This aims to examine the historical process during Korea's Joseon Dynasty of changing perception toward "Gwanwangmyo shrines(關王廟)", temples paying tribute to Guan Yu(關羽), a general in the Chinese Three Kingdoms period. During the Secon...
This aims to examine the historical process during Korea's Joseon Dynasty of changing perception toward "Gwanwangmyo shrines(關王廟)", temples paying tribute to Guan Yu(關羽), a general in the Chinese Three Kingdoms period. During the Second Japanese Invasion of Korea (1597-98), several of the shrines were erected by Ming reinforcement forces across the country which have since gone through the vicissitudes of changing perceptions.
Prior to the 17th century, Guan Yu had not been an important figure of respect among Korean popular minds, except that he was known mostly as an upright but arrogant character as fictionalized in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Since the 1592 Japanese Invasion, however, the religion of worshipping Guan has been fast transmitted to Korea from China, with the result that shrines memorializing him being built around the country including Seoul. As the shrines were constructed without full consent of the Joseon rulers or grassroots support, Jeseon's ruling elites held generally negative views on the shrines. It was more so following the two Manchu Invasions of Korea in the 17th century when envoys from the Later Jìn (Qing), and even those dispatched from the Ming, made excessive demands in relation to the Gwanwangmyo shrines. The bad memory of the 1597 Japanese Invasion, combined with ominous international atmosphere in the 17th century after the Manchu Invasions, led Joseon elites to form increasingly unfavorable perceptions toward the shrines.
The negative attitude toward the Guan temples changed decisively during the reign of King Sukjong (r. 1674 - 1720). In the 18th century, the kings began recognizing the importance of the temples as these were cultural relics of the Ming Dynasty that disappeared in the mid-17th century and their predecessors used to hold memorial services in the temples. As a result, there were many memorial services presided over by the king within the compound of the Guan temples, with the important change during the century that included rites held at the temples as part of official rites of the Joseon court. This change was purposefully instituted by Joseon kings who wanted to enshrine the Ming Dynasty as an object of "shi-da," or "serving the great," even after its collapse a century ago and secure two principles of "ji zhi shu shi(繼志述事)" and "zai zao zhi en(再造之恩)" at the same time.
In the early 19th century, the interest in Guan Yu shrines has steadily faded among Joseon elites. In contrast, however, the religion of Guan Yu has spread among ordinary folks in earnest, which later established itself as a prosperity faith at grassroots level. Still, the ruling class insisted on trying to understand it within the framework of Confucianism and King Gojong (r. 1863 - 1907) also continued his predecessors' practice of performing the rites as part of national-level memorial services. After the fall of the Joseon Dynasty through the Japanese occupation era, Gwanwangmyo rites in Korea have become more shamanistic than ever, which continues their characteristics to this day.
One can derive the following conclusions from the foregoing discussions. After the perceptions toward Gwanwangmyo shrines changed decisively in the 18th century by Joseon kings, the emphasis shifted toward the ideology of paying back the favor of the Ming Dynasty that rescued Joseon from annihilation in the Japanese Invasions and the virtue of loyalty in Guan Yu. The kings of Joseon in the 18th century and onward built "taebodans," or altars paying back a big debt of gratitude, to pay tribute to Ming emperors while discovering historical relics of their predecessors, thereby strengthening their authority in the process. From this, one can see that Gwanwangmyos are an epitome of two Confucius ruling ideologies, namely "zhonghua(中華)" and "ji zhi shu shi."
참고문헌 (Reference)
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