조선 왕릉과 왕릉 의례의 특징

Abstract

It is said that each royal tomb in Joseon was made with great devotion in considering geomantic principles and strictly observing Confucian etiquette. This article pays attention to Neo-Confucian influences. Fengshui (geomantic idea) in Joseon was different from that of Goryeo. Whereas in Goryeo Fengshui was applied to choices of dwelling places and cities, it was applied to tombs in Joseon. Royal tombs in Joseon represent the beginning of the application of Fengshui to tombs and display the way of its application. The main reason why Fengshui could be applied in the Neo-Confucian society of Joseon was that the both ideas shared the theory of 同氣感應(the same force works). A union of light force and dark force constitutes a human being, and parents and children have the same force. Death means that the force gets scattered and returns to the nature. The rituals for ancestors were believed to be means for the children to recall the force of the parents that are assimilated to the nature, and to get the children themselves assimilated to the nature. Fengshui shares with Neo-Confucianism the idea that dead parents may exercise influence on their children because they have the same force. In royal tombs of Joseon forces give and get influences through ceremonies. Royal tombs in Joseon had a ceremonial pavilion and wide space before it. That was the place where ceremonies for the buried were held. In Goryeo Buddhist ceremonies were important. In those ceremonies Buddha was honored and Buddhist monks presided the ceremony. The king was a mere participant. In ceremonies at royal tombs in Joseon the king presided the ceremony, and the dead king and queen were honored. Joseon became a Confucian society from a Buddhist society of Goryeo. Royal tombs in Josen symbolize the Confucian changeover. They were the space for the living people for doing Confucian ceremonies.