의례와 제기에 반영된 조선 후기 국가 공식 진전의 기능

Abstract

During the Japanese Invasions of Korea (1592-1598), many of the official portrait halls (眞殿) outside the capital, as well as new Munsojeon, the most representative duplicate royal ancestral shrine (Origin Shrines 原廟), were destroyed. The destruction of earlier royal portrait halls and new Munsojeon resulted in the emergence of new types of portrait halls during the late Joseon period. There were an official portrait hall for successive kings in the capital, Yeonghuijeon (永禧殿) and two official portrait halls for late Joseon kings outside the capital, Jangnyeongjeon (長寧殿) and Hwaryeongjeon (華寧殿). This paper examines the functions, features, and meanings of the three halls. It aims to shed light on the differences among the three official portrait halls as well as in the broad context of royal ancestral rites of Joseon. Accordingly, I elucidate the way in which the three halls manifested different status and functions through ritual vessels and foods as well as sacrificial rites. The early Joseon court distinguished new Munsojeon, the representative Origin Shrine of early Joseon, from royal portrait halls primarily by its use of spirit tablets as cult objects. The early Joseon court constituted royal portrait hall rites as being of a lower status than new Munsojeon rites and operated on the principle of “serving the dead as if they were alive” for new Munsojeon. The ritual foods and vessels used in early portrait hall rites reflected the lower status and the principle of the halls. The early portrait hall rites followed the same ritual vessels featuring contemporary secular objects, such as silver jan cups (銀盞) and ceramic wine jars (沙尊) and offered the same foods as new Munsojeon. The portrait halls, however, in contrast to the Origin Shrine, limited the number of meat broth dishes that could be offered. Yeonghuijeon, a portrait hall for successive kings in the capital, was established as a place of worship in which a king’s personal sacrificial worship, featuring a high level of formality and complicated procedures, would be regularly performed. In this manner, the Yeonghuijeon rites achieved a status and significance comparable to the Jongmyo rites during the late Joseon period. This hall distinguished itself from early portrait hall rites through the exclusion of meat in ritual foods. The similarity of its ritual foods to death-day rites performed in royal tombs of late Joseon, featuring the offering of vegetarian foods, signifies the change of the hall’s function. Yeonghuijeon functioned as a place of worship in which the dead were served both “as if they were alive” like the early Joseon Origin Shrine and “in the Way of Spirit” like royal tombs. Therefore, the enshrined ancestors of the hall became more distant and deified spirits rather than close ancestors. The rites of Jangnyeongjeon, the portrait hall of King Sukjong and King Yeongjo in Ganghwa Island, were constituted as being the same as Yeonghuijeon rites, except for a king’s personal sacrificial worship. Hwaryeongjeon, the portrait hall of King Jeongjo in Hwaseong, which enshrined two portraits of the king in military attire, was assigned a lower status than either Yeonghuijeon or Jangnyeongjeon according to King Jeongjo’s will. Hwaryeongjeon manifested its lower status than the other two halls by differentiating its rites from them. Hwaryeongjeon performed only two rites on nabil (臘日) of the twelfth month and the birthday of King Jeongjo, whereas other portrait halls performed six sacrificial rites on seasonal festive days. The differentiation of late Joseon official portrait halls in status and rites gives an insight into how the late Joseon court reorganized royal ancestral rites. Official portrait halls of late Joseon assigned the functions of new Munsojeon, which were abolished after the Japanese Invasions of Korea, along with royal tombs and informal portrait halls in the inner court, Seonwonjeon. The ritual vessels for the rites of Yeonghuijeon served as a model for the two other official portrait halls established during the late Joseon period, and thus the ritual vessels of Yeonghuijeon represent ones for the official portraits of late Joseon. The ritual vessels for Yeonghuijeon rites, with the exception of a few silver vessels, had been mainly made from brass and ceramics. In 1792, all the vessels previously made of ceramics (沙) were replaced by “brass (鍮),” except for a teacup, which was replaced with silver. The use of brass vessels was the distinctive feature for Confucian orthodox sacrificial rites. Based on the change in materials used for Yeonghuijeon ritual vessels, this paper proved the brass wine jars with dragon designs which have inscriptions of ‘Yeong (永, eternal)’ were produced and used for Yeonghuijeon. The brass uri vessels for Yeonghuijeon was the same size as ones for Spirit Hall and taller than ones for royal tombs. The change of materials, mainly to brass, and the size of vessels displayed the significance and distinctive status of Yeonghuijeon rites in Customary Rites (俗祭). During the reign of King Gojong, there was another change in the ritual vessels for Yeonghuijeon rites. In 1871, the Joseon court appropriated jak (爵) cups and roe jars with mountain patterns (山罍), both of which were used for Confucian orthodox rites, instead of jan cups and brass wine jars with dragon designs. Accordingly, Yeonghuijeon served the same function as a royal tomb, a place of worship serving the dead in the “Way of Spirit.”