Seoul City Wall Time Machine

Themes

Sajikdan Altar

Sajikdaeje Ritual

• Ritual Officiants and Their Costume
• Instruments and Dance Objects
• Ritual Vessels

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Palace Rituals and Ceremonies (Royal Banquets)

• Costume of Banquet Participants
• Banquet Objects (Flowers, Tableware)
• Instruments and Dancing Objects

Office of the Royal Family

The Office of the Royal Family, called Jongchinbu in Korean, was an administrative bureau of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) which managed affairs relating to the royal family. Among its responsibilities were record-keeping of the royal genealogy, storing portraits and seals of the king, taking care of the official robes of the king and queen, and dealing with matters relating to the official titles and government posts of the relatives and descendants of the royal family.

The royal family of the Joseon dynasty consisted of the kings and their offspring, i.e. the princes and princesses, who all belonged to the Jeonju Yi clan, as well as their female consorts (i.e. the daughters-in-law), who belonged to other clans but whose descendants would be born into the Jeonju Yi clan. Any male or their daughter who was born to a descendant of the founding king of the dynasty, Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo) was thus considered a royal relative. The sons-in-law of the family, who married the princesses, were not officially considered a royal relative, as although their wives belonged to the Jeonju Yi clan, their children would be born into a different clan. However, they were nonetheless important to the royal court, and were thus managed by a different office, called Uibinbu, which was located next to the Office of the Royal Family.

The Office of the Royal Family was located across from Geonchunmun, the eastern gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was the only gate of the palace which the royal relatives and court ladies were permitted to use. The office consisted of three main buildings: Gyeonggeundang, meaning “Hall of Respecting Close Relations,” and Okcheopdang, meaning “Hall of the Jade Letter,” which was another name for the royal genealogy, and Iseungdang, meaning “Hall of ???,” as well as various gates and auxiliary buildings. These auxiliary buildings and Iseungdang Hall were demolished during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). In 1972, the remaining two buildings were designated as Seoul Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 9, and in 1981, they were moved to the premises of the nearby Jeongdok Public Library due to the construction of a tennis court. In 2013, they were returned to their original location on the premises of today’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art - Seoul.

An office for managing the royal family was first established during the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392) under a different name. The bureau was given its current name in 1430. In 1867, the office was built anew, and it is the buildings from this reconstruction that remain today. The office was closed in 1907, shortly after Korea was illegally forced into a becoming a protectorate of the Japanese Empire in 1905, and its responsibilities were taken over by the Kyujanggak Royal Library. In 1928, the Japanese colonial authorities opened an affiliated hospital of the Keijō Imperial University Medical College on the premises of the Office of the Royal Family. This hospital was later used as the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital before being renovated for use by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in 2013. The various extant records and artifacts once produced and stored at the Office of the Royal Family are now kept at institutions such as the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, the Jangseogak Archives, the National Palace Museum, and the National Museum of Korea.

Artifacts of the Royal Family

• Portraits of kings
• Costumes of kings and queens
• Excavated artifacts such as placenta chamber monuments and jars

Resources

Books

• Joseon Royal Court Culture - Ceremonial and Daily Life (Shin Myung-ho; Trans. Timothy V. Atkinson / Dolbegae Publishers /)
• Court Paintings from the Joseon Dynasty (Park Jeong-hye)

Museum Publications

• National Palace Museum of Korea in Seven Themes (National Palace Museum of Korea / 2019 / Trans. Jangtongbang - An Soyean, Kwon Yegee, Park Shinhee; Proof. William Sharp)
  • Table of Contents ->

1. Kings of the Joseon Dynasty
   1. Royal Throne and Folding Screen
   2. Royal Seals, Investiture Books, and Edicts
   3. Archival Culture (Sillok, Gukjo bogam)
   4. Royal Protocols (Uigwe)
   5. Government
   6. Meritorious Subjects
   7. State Examinations
2. Royal Palaces
   1. Five Palaces
   2. Sculpures and Figurines
   3. Pillar Couplets
   4. Fires
   5. Spaces
3. Life in the Joseon Court
   1. Royal Court Attire
   2. The Queen and Court Ladies
   3. Ornaments
   4. Tablewear
   5. Utensils
4. The Korean Empire
   1. Proclomation and Establishments
   2. Emperors
   3. The Imperial Palace (Gyeongungung)
   4. Improvement of Administrative Systems
   5. Life of the Imperial Family
   6. Modern Banquets and Imperial Tableware
   7. Vehicles for the Emperor and Empress
5. Calligraphy and Painting in the Joseon Court
   1. Royal Portrait of a King
   2. Documentary Painting
   3. Decorative Painting
   4. Writings and Calligraphy by Kings
6. Royal Rituals
   1. Banquets
   2. Births
   3. Rites of Passage
   4. Embellishment for Royal Rituals
   5. State Funerals
   6. The Royal Ancestral Shrine (Jongmyo)
   7. Court Music
7. Science
   1. Astronomy
   2. Stone Constellation
   3. Gunpowder Weapons
   4. Systems of Measurement
   5. Medical Science
   6. Self-striking Water Click (Jagyeongnu)
8. Appendices
   1. Chronology of the Joseon Dynasty
   2. Monarchs
   3. Map of Royal Palaces
   4. Royal Palaces and Royal Tombs

• The King at the Palace: Joseon Royal Court Culture at the National Palace Museum of Korea (National Palace Museum of Korean / 2015 / Trans. Kwon Cheeyun; Proof. Yoo Hyemin, Kim Bobae, Park Suhee)
  • Table of Contents ->

1. The King of the Joseon Dynasty
   1. Royal Symbols
      1. Royal Seals, Royal Investiture Books,and Edicts of Royal Investiture
      2. King’s Attire
      3. Royal Canopy, Throne, and the Screen of the Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks
      4. Jinjeon, the Royal Portrait Hall
   2. Recording Tradition of the Joseon Dynasty
      1. Genealogical Records of the Joseon Royalty
      2. Annals of the Joseon Dynasty
      3. Exemplary Accomplishments of the Monarch
      4. Royal Protocols, the Embodiment of a Documentary Culture
      5. King’s Documents
   3. Joseon: A Country Governed by Confucian Classics and Rites
      1. Lifelong Education to Become an Ideal Confucian Monarch
      2. Gyujanggak, Institution for the Realization of Civil Rule
   4. Royal Literature
      1. Written Compositions and Calligraphy of the Joseon Kings
      2. Royal Stationery
      3. King’s Personal Seals
2. Joseon Palaces
   1. Architectural History of the Royal Palaces
   2. Spatial Structures of the Royal Palaces
   3. Guard Systems and Access to the Royal Palaces
   4. Plaques of the Royal Palaces
   5. Decorations of the Royal Palaces
   6. Fire Preventions at the Royal Palaces
   7. The Five Royal Palaces of the Joseon Dynasty
   8. Modern Facilities in the Royal Palaces
3. Royal Court Life
   1. Lives of Royal Court Women
      1. Women with Official Ranks
      2. The Installation and the Role of the Queen
      3. Attine of Royal Court Women
   2. Royal Household Crafts
      1. Crafts for Royal Banquets
      2. Porcelain and Furniture
4. State Rites
   1. Celebratory Rites, Garye
   2. Inauspicious Rites, Hyungnye
   3. Auspicious Rites, Gillye
   4. Military Rites (Gullye) and the Military System of Joseon
   5. Reception Rites, Billye
5. Korean Empire and the Imperial Family
   1. Initiation onto the World Stage
   2. Introduction of Modern Culture and Systems
   3. Birth of the Korean Empire
   4. Life And Culture At the Impenrial Court
   5. Foiled Dream of the Korean Empine
   6. Fate of the Imperial Family during the Japanese Colonization
6. Royal Court Paintings
   1. The Bureau of Painting and the Painters
   2. The King’s Portrait, Eojin
   3. Documentary Paintings of the Royal Court
   4. Decorative Paintings of the Royal Court
   5. Japanese Colonization and Royal Court Paintings
7. Royal Court Music
   1. Symbolism of Traditional Musical Instruments
   2. Systematization of Court Music under King Sejong Ritual Music at the Shrine of Confucius
   3. Compilation of Canon of Music under King Seongjong
   4. Ancestral Ritual Music
   5. Jeongjae, Court Performing Arts
   6. Processional Music
   7. Court Music Department of the Yi Royal Household and Its Activities
8. Royal Processions
   1. Royal Processions
      1. King Jeongjo’s Procession to Hwaseong in Painting
      2. Components of a Royal Procession
   2. The Royal Palanquin
      1. Yeon, the Primary Palanquin
      2. Types of Royal Palanquins
   3. Ceremonial Armours
      1. Ceremonial Armours in Illustrated Position Chart
9. Joseon Science
   1. Astronomical Chart
      1. Stone Constellation Chart, Cheonsang yeolcha bunya jido
      2. The Constellations Depicted in the Cheonsang yeolcha bunya jido
      3. Korea’s Skies, Korea’s Stars
   2. Astronomical Instruments
      1. Sky Observation Instruments
      2. Sundials of the Joseon Dynasty
      3. Self-striking Water Clock, Jagyeongnu
      4. Rain Gauge
   3. Measuring Instruments
      1. The Ruler and the Measurement of Length
   4. Medicine
10. Appendices
    1. List of illustration
    2. Chronology of Joseon Dynasty
    3. Royal Lineage of Joseon Dynasty