조선후기 어진 관계 의례 연구 :의례를 통해 본 어진의 기능

Abstract

During the Joseon Dynasty, portraits of the former kings were considered royal symbols that were created through official rituals. These rituals for royal portraits underwent a considerable change in the late Joseon dynasty, when portraits of the living king began to be produced in addition to portraits of the ancestral kings. This new tradition required the invention and implementation of appropriate rituals. This article focuses on the process and location of rituals for royal portraits during the late Joseon dynasty, from the reign of King Sukjong (1674~1720) to that of King Jeongjo (1776~1800). The rituals for the portraits of ancestral kings were basically ancestral rites, but the scale and time of the rites varied according to different locations of the jinjeon (hall for royal portraits). Among the five local jinjeon buildings of King Taejo (1392~1398), the first king of the Joseon dynasty, only two survived—the Junwonjeon and the Gyeonggijeon. The ancestral rites for the local jinjeon of the early Joseon period, held by the local governors on the six holidays, were maintained until the late Joseon period. The central authorities eventually took over this early tradition, allowing local officials to exert continuous influence on the local populace. King Sukjong, rather than restoring the lost regional jinjeon buildings, established the first central jinjeon Yeongheejeon in the capital. The ancestral portraits that were enshrined in the Yeongheejeon received periodic ancestral rites, as well as irregular visits from the king himself. The participation of the king greatly expanded the scale of the rites and enhanced the status of the royal portraits. In the early Joseon period, the mortuary tablet was officially adopted as the only media for identifying dead ancestors. But once the imperial portraits in the Yeongheejeon received the official rites from the king, the mortuary tablets came to serve as the symbolic media of the soul. Sukjong also constructed another jinjeon inside the palace. He rebuilt the Seonwonjeon, formerly located in the Gyeongbok Palace, in the Changdeok Palace. The Seonwonjeon was once used simply to house royal portraits, but it developed into a royal family shrine, as each of the previous kings’ portraits was hung in its own separate room, where it received rites by the royal family. Compared to the Yeongheejeon in which official rites were held by the king and his officials, the Seonwonjeon was maintained by the royal agency, which was less formal. For example, an informal tea ceremony was performed on an ancestor’s birthday. The portraits hung at the Seonwonjeon were more personal to the royal family. The present king took special care of the portrait of the previous king as a son, instead of as the monarch of a nation. In the late Joseon period, a new tradition was established wherein portraits of the present king was produced and enshrined in an independent jinjeon. Each king had his own official jinjeon where the ritual was performed: the Jangnyeongjeon for King Sukjong, the Mannyeongjeon and Taeryeongjeon for King Yeongjo (r. 1720-1776) and the Gyujanggak for King Jeongjo. Portraits of living kings could not receive ancestral rites, so new rites had to be invented. The process of making and maintaining the portraits came to be ritualized as the “rite of entitlement,” “rite of enshrinement,” and “rite of maintenance.” Through these rites, the current king’s portraits were transformed from mere paintings into symbols of the ruler. Thus, the portraits were continuously displayed and honored at the concealed jinjeon, and were revered by the king’s subjects as a substitution for his physical presence. In short, during the late Joseon dynasty, the rituals for the portraits of the present king bestowed these works of art with actual royal authority and various functions for the enhancement of the rulership.