• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.70
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• pp.435-466
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• 2018

"Hajaeilgi (荷齋日記)" was written by Ji Gyu-sik, a gongin of Saongwon (司饔院)'s branch, almost everyday for 20 years and 7 months from January 1st, 1891 until the leap month of June 29th, 1911. It deals with many different areas including domestic and foreign circumstances, custom, rituals, all the affairs related to the branch, and also everyday life. Particularly, Ji Gyu-sik did not belong to the yangban class, and we can hardly find diaries written by such class' people. Here, what this author pays attention to among the things written in "Hajaeilgi" is the contents about rituals, especially coming of age, wedding, funeral and ancestral rites. Ji Gyu-sik did write in his "Hajaeilgi" about coming of age, wedding, funeral and ancestral rites that were actually performed then as a person not belonging to the yangban class. Such diaries are very rare, and its value is highly appreciated as a material. Particularly, from the late 19th to the early 20th century of this author focuses on the a study of coming of age, wedding, funeral and ancestral rites as we can see some aspects about it from his diary. Coming-of-age rites were carried out in the first month of the year generally, and in this period, we can see the transformation of their performing period as it was diversified then. This was not exceptional in yangban families. About wedding, while it was discussed, it came to be canceled more often than before maybe because they were going through the process of enlightenment then. It seems that choosing the day was not done in the bride's family always. Jungin or commoners had a weeding in the bride's house, but when it was needed, it was also performed in the groom's house. Ji Gyu-sik followed the traditional wedding procedure for his children rather faithfully, but it was applied flexibly according to the two families' situations or conditions. Ignoring the traditional manners, they had a wedding in the period of mourning or performed a wedding in the groom's house bringing the bride there. It seems that this was related to the decline of Confucian order in the society in the process of modernization. Also, the form of donations changed, too. Gradually, it was altered to the form of money gifts. Moreover, unlike before, divorcing seems to have been allowed then. Remarriage or divorce was the custom transformed from before. Funeral rites had different durations from death up to balin (carrying out a bier for burial) and hagwan (lowering a coffin into the grave), and so it means that they also went through transformation. Sa-daebu used usually 3 months but here was 7 days from death to balin normally, but it seems that there were yangban families not following it. The traces of 3-iljang (burial on the third day after death) most commonly found these days and chowoo jaewoo samwooje can be also found in "Hajaeilgi". Such materials are, in fact, very highly evaluated nowadays. Meanwhile, donations also changed gradually to the form of money. Regarding ancestral rites, time for memorial service was not fixed. Ji Gyu-sik did not follow jaegye (齋戒) before carrying out gijesa, and in some worse case, he went to pub the day before the memorial service to meet his lover or drink. This is somewhat different from the practice of yangban sadaebu then. Even after entering Christianity, Ji Gyu-sik performed memorial service, and after joining Cheondogyo, he did it, too. Meanwhile, there were some exceptions, but in Hansik or Chuseok, Ji Gyu-sik performed charye (myoje) before the tomb in person or sent his little brother or son to do it. But we cannot find the contents that tell us Ji Gyu-sik carried out myoje in October. Ji Gyu-sik performed saengiljesa calling it saengsincharye almost every year for his late father. But it is noticeable that he performed saengsincharye and memorial service separately, too, occasionally. The gijesa, charye, myoje, and saengsincharye carried out by jungin family from Gyeonggi Gwangju around the time that the status system was abolished and the Japanese Empire took power may have been rather different and less strict than yangban family's practice of ancestral rites; however, it is significant that we can see with it the aspects of ancestral rites performed in family not yangban. As described above, the contents about the a study of coming of age, wedding, funeral and ancestral rites found in "Hajaeilgi" are equipped with great value as material and meaningful in the perspective of forklore.