As a scholar who lived in Joseon of the 19th century when lots of turbulences swept the country, Jeonjae Lim Heon-Hoe(1811~1876) was a representative of scholars who belonged to the branch of Nakron under the Noron school. He devoted himself deeply to...
As a scholar who lived in Joseon of the 19th century when lots of turbulences swept the country, Jeonjae Lim Heon-Hoe(1811~1876) was a representative of scholars who belonged to the branch of Nakron under the Noron school. He devoted himself deeply to Sung-Confucianism and courtesy theories. However, there have so far been only four theses on him. Jonjae made lots of writings about courtesy theories. But there's only on prior paper researching his courtesy theory.
This study investigated the contents and characteristics of <Seolchando>, a table setting diagram for rituals that Jeonjae made, among lots of his courtesy materials, when he was 33, especially in relation to scholastic circles to which he belonged. Among the four types of rites, rituals are an important religious ceremony that family always took regularly in this country. Nevertheless, however, there were always controversies over how to set a table for rituals among scholars even if they belong to same circles. This was because there were initially no original rules of table setting for religious service. For this reason, Jeonjae prepared <Seolchando> in order to clear up such controversies and finally determine the rules of table setting for rituals. <Seolchando> consisted of 5 sections, or <Uje Seolchando>, <Sije Seolchando>, <Sakcham Seolchando>, <Sokjeol Seolchando> and <Sinmul Seolchando>.
The theories and arguments of table setting for rituals from other scholars on which Jeonjae's scholastic career was based were considered here to find that there were two main issues of that setting. First, it is whether fish or meat should be cooked or not before being put on the table. Most scholars of the Noron school agreed on cooking the food through discussion, but there was still no clear conclusion. While, Jeonjae proposed a negotiation, that is, an occasional combination of cooked and non-cooked fish or meat as he followed timeliness and practicality that were the main characteristics of courtesy theories by the branch of Nakron. Second, it is difference in the style of food arrangement on the table, that is, Jinseol. Most scholars of the Noron school, including Sagye, argued for the so-called ‘Yangrip Gakseol'. In contrast, Miho and Jeonjae chose ‘Yangrip Hapseol' on the basis of Chu-tzu's <Sijo Seolchan Dosik>.
In preparing <Seolchando>, therefore, Lim Heon-Hoe referred to the descriptions of Garye and Sangrye Biyo as well as arguments from distinguished Confucian scholars like Sagye, Uam, Miho and Maesan and coordinated them. As he made clear in 「Jechan Doseol」, the very reason why Jeonjae made <Seolchando> was because ritual practices of his contemporary times were just abundant and luxurious discarding the nature of courtesy. In other words, he made the diagram consisting of 5 sections with an intent to keep table setting for rituals clean and brief on one hand and sum up and standardize the rules of that setting that had been controversial.