고종비 명성왕후/황후 장례절차의 정체성

Abstract

Emperor Gojongs wife, Empress Myeongseong, was assassinated by the Japanese in 1895, so her demise was an entirely different from those of the other Joseon queens. It was simply not possible to observe for her the usual funeral procedures [Hyungrye(凶禮)] as dictated in the Joseon dynastic codes. The funeral for her was inevitably put on hold as King Gojong was forced to seek refuge in the Russian Embassy [Agwan Pacheon(俄館播遷)], and it was even more delayed with Gojongs declaration of the Daehan Empires foundation. And as if that was not enough, codes had to be modified[Byeonrye(變禮)] for her eventual funeral, and preparations became more complicated when the funeral had to be designed to honor her as an Empress and not a mere Queen. The most distinctive aspect of the funeral for Empress Myeongseong was that it featured elements of both a funeral for a wife of a regional lord, and a funeral for a wife of an Emperor. But at the same time, it also maintained the basic parameters of an ordinary funeral for a Queen. During the Wuje stage, held was a Guwu-je(九虞祭) service which had usually been part of a funeral for an Empress, but other ceremonies that accompanied it, such as the Bual-rye(祔謁禮), Yeonje(練祭) and Sangje(祥祭) ceremonies, were not. Bual-rye was usually observed in funerals for ordinary Sa/Daebu[大夫士], and references consulted for the Yeonje and Sangje ceremonies were from books about Sa/Daebu funerals.