This study examines the inscribed celadon produced from the last quarter of the 13th century Goryeo to the first quarter of the 15th century Joseon dynasty, and tries to take a new approach to the analysis and research of the previously-overlooked dat...
This study examines the inscribed celadon produced from the last quarter of the 13th century Goryeo to the first quarter of the 15th century Joseon dynasty, and tries to take a new approach to the analysis and research of the previously-overlooked data on inscriptions. In doing this, we examined the chronological changes of the system for the acquisition of royal celadons during this period.
To begin with, inscribed celadon produced from late Goryeo to early Joseon were divided into the following six groups depending on their content: inscribed celadon related to officals who were close to the royal family, inscribed celadon related to Taoism, inscribed celadon with the sexagenary cycle, inscribed celadon related to Confucian rituals, inscribed celadon with government office, and inscribed celadon with royal family's establishment. After analyzing the formative characteristics of those six categories - including their forms, decoration, shape of foot- ring, and firing props - and taking a closer look at the inscriptions related both directly and indirectly to the royal family, we were able to offer new ideas on several issues.
The first idea relates to the beginning and the reason behind the inscription inlaid on the body of the celadon. Of the six groups mentioned earlier, the inscribed celadon with ‘Holji’(忽只, the royal guard) or ‘Sunma’(巡馬, the mobile corps) characters, the inscribed celadon with ‘Naesi’(內侍, king's attendants who were close to the king and took part in the financial affairs of the royal family, preparation of the rituals, etc.) characters, and the inscribed celadon related to Taoist rituals were produced under the rule of King Chungryeol(1274~1308) and were closely related to this period. Holji and Sunma were the royal guards organization established during King Chungryeol’s rule. Holji, in particular, was a Seong -jungaema (成衆愛馬, group of officials working in close proximity to the king) like ‘Saong’(司饔, royal chefs), but hosted parties regularly for the King and maintained an intimate connection with the royal authority, especially during the reign of King Chungryeol. In addition, Taoist rituals were held regularly in the royal court during this period, and these were prepared by the group of ‘Naesi,’ who were close to the king and had power over the royal family’s financial affairs. Therefore, it is likely that the production of inscribed celadon in the late Goryeo dynasty began during the reign of King Chungryeol.
The second one is about the inscribed celadon with the sexagenary cycle, which have provoked much controversy since the beginning of Goryeo inscribed celadon studies in the 1930s. This study attempts to understand this celadon by comparing it to other inscribed celadon produced during periods before and after. It is assumed that the celadon pieces with the inscribed celadon with the sexagenary cycle was created to prevent widespread tax evasion by the king’s associates, which had been exacerbated since the reign of King Chungryeol. Also, we took a closer look at the ‘Gyujeonggwan’(糾正官, the supervisory government official), which was appointed in offices of royal finance such as Deok -cheongo(德泉庫) and Uiseonggo(義成庫) from 17 years under King Chung -suk(1330) to 4 years under King Gongmin(1355). The ‘Gyujeonggwan’ supervised the management and officials of the office of royal finance. So it is likely that the sexagenary cycle was inlaid on the celadon used for royal offices and rituals, in order to prevent fraud. Even after this period, pieces with ‘Gisa’(己巳) characters were produced, which indicates that the change in government organization and systems -for the management system for royal offices, tribute system - had an impact on the content of the inscription.
Thirdly, we took a close look at how the inscribed celadon produced during the late 14th century Goryeo was transferred to the early 15th century Joseon dynasty. The celadons produced from early 15th century Joseon continues the tradition of that produced in the late Goryeo dynasty. Also, they are similar to celadons with ‘Saseon’(司膳, office of Royal Cuisines) characters and are closely related to royal family's establishment such as Seungryeongbu(承寧府) and Gonganbu(恭安府). It is presumed that the changes occurred after 1389, when new policies and reorganization of the government began to take place after the reformist Neo-Confucians seized power, following the withdrawal from Wihwa Island in 1388. The main objective of these government reforms was to get rid of temporary institutions such as ‘Cheomseoljik’(添設職), ‘Dogam’(都監) and ‘Saek’(色) and restore their competence as government offices. Thus, we assumed that the inscribed celadon with ‘司膳’ characters was produced after temporary institutions such as ‘Yeonrye-saek’(宴禮色) and ‘Junbi-s aek’(準備色) removed and ‘Saseon’(司膳) took over their duty as the office of royal cuisine.
The royal family's establishment in early Joseon dynasty was based on the financial resources acquired from the offices of royal finance in late Goryeo. Its previous function as ‘Sajanggo’(私藏庫, a royal family's private financial institute) and ‘Gongsang’(供上, offering the daily goods to the royal family) was also inherited by the royal family's establishment. Therefore, the royal family's establishment(王室府) probably needed wares for the food and drinks required for offering the daily goods to the royal family since the beginning of the new dynasty. This situation probably led to the production of the inscribed celadon for the royal family's establishment in early Joseon.
The fourth insight deals with the Saong, which managed and acquired the royal celadons produced in various regions since the 1380s under the rule of the Goryeo dynasty. It was not a government office with an official rank, but a temporary one, directly related to the king. The title was given to merchants and slaves under the rule of King Wu. The ‘Saong’(司饔) of the late 14th century Goryeo became the ‘Saongbang’(司饔房, organization of royal cuisines) when the Joseon dynasty seized power, and appears to have been involved in attaining wares tributed to the royal court until at least the year 1417.
Fifthly, the inscribed celadons produced from late Goryeo to early Joseon were divided chronologically into four periods, after it was proven that the content of the inscription changed based on management of the government offices and tribute tax systems. The previously-unexplored reasons and considerations behind the changes in how the royal celadon was acquired were examined in detail by dividing them into groups.
The first period is from the year 1274 to 1328. This is when acquisition was carried out by those close to the king, which had been the procedure since the days of King Chungryeol. The celadon related to Taoism and bearing inscriptions of ‘Holji’, ‘Naesi’, or ‘Sunma’ was produced during this period.
The second period is from around 1329 to 1355, and this is when the celadon pieces with the sexagenary cycle inscriptions were produced. The ‘Gyujeonggwan’(糾正官) that managed offices of royal finance and the celadon with those inscriptions were produced during the same period of time. It is assumed that the sexagenary cycle was inlaid on royal celadon so that they could be managed separately in order to prevent fraud. The celadons were provided annually as a tribute.
The third period is from 1356 to 1380, which is when the ‘Gyujeonggwan’ no longer had power over offices of royal finance, and the king’s relatives and eunuchs were appointed as officials(提調 or 別監). It is likely that each offices took part in the production and acquisition of the inscribed celadons independently. The inscribed celadon related to the royal financial affairs, events, food and drinks as well as Confucian rituals was produced during this period.
The fourth period is from around 1381 to 1417, and this is the period in which the ‘royal celadon’ were acquired by the ‘Saong’(司饔, king's attendants as royal chefs) since 1381 due to the change in the circumstances. It is assumed that the ‘Saong’ continued to take part in acquiring the royal celadon until at least 1417. The celadon pieces with offices of royal finance and ‘Saseon’ inscriptions, as well as those related to the early Joseon’s royal family's establishment, were produced during this period.
For a long time, there was not any new information available on the celadon produced during the 14th century Goryeo, because there was no further research being carried out, such as excavations of the kiln sites in Kangjin(康津) region. This paper attempted to remedy the problems and weaknesses of previous studies on the 14th century's Goryeo celadon, by expanding the research to the inscribed celadon. As a result, we were able to confirm that these ceramics are worthy of replacing the written documents as a primary source. Through this process, we were able to present better, more advanced opinions about the problems within the tax system, as well as the background information and factors related to the celadon with an inscription sexagenary cycles and ‘Saseon’ that was not explored in previous studies on celadons from late Goryeo to early Joseon.