朱熹의 廟數論과 宗廟制 改革論

Abstract

Discussions on the proper number of ancestral tablets to be used by the Son of Heaven when conducting ancestral rituals started in earnest during the Han dynasty, with the issue of what was proper and improper remaining unresolved until the Southern Song dynasty. At that time, Zhu Xi established a unique ancestral shrine system based on his reinterpretation of the existing arguments related to the number of ancestral tablets (廟數) housed in the royal ancestral shrine. The first characteristic of Zhu Xi's theory of the ancestral shrine system was related to his perception that the shrine should initially involve the use of four ancestral tablets, and this even in cases involving the Son of Heaven. This emphasis on the similar devotion of the Son of Heaven and the ruling class in terms of using four ancestral tablets (for the great-great-grandfather, the great-grandfather, the grandfather and the father) during ancestral rituals was designed to highlight the importance of human relations. The second characteristic of Zhu Xi's theory was rooted in his assertion that six ancestral tablets (representing six generations of ancestors) should be employed when the actual imperial bloodline was successively inherited from the Tai Zu (太祖), or the founder of a dynasty. In other words, Zhu Xi sought to actualize the rules for the rites (禮治) designed to maintain a stable relationship order between subordinates and superiors based on the concepts of loyalty and justification by differentiating the number of ancestral tablets used by the Son of Heaven and by the ruling class.