1325년 箕子祠 祭祀 再開의 배경 및 의미

Abstract

King Chungsuk-wang, in the proclamation he issued in 1325 right after his return from prior detention in Yuan, emphasized the importance of ‘changing the atmosphere and rectifying the conventions of the country.’ By doing so he implied that he was planning to implement a series of administrative reforms based upon foreign institutions, to overhaul the overall governance of the country. And as a methodic approach, he examined the renovations that were being made to the national system of memorial services of the Mongol Yuan empire. He eventually decided to apply two of the most noticeable policy agendas that were being pursued in the Yuan renovations, which was the reinforcement of (a) Confucius worshipping and (b) Ancient Holy Emperors’ commemoration, to his own efforts of redesigning and revitalizing the Goryeo culture. Such effort led to a reevaluation of the “Gi’ja” figure, and reactivation of national rituals designed to honor him whose contribution to the development of the Korean people had been deemed incalculable, in terms of his providing of Confucian teachings and the overall construction of the Korean culture. His decision to restart the memorial services for Gi'ja in 1325, was to essentially realign the Goryeo culture, by further developing the people’s understanding of Neo-Confucian practices in Goryeo, and also by reinforcing the general public’s historical perspective viewing their own culture, under the name of honoring and commemorating Gi'ja. It was essentially ‘using’ foreign methods displayed in Yuan empire’s own modification of its national system of memorial services, in re-emphasizing the image of one of the most popular Korean characters. Chungsuk-wang’s efforts also enabled people in the following periods (the reign of Gongmin-wang for example) to continue such honoring as well. Chungsuk-wang’s father(Chungseon-wang) had earlier restored Goryeo’s past conventions, such as the governmental system, the national shrine and the overall taxation system, on the basis of his own understanding of China’s past institutions and culture(‘舊制·古制’).’ Chungsuk-wang’s efforts were not so different from such previous effort. His examination of the Yuan imperial memorial service system enabled him to pick up several important agendas and priorities, and enabled him to use them in a Goryeo-specific way, in a way which would produce a favorable outcome for the Goryeo people, in terms of preservation and re-exploring of their own heritage. This whole Gi’ja issue of the Chungsuk-wang era makes us reevaluate our preconceptions of the time. With more than a hundred years to coexist with the Mongol Yuan empire, the Goryeo people must have developed a perspective that viewed the Mongols not only as adversaries and oppressors but also as counterparts who could sometimes provide insights and opportunities for new kinds of exchanges. The resuming of the Gi’ja memorial service in 1325 clearly exhibits such possibilities.