조선시기 州縣 社稷壇 설치의 의미와 그 실제

Abstract

Examined in this article are the local “Ju/Hyeon” Sajik-dan altars of Joseon. Also examined are how such altars and shrines were established, and what were the meaning of them. At the end of this article, local vestiges in the Gyeong'gi-do province are examined as well, in order to determine the altars’ usual locations, features and designs. In the early days of Joseon, ‘local services for unworthy gods’ were forbidden, and the government intended a radical reform of the existing ritual system. Yet during King Taejo’s reign, only the ideas of establishing a National Literary Shrine and settling down a series of local Seong’hwang-sa shrines were put on the table for consideration. The concept of creating a brand new Altar system was never suggested or conceived. Only after it was decided to retransfer the capital back to Hanseong in 1406(6th year of King Taejong’s reign), a governmental initiative was announced for a comprehensive reform of the national ritual system, which included the establishment of new altars. At the time, the Buddhist temples and other kinds of unofficial shrines throughout the country were being scrapped, and the lands and Nobi servants under their jurisdiction were commandeered by public offices. All those resources were transferred to the Jeon’nong-shi and Gunja-shi offices, and served the government as new revenue sources. Some of them were diverted to local administrative centers, and even to local Hyang’gyo schools. The abolishment of Buddhist temples and other shrines also indicated that the Joseon society was going to witness a significant philosophical change throughout the country. The government[Goryeo]-authorized “Buddhist Bi’bo(“Protector”) monasteries(裨補寺社),” which had been located throughout the country, were originally established as holy places that would support and protect the energy of the Gae’gyeong/開京 capital city, and also had the capacity to serve as administrative centers in local regions. Yet after Hanseong again became the Joseon capital, the Bi’bo monasteries that had been ‘guarding’ Gae’gyeong almost immediately lost its relevance. Then the Joseon government began to establish new local places with specific functions, in the forms of altars and shrines. The most noticeable entities were the Sajik-dan altars and the Hyang’gyo schools. After King Taejong ascended to the throne, the Sajik-dan altars started to be constructed to replace the Goryeo-style services for the Gods(神) and also unworthy local services for the mountains and rivers(“淫事”). In 1406, regulations for Sajik-dan altars and Hyang’gyo schools were created everywhere throughout the country. The formal conductor of the memorial services were the local prefects, but the officials who co-performed the rituals were all from Hyang’gyo schools. Local Hyang’gyo schools, expanding the society’s Neo- Confucian understanding, were working together with the local authorities to spread Neo-Confucian morality and values throughout the country by establishing Sajik-dan service protocols in the local regions. Services at the local literary shrines or at the Sajik-dan altars were performed on the same day with the capital and in relatively same scales, in order to show the public that the capital and local regions shared the same ideology and philosophy, the same ritual and its spirits. Sajik-dan altars were established in every Ju and Hyeon unit, and their locations were generally dictated to be at the west of the local administrative center, but they were located in other positions as well. In case of the Gyeong’gi-do province, as indicated in HShinjeung Dong'guk Yeoji Seung’ramH, we can see most of them were located at the west side of the administrative centers, but according to HYeoji DoseoH, a geographic manual published later, it seems their positions were changed to new and different locations. Apparently in many of those cases the administrative centers were relocated so the altars’ position and direction from the centers had to be indicated differently from before, and when the original position of the altar was somewhere between the west and south sides of the center different texts tended to record its position differently. In some cases the local altars were placed near the other altars and shrines adjacent to the Main “Jinsan” mountain, because it would have been convenient to have them all at a relatively same location, or where some of the Sajok/士族 figures simply wanted them to be. In general, the local Sajik-dan altars were located near the Main mountains at the local administrative centers, stationed either upon the top or slope of those less-than-100m mountains. Unfortunately, the measurements of the local Sajik-dan altars remain unknown, as they are not specified even inside the protocol manuals. During King Sejong’s reign there seems to have been an attempt to modify the size and format of the altars to those of the Yeongseong-dan/靈星壇 Altar(of the Minor Services[小祀] category). Yet such effort seems to have failed, as local altars feature various forms. The most complete form shows the Sa’dan/社壇 and the Jik’dan/稷檀 as ‘one figure(同壇)’ with one ‘Yu’ on one altar and equipped with a Hongsal-mun gate and a Shinshil chamber. Yet the Gwangju- bu unit’s Sajik-dan altar at the Nam'han Sanseong fortress has exactly the same outlook as the Central Sajik-dan altar, showing both separated Sa’dan and Jik'dan altars. Also, some of the local altars seem to have been made not with stone but with soil, some of them even had no Shinshil chambers so they had to share the chambers meant for other altars, and in various cases the Hongsal-mun gates were either on every four side or on only some of them or only stood in particular directions. Because the local Ju/Hyeon Sajik-dan altars displayed a variety of forms, configurations and locations, we should be careful not to jump to any premature conclusions regarding their nature and outlook. We should be aware that new forms of local altars could appear at any time.