Yi Wook (The Academy of Korean Studies)

If there is a phenomenon that is truly universal, it is death. Death is not limited by boundaries of any sort. However, the manner in which it is received and handled does diverge greatly depending on the age and culture. The difference often sparks sense of curiosity to outsiders, but also elicits feelings of abomination and misunderstanding in equal measure. In this sense, funeral rites of Joseon may be a familiar legacy for most Koreans. Yet they were often derided as unnecessary and vain formalities of a bygone era, a reputation that has only recently been extirpated. In the case of State Funerals (國葬) for Joseon kings, such derision was much more pronounced, as they were seen as instigators of political feuds among factions. The superseding of negative opinions surrounding royal funerals by more positive views coincided with changing of perspectives regarding the Joseon aristocracy and factional politics. Also, recent advancements in research on the overall “royal court culture” allowed researchers to move away from fixation on ritual attire that has hitherto dominated studies on funerals. Books on royal rites (uigwe) would also receive increased attention, which naturally led to greater interest toward rituals. Instead of being trapped in arguments over Theory of Rites (yeron), the focus shifted to specific procedures and underlying meaning of rituals. The inclusion of the volume, which is being introduced here, in the “Joseon Royal Court Culture Series,” is a reflection of recent trends. 

This is a volume that deals with mourning rites for the kings of Joseon. These rites were founded upon the tenets of Neo-Confucianism, the ruling ideology of Joseon dynasty. The biggest task involved, of course, was to scrutinize and acquire a full understanding of State Funerals, which consist of over seventy different rituals that take place over a period of three years. In order to facilitate understanding of the constituent rites, the present study seeks to divide the topic into three distinct themes of GRIEVING, VENERATION, and REMEMBRANCE. 

Grieving is a key element from which to elicit the fundamental character of Confucian funerary rites which, in turn, constituted the basis of State Funerals of Joseon. Confucian funerary rites were the unquestioned standard for all funeral-related rituals in Joseon following the introduction of Zhu Xi’s Family Rituals (朱子家禮) during late Goryeo. The standard Confucian funerary rites comprise of interconnected series of rituals to provide a channel for the expression of grief, in a properly controlled manner, on the part of children. Likewise, State Funerals of the Joseon court is a collection of rituals that allow for expression of grief for the deceased king. The State Funeral possesses an additional, critical function: the diffusion of controlled grief through the entire society and country. 

As for Veneration, it is concept that provides a specific perspective for state funerals, as an outward symbol of royal authority. It may be true that funerals in Joseon, for everyone from commoners to kings, shared the basic sequence of rituals, because they adhered to standard Confucian funerary rites. Yet the specific features of the rites comprising the funerals differed depending on the status of the deceased. These differences were made very visible in case of State Funerals, by virtue of the fact they were held for kings. It is the formalities that separated state funerals from those of ordinary subjects that allow researchers a glimpse into symbolization of royal authority through those very formalities. This volume also shows that legitimization of royal authority was made possible through the symbolization and ritualization of accomplishments of kings. 

The third and final aspect is Remembrance, which is the manner in which the subjects remember their sovereign after the conclusion of the State Funeral. It mostly concerns protocols through which the king’s memorial tablets are transformed into objects of remembrance, to establish the mechanism for the memorialization of the accomplishments of former kings through a controlled, temporal sequence. This volume lays out the differences between rites held in the Royal Shrine and royal tombs, to highlight the diversity of forms of remembrance. 

The research into Joseon State Funerals, which began with a study into Rites Disputes (禮訟), has developed into an earnest examination of its rituals and concomitant symbolism. It is now contingent upon the researchers to clarify and analyze the material and personnel aspects of these rituals, and it is hoped that this volume will provide a foundation for subsequent research in this regard. (Translated by Seong Nam Kim)