• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.64-81
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• 2017

Among the royal ceremonies of the Joseon Dynasty era, the articles used in the Jinjak ceremony are symbolic icons of their value during the era. It is very important to identify the purpose of the articles whose usage is ambiguous, by referring to various historical records. Moreover, it should be possible to classify the characteristics and the special context of the article during this process. To accomplish this purpose, I examined the articles related to and used in the processes of Jinjak ceremonies of Outer Jinchan of Myeongjeongjeon and Inner Jinchan of Jagyeongjeon, which are part of the Gichuk Jinchan Ceremony performed in February of the 29th year of King Sunjo. Especially, the definition of Jinjak will not just be limited to the action of offering liquor, but will include the whole series of procedures in offering the liquor. This is because the specific action of offering the liquor expresses cultural concepts and values that have meaning within the historical situation and context in the specific action of offering the liquor. There are three characteristics of the articles related to the Jinjak process of Outer Jinchan and Inner Jinchan of Gichuk Jinchan Ceremony. First, the articles of Jinjak are ranked strictly exactly according to the social status rankings. Second, the Jinjak articles are arranged for their symbolic meanings rather than their purpose. Third, the articles of Jinjak are symbolic icons expressing the values inherent in the process of offering liquor. Recently, there are events reviving the royal court banquet and the increase of interest in the royal culture. It such a situation, the systematic examination of articles of royal court banquets will be a process needed to restore the royal ceremony correctly in the future, and will be the foundation for studying the royal culture of the Joseon dynasty era.