The Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology

I INTRODUCTION

Gisa jinpyori jinchan uigwe (己巳進表裏進饌儀軌) in the British Library is a palace record album of the late Joseon period, of a type produced for the Royal Archives, and surviving principally in three collections: Kyujanggak (奎章閣) at Seoul National University, Jangseogak (藏書閣) in the Academy of Korean Studies, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. Like hundreds of surviving record paintings, it was produced at royal command for a clear purpose. My paper will place the manuscript in relation to record paintings, and suggest a political justification for the lavish scale of the event and of the record volume. An English translation of the manuscript’s title is Record of the Presentation Ceremony and Banquet in the Gisa Year (1809).

Records were made of important events in the royal household and the court, throughout the Joseon period, but none from before 1600 survives. Because of the Confucian ideology embraced by the state, rites were observed for ancestral worship, for receiving foreign envoys, for military campaigns, for funerals of members of the royal house, and in celebration of weddings and anniversaries. The gisa (己巳) or 1809 volume was produced as an anniversary celebration, to honour Lady Hyegyeong, also known as Lady Hong (惠慶宮 洪氏, 1735-1815). As a young girl, she had been betrothed and married in 1744 to the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Sado (思悼世子, 1735-1762). Although the marriage was contracted in 1744, it was consummated only in 1749, after the groom came of age, an occasion marked in traditional Korean life by the ‘capping ceremony,’ gwallye (冠禮).

Lady Hyegyeong is best known as the author of Hanjungnok (閑中錄, Records Written in Silence), a personal and haunting memoir of her life before and after the tragic death of her husband. Prince Sado, son of King Yeongjo (英祖, r. 1724-76), developed a mental illness which led to violent and bizarre behaviour. Eventually his father, King Yeongjo, had him locked in a large storage chest for rice, where he died after eight days, in the summer of 1762. Prince Sado’s son went on to succeed his grandfather, reigning as King Jeongjo (正祖) from 1776 to 1800. King Jeongjo moved the remains of his father to a mausoleum at Hwaseong (華城), present day Suwon, and made annual processions there, to underline his reverence for his father’s memory. In 1795, the year of Lady Hyegyeong’s 60th birthday, she accompanied him on a visit to the tomb, an event which has been often reproduced in paintings and books. By honouring the late Crown Prince, the court was effectively reinstating him in the royal genealogy. King Jeongjo died in 1800 and was succeeded by his ten-year old son, King Sunjo (純祖). Lady Hyegyeong was then 66 years old.

The celebrations and banquet in 1809 marked the hoegap (回甲) or sixtieth anniversary of the consummation of Lady Hyegyeong’s marriage, which had been celebrated on the 27th day of the first month of 1749 (the 25th year of King Yeongjo’s reign), the capping ceremony having taken place on the 22nd day. In 1809, Lady Hyegyeong was the dowager queen mother, having outlived her husband and then her son King Jeongjo. An important aim of this paper is to clarify the occasion of the ceremony and to establish without doubt that the person honoured was Lady Hyegyeong, and to correct the erroneous information published in Douglas, Supplementary Catalogue of Chinese Books and Manuscripts in the British Museum (1903), where the volume is described as "presentation of gifts and congratulations to the Queen of Corea on the occasion of her being ‘capped’ in the year 1869 [sic]." Folio 30 of the manuscript begins the royal edict about the ceremony by referring to jagung gwallye hoegap or the sixtieth anniversary of the capping ceremony of the widowed royal grandmother (jagung [慈宮] is a term used by a royal grandson to his grandmother who is the widow of an uncrowned crown prince).

II THE JOSEON ROYAL ARCHIVES

It was the practice to make several copies of some records, and to store them in different places, including archives remote from the capital, in order to protect them from possible loss through invasion or fire. In the nineteenth century, the archives were kept at Odaesan (五臺山), Jeoksangsan (赤裳山), Taebaeksan (太白山) and Jeongjoksan (鼎足山) Mountains. The last of these repositories, Jeongjoksan, was on Ganghwado Island (江華島). Many of the documents stored there were made to be viewed by the king, and used superior quality paper, binding and textiles for the covers. It is notable also that the calligraphy and painting on the royal viewing copies is of a consistently high standard. Since the British Library manuscript was purchased from an individual in Paris in 1891, we must assume that it had been brought to France in 1866-67 with the group of some 300 manuscripts from the Ganghwa Island repository, Oekyujanggak (外奎章閣), taken by the French force under Admiral Roze. It is not clear how the manuscript became separated from the rest of the collection, which is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Taking into account its Oekyujanggak provenance, and the high quality of calligraphy and painting it contains, we can be confident that it was a royal viewing copy, produced using high-quality materials and well-qualified calligraphers and artists, to be consulted by the king. Efforts to research the circumstances of the sale of the manuscript to the British Museum (the British Library Oriental Department was until 1973 administratively part of the British Museum) have been mostly unsuccessful, because the archive has been weeded, and most of the correspondence between the vendor and the Museum has been destroyed (Figure 1). To my knowledge, the gisa manuscript is a unique copy (some records of palace ceremonies and other royal archive documents have survived in multiple copies).

( Figure 1 ) Letter dated 3 September 1891 to the Director of the British Museum refusing to sell the volume. Another letter, reversing this decision and agreeing to sell, is recorded in the archives, but does not survive. British Library Archive, DH4, 5, 100

III THE BRITISH LIBRARY MANUSCRIPT

Like other palace records, the record of the gisa celebration for Lady Hyegyeong follows a standard format. First, an order of events is presented, leading to the announcement of the choice of the day for the ceremonies. A practice ceremony of presentations was held in the Hall of Splendid Government, Huijeongdang (熙政堂) of Changdeokgung Palace (昌德宮), on the tenth day of the first month; the actual ceremony and banquet took place in the Gyeongchunjeon (景春殿), Hall of Bright Spring, in the Changgyeonggung Palace (昌慶宮) on the 22nd day of the first month and the 27th day of the second month, respectively. It is not clear why the banquet commemoration took place in the second, rather than the first month, which would have been an exact 60-year anniversary.

Next, the officials charged with making arrangements are listed, starting with Ministers Yi Myeon-gyeong (李勉競, 1753-1812), Hong Myeong-ho (洪明浩, 1736-1819) and other officials of the Board of Rites, a section chief of the Board of Works and others, including an official of the Bureau of Royal Attire, totaling thirty-three named and two unnamed officials. These are followed by diagrams and then paintings of the setting, positions, architecture, musicians, accessories, furniture, implements and paraphernalia, ceremonial armour, musical instruments and costumes that were made for and used in the ritual. Following this lengthy group of illustrations are several pages of text detailing the royal edicts, in Korean jeongyo (傳敎), giving instructions about the ceremony and banquet. These edicts date from the twelfth month of the previous year, extending to an edict on the 19th day of the third month about a detail relating to rewards for the officials during the presentation ceremony. Some edicts are announced as gujeon hagyo (口傳下敎, ‘verbal edict transmitted’) while others are listed as jeonwal (傳曰, ‘it is decreed’). Here, the importance accorded to the form of events is evident. For example, there is an order (31r line 6) that that flower vases should be presented in the manner of Bongsudang (奉壽堂), the Hall for Longevity, at Hwaseong. Next, from folios 34 to 94, the volume contains a careful account of the processes involved in mounting the ceremony, including administrative orders about the arrangements and the music to be played. They record the greetings, the documents exchanged between officials, details of particular ceremonies, discussions, detailed lists of foods and gifts, furniture and utensils, fans and other ceremonial implements, names and titles of officials and ladies taking part, in every case listing separately those for the presentation ceremony and for the banquet. The final pages name or enumerate the craftsmen and musicians who participated, and the lists of their rewards, which included a salary increase, tiger skins, horses, wood, cloth and rice, running to three pages.

For many people, the greatest interest of the manuscript lies in the brightly and lavishly coloured paintings depicting the ceremonies. These are preceded by black and white diagrams that give a schematic account of the buildings and the positioning of the participants in the events. Six double-page diagrams precede the colour illustrations, showing clearly that the purpose of the ceremony and of the record was to mark the occasion in a ritually correct way. The diagrams provide an ‘at a glance’ record of the scale and style of the events. Even the number and positions of the musicians in each of the two orchestras were stipulated with scrupulous accuracy.

The panoramic view of the presentation ceremony, marking the anniversary of the capping ceremony in 1749, presents the scene as if the outer walls had been peeled back to reveal the interior of the hall. The tiled roof of the Hall of Bright Spring is swathed in puffy clouds (Figure 2). Red blinds screen off the inner area. Much of the hall remains empty with attendants bearing flags and canopies lined up along the walls furthest from the throne. At the rear, separated from the throne and the attendant ladies by low curtains, is the platform ensemble of musicians, dressed in red. The most important space is the throne area, although Lady Hyegyeong herself is not shown. The red-lacquered throne is placed before a tall screen with a dramatic painting of enormous luxuriant peony heads, these being thought an appropriate subject for a ceremony in honour of a wedding. The throne itself, described later as a ‘silver folding throne,’ in Korean eungyoui (銀交椅), is high-backed; a trapezoid foot-rest sits in front of it, and small tables with incense burners and official seals are placed nearby. Attendants carrying fans stand just outside the inner room. Other fan-bearers are lined up facing the throne, along the outer wall. A dozen or more tables laden with gifts and messages of congratulation are neatly arranged around the perimeter of the hall, and the ladies and attendants are depicted in their designated positions, exactly as directed in the plan for the occasion, almost like dancers in a complex choreography. Woven sedge mats can also be observed, in position for the participants to prostrate themselves.

( Figure 2 ) Bifolium 11v-12r. Presentation Ceremony. British Library, Or. 7458

A second and even more imposing panoramic view shows the banquet, the more important of the two ceremonies, since it commemorates the consummation of the Prince and Lady Hyegyeong’s marriage in 1749 (Figure 3). In the same building, the Hall of Bright Spring, two orchestras attend the proceedings, a platform ensemble as before, enhanced now with the addition of a terrace orchestra (Figure 4). Because of the extra space required to show all the participants, the painting here extends its boundaries to the courtyard area outside the Hall of Bright Spring, even showing the fruit trees in their bare-branched winter state, growing just inside the brick- and tile-built outer wall of the palace compound. The overall effect is one of pomp and display, of lavish provision and minute attention to detail.

( Figure 3 ) Bifolium 12v-13r. Banquet

( Figure 4 ) Detail of fol. 12v.

Close examination of the two panorama scenes reveals that they were not painted in a realistic manner, but that the artist adopted multiple perspective points, from bird’s eye view to face-on. The buildings, equipment and participants in the ceremonies are not depicted to scale, but are adapted to allow a complete display of all the courtiers and their accoutrements in the palace setting, executed with apparent but deceptive precision across the two pages of the open manuscript.

The two panorama views are followed by four bi-folio paintings. The first depicts the inner room during the banquet, where the throne, this time raised on a platform, is now set against an even larger screen, with ten panels (Figure 5). The subject-matter here is buildings in a landscape, and we can see hills, pavilions, trees, and a low-walled compound (Figure 6). High candlesticks, twice the height of the court ladies, bear massive candles decorated with writhing dragons and stand near the wine tables. Beautifully-presented cakes are lined up on four well-spaced tables, the largest being directly in front of the throne (Figure 7). (Later in the manuscript 16 leaves are devoted to lists of the sumptuous fare offered at the banquet, ff 72 – 79b). Two further paintings show the East and West Additional Ranks, the former in a two-sectioned arrangement separated by a wall, the latter a single area, bounded once more by a curtained wall (Figure 8). The fifty-four musicians of the platform orchestra and the fifty-one musicians of the terrace orchestra are then shown, as two separate full-page illustrations, with their concert masters leading them, distinguished from the other musicians by their green robes.

( Figure 5 ) Folio 13v. Interior of the hall, showing banquet and attendants

( Figure 6 ) Detail of fol. 13r. Raised throne (for Lady Hyegyeong) with ten-fold landscape screen

( Figure 7 ) Detail of fol. 13r. Banquet dishes placed in front of the raised throne

( Figure 8 ) Bifolium 14v-15r. West Additional Ranks

The remaining illustrations provide a kind of visual inventory of the ceremony; proof of the designs and materials used for the serving vessels, floral decorations, costume and so on. Here, and in similar painted pages in numerous other ritual manuscripts of the late Joseon period, the purpose of the artists who executed the paintings can be very clearly understood. The images of tables, canopies, ritual axes and musical instruments were produced not for enjoyment or pleasure. On the contrary, the solemn nature of the event is underlined by the documentary style of the painting. The colour palette of yellow, black, red, blue and white reflects the associations of these colours with the five elements. The restriction of the colours used to the five primary colours of Chinese and Korean folklore emphasizes the connection between the ruler and the cosmos, and is characteristic of the colours used in court record painting of the late Joseon. No attempt was made to scale the images, or to convey realistically the relative sizes of the musical instruments. However the value and purpose of the illustrations is the same as for the rest of the volume: they were to be consulted in future occasions when deciding the form and scale of similar events. Although the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the consummation of the wedding of a deceased crown prince was unlikely to occur frequently, the principle of consulting precedent in order to adopt ritually correct practices for the royal calendar was the foundation stone on which the Joseon court was built. It was therefore important to provide adequate description and depiction of the celebrations, as a reference point for future officials and rulers in their deliberations about the correct form for anniversary celebrations.

IV ILLUSTRATION OF FLOWERS, IMPLEMENTS, AND COSTUMES

The illustrations are as follows:

Coloured flowers, chaehwa (綵花)

fol.18r, eojam sagwonhwa ilssang (御簪絲圏花), a pair of hairpins for royal ladies, with silk round flower heads fol.18v, 19r&v sagwonhwa, circular silk flowers with bees: fol.20r, (four types of flowers)

Top right: sugonghwa (首拱花), hand-held flower;

Top left: sanghwa (床花), table flower;

Bottom right: junhwa (樽花), flower in vessel (one red cluster, one pink cluster);

Bottom left: iseongchung supayeon, two-part lotus;

fol.20v, (eight types of flowers):

Top row, right to left: single small lotus, red three-blossomed flower, red flower, moon cassia; Bottom row, right to left: peony, red flower, red flower, ‘four seasons flower;

Vessels and utensils, giyong (器用)

fol.21r, Top row: silver folding chair, low table for presenting food;

Middle row: silver foot stand, seal table covered with coloured silk;

Lower row: octagonal incense stand with bowed legs, in red lacquered wood, brazier stool;

fol.21v, Top row: food table with silk covers, wine table also with silk covers;

Middle row: longevity wine stand in red lacquer with a yellow surface, a square red lacquered box of silk flowers;

Lower row: box of silk flowers, table for a flower arrangement in a wine vessel, jun (樽);

fol.22r, Top row: incense burner, dragon candle;

Middle row: incense container, pricket candle stand with trailing ribbons; Lower row: painted candle, candle stand;

fol.22v, Top row: silver sun and moon bottle bearing a roundel (badly discoloured) with a ‘crow in the sun’ design (?), golden jak (爵, three-legged vessel);

Middle row: a jade jak, a beautifully carved shallow dish with a relief design on the outer wall of scrolling plants and leaves, golden stand or coaster, jeom (坫), on which to place goblet after drinking;

Lower row: silver gilt coaster, wine jar;

fol.23r, Top row: silver ladle, silver dish;

Middle row: gold beaker, silver coaster; Lower row, gold coaster, silver phoenix ewer;

fol.23v, Top row: silver bottle, jak;

Middle row: five jeongbae (呈杯) bowls, plate;

Lower row: wine vessel used as a flower vase (to see it in context compare folios 13r detail, 13v and 20r), porcelain bottle;

Ceremonial armour, uijang (儀仗)

fol.24r, a red and a green gae (盖, parasol) each with golden finial; three seon (扇, fans) each with a pair of opposed creatures: dragon, phoenix and peacock, respectively, one silver axe;

fol.24v, one golden axe, one silver and one golden stirrup, one silver and one golden sword, one silver upright gourd on a pole (note use of gold leaf);

fol.25r, three gourds (one upright gold, one transverse silver, one transverse gold), three gi (旗) pennants [one with a baektak (白澤), one with a three horned-animal, one with a horned dan] (note use of gold leaf);

fol.25v, one gi (flag) with a phoenix, one sun parasol, one red and one blue shade parasol (?), a small gold axe and a crystal-topped staff;

fol.26r, a blue fan (seon) and two swords (precious sword and cloud sword), the swords sheathed in lacquer sheath, tied with purple silk;

Musical instruments, akgi (樂器)

fol.26v, geongo (建鼓) pavilioned drum, bak (拍) clappers and hui (麾) standard;

fol.27r, Top row: sakgo (朔鼓) first drum, gyobanggo (敎坊鼓) drum, bipa (琵琶) flute, Lower row: eunggo (應鼓) drum, haegeum (奚琴) fiddle, ajaeng (牙箏) zither;

fol.27v, gayageum (伽倻琴) zither, banghyang (方響) iron chimes, piri (觱篥) oboe, hyeongeum (玄琴) zither, daegeum (大琴) flute, janggo (杖鼓) hourglass drum;

fol.28r, dangjeok (唐笛) Chinese flute, saeng (笙) panpipes, chuk (柷) plunger (trapeziform box, painted with bamboo on a green background, and with coloured stylised clouds, with a stick which is struck three times at the start of the musical piece), tungso (洞簫) end-blown flute, pyeongyeong (編磬) stone chimes standing in a frame on duck-carved feet, eo (敔) whisk and tiger (with serrated back formed of 27 notches which is struck with a bamboo stick at the end of the piece);

fol.28v, pyeonjong (編鐘) bronze bells, note dog-lion feet at base of frame and five peacocks at top of frame, and dragon heads projecting;

Costumes, boksik (服飾)

fol.29r, yeohap boksik (女佮服飾) female attendants’ dress (from top row): hwagwan (花冠) flowery head-dress (see folio 15r, singing women, for this headwear in context), hwang chosang (黄綃裳) yellow silk skirt, hwang chosam (黄綃衫) yellow silk coat, osam (?) skirt, sudae (繍帯) brocade belt;

fol.29v, jeonak boksik (典樂服飾) costume worn by the leader of the musicians: mora bokdu (冒羅幞頭, flap-eared hat), cheongsam (靑衫, green robe) belt worn by the leader and also by the musicians

akgong boksik (樂工服飾) costume worn by musicians: hwahwa bokdu (畫花幞頭) hat and hong juui (紅紬衣) red coat of silk.

V GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPT

The manuscript consists of one volume (47.2 x 33.9 x 4cm), 94 folios, 12 columns per page, 24 characters per column, text borders traced in red lines (34.6 x 27.3cm) (Figure 9). Its size is similar to the other royal manuscripts from Oekyujanggak described in Park’s catalogue. The upper margin is 7.6cm, and the lower margin 5.2cm. The calligraphy is clear and well executed and placed. A red 'fish-tail' has been added. Red lines have been drawn to form the columns. The pages of the manuscript are folded at the fore-edge, in thread-bound style, and are made of a glossy cream-coloured paper of high quality. Double sheets are used throughout, making the volume very durable.

( Figure 9 ) Folio 30v. Opening passage of edict giving instructions about preparing the Presentation Ceremony and Banquet

The front and back covers are covered with olive-green silk backed by several sheets of thick paper. Two narrow bronze bands hold the leaves together (Figure 10). The bronze band attached to the front cover has a large bronze ring attached at its centre, for handling and lifting (diameter 5.8cm). Both bands are incised with surface decoration of floral scrolls and each has 5 cut-bronze eight-leafed chrysanthemum blossoms as rivet heads, each formed of two concentric bands of leaves surrounding a central flower head incised with diagonal markings (Figure 11). The flower heads are distributed at regular intervals along the length of each band. At the top left of the front cover a title strip is attached (33.6 x 5cm); it is made of cream-coloured silk with a red border, and the title is written “Gisa jinpyori jinchan uigwe jeon (己巳進表裏進饌儀軌 全).”

( Figure 10 ) Cover of the manuscript Record of the Presentation Ceremony and Banquet in the Gisa Year (1809). H: 47.2 cm, British Library, Or. 7458

( Figure 11 ) Detail of one of the two bronze bands and one of the eight eight-petalled chrysanthemum flower heads that lock the album leaves in place

The silk covers show signs of wear and staining; the edges particularly are worn and damaged. Worm damage is apparent in the lower margins of ff. 1-12. Analysis of the manuscript carried out by University College London scientists in June 2000 showed that the following pigments were used in painting the manuscript: vermilion, carbon, azurite, lead white, malachite and possibly orpiment and red ochre.

VI CONCLUSION

The 1809 celebration manuscript in the British Library is a significant addition to the literature about Lady Hyegyeong, one of Korea’s most famous and most honoured authors. The marriage it commemorated had ended in tragedy with the death of Prince Sado, but despite her despair and fall from high status in the mid-eighteenth century, Lady Hyegyeong survived to see both her son and her grandson reign, as Jeongjo and Sunjo, respectively. By the mid-1790s, she had returned to her position at the centre of court life, and was able to see respects being paid at the new tomb of her husband.

The paintings of her visit in 1795 to the royal mausoleum, in the company of her son the king, are well-known to scholars of Korean history, and can be understood as the embodiment of her revival, and of the overturning of the verdict of history on her tragic, demented husband. Less well-known, partly as a result of early misunderstanding of the manuscript by the first Europeans who studied it over a hundred years ago, is the manner in which King Sunjo's court honoured in 1809 the sixtieth anniversary of his grandparents’ wedding. The celebrations, as the description of the record volume has shown, were impressive. The record album reflects the conventions for court painting of the mature Joseon period. The painting style is flat, and colours are not highlighted or shaded in any way. Different scenes adopt different perspectives (full frontal for the detailed view of the orchestra; bird’s eye view of the main hall during the ceremonies).

The central figure, the subject of the celebrations, Lady Hyegyeong herself is not portrayed, but the large silver folding ceremonial chair placed in front of the imposing folding screen in the inner hall can be understood as a sign of the esteem she enjoyed in this late period of her long life. Although the festivities themselves were not the most elaborate of their kind, in that only instrumental music and song was performed, but no dances, they did constitute a substantial and solemn celebration of the anniversary of the coming of age and the marriage of Prince Sado. The 1809 manuscript is thus evidence of the continuing rehabilitation of Prince Sado, and of the high esteem in which his wife was held. Commissioned by the court office responsible for preparing, presenting and recording the celebrations, it is an example of ritual record painting, executed by court artists as part of the great continuing enterprise of recording the present for the edification of future rulers.