This paper investigates court banquets that celebrate king's enter to the Giroso during the Joseon Dynasty. Through the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and Uigwe, I tried to examine the Confucian symbolism of Giroso and the musical system of the Jonsunga...
This paper investigates court banquets that celebrate king's enter to the Giroso during the Joseon Dynasty. Through the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and Uigwe, I tried to examine the Confucian symbolism of Giroso and the musical system of the Jonsungakjang that accompanies the banquet. Originally, Giroso was created as a social institution for elderly high-ranking officials. But after King Taejo's entered, Giroso gained significant independence and importance within the nation. In Confucian Joseon, age is very important point. So Giroso played a significant role in politics, even though it was unofficial. Therefore, the court banquet held at Giroso was also considered important. And among all the court banquets held at Giroso, the most significant was Jinyeon, which celebrated the king’s entrance to Giroso. Whenever a king of the Joseon Dynasty entered the Giroso, a court banquets was always conducted. Because it means that the king is living a long life. But this court banquet served not only to celebrate the king's longevity. It also functioned as a mechanism supporting Confucian politics. The court banquet always included the performance of a piece called Jonsungakjang, a song with lyrics that praised the king's outstanding achievements. It was created with the purpose of elevating the king's authority. In the case of King Yeongjo, he put forward the legitimacy of himself and his country by writing the lyrics of the song 〈Hahwangeun〉. It can be seen as the realization of Confucian politics centered on the king through the court banquets that celebrate king's entry into the Giroso. In addition, the attempt to find out the musical system of the Jonsungakjang is significant in that it guesses the appearance of songs that are not currently handed down. All of the Jonsungakjangs used in the celebration of King Sukjong and King Yeongjo's admission to the kiros are currently out of transmission, and there are few historical records that can be guessed about their appearance. Therefore, it is expected that follow-up discussions on the musical part of the Jonsungakjang will continue after the consideration of the musical system of this paper.