The Joseon Dynasty adopted Confucianism as her national ideology, so the Chosun royal court celebrated all national rites according to Confucian rules. The royal court was the center of Confucian culture in those days, and the king steered the society...
The Joseon Dynasty adopted Confucianism as her national ideology, so the Chosun royal court celebrated all national rites according to Confucian rules. The royal court was the center of Confucian culture in those days, and the king steered the society and culture as the leader of the nation. In particular, as the heir to the throne, the crown prince had to be the model for the royal court and the nation. Accordingly, the crown prince was educated in academic learning, accomplishments, and etiquette until he became a king.
The crown prince went through several rites of passage until his ascension to the throne. First of all, there was the rite for the proclamation of the crown prince called chaek-rye, followed by a school entrance ceremony, a coming-of-age ceremony, and a wedding ceremony. Among these ceremonies, the school entrance rite had a unique meaning in that the crown prince was meeting his teacher as a student rather than as the crown prince who would succeed the throne.
The author took notice of the fact that the crown prince's attire for the school entrance ceremony was the same as that of the other Confucian students, which was not the case with the other ceremonies. Thus this study tried to understand this meaning, and also investigated the procedures of the crown prince's school entrance ceremony, and the wardrobe styles of those who were related with the education of the crown prince.
Among many existing original documents regarding the crown prince's school entrance ceremony, this study focused on the Figures of Crown Prince's School Entrance which recorded Hyomyeong Crown Prince's school entrance ceremony which was celebrated in 1817. This study analyzed the main part and figures of the document, and also the costumes of those who were concerned with the education of the crown prince.
Though this study is limited in developing the designs of the costumes concerned, this study is expected to contribute to basic surveys prior to design, and to present a more specific content about the costumes of the crown prince.