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 / Trans. Jangtongbang, William Sharp / 2019)

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