefore were registered as ‘World Heritage of Documents’ in 2007 by UNESCO. Discussed in this article are, the current custodial situation of these Euigwae materials, which could be considered as the epitome of the Joseon Royal family’s and past governments ‘proud tradition regarding the creation and preservation of documents and records, and plans to encourage academic studies of these materials. The objective of these discussions, is to find ways to enhance the readers’ understanding of the royal family’s culture in the Joseon dynasty period. The discussion will proceed with commenting upon the following points. First, how the books and materials that were originally put in custody of the royal family (which had been formerly from the Gyujanggak institute of the Joseon dynasty government), were split in half and transferred to both the Gyujanggak Institute for Korean studies and the Jangseogak Archives during the Japanese occupation period and the time of liberation, will be examined. Second, the current situation of Euigwae materials that are in custody of domestic and foreign bodies will be examined, and the specific nature of several Euigwae materials in custody of particular institutes will be analyzed as well. Results of such examination will reveal that in Korea, Gyujanggak/奎章閣 and Jangseogak/藏書閣, and outside the country, the Paris National University in France and the Gungnae-cheong/宮內廳 Ministry in Japan, are currently the four major bodies that have quite many of these Euigwae materials in their custody. Third, it is also confirmed in the analysis process that other institutes in and out of Korea also have, albeit in smaller quantities, Eugiwae materials in their custody. Throughout this survey analysis, the existence and whereabout of several rare Euigwae materials such as the one in custody of the National Library of Korea, were confirmed. Fourth, currently a more comprehensive and academic analysis of these Euigwae materials is required, in order to encourage the overall studies upon the royal family’s own culture in the Joseon dynasty period, and to facilitate such tasks, this article presents the recommendation that it is imperative to arrange exchanges of materials, establish cooperation between related institutes such as museums, and assemble new research teams. Also suggested in this article, is that more personnel with expertises in managing cultural artifacts should be enlisted, to support more systematic preservation of the Euigwae materials.