During the Chosun period, every rite and ceremony was performed in compliance with the rules in which the procedures and etiquettes were stipulated for different classes by Sung Confucianism. In case of royal marriages, ceremonials procedures and cost...
During the Chosun period, every rite and ceremony was performed in compliance with the rules in which the procedures and etiquettes were stipulated for different classes by Sung Confucianism. In case of royal marriages, ceremonials procedures and costumes styles were different as the wedding of a king and a prince crown was called 'Ga-Rye' and that of a prince, a princess and a daughter by a king's concubine was called 'Gil-Rye.' There was documentation called 'Goong-Joong-Bal-Kee' in which ceremonies were planned and necessary items and their quantity were recorded in court ceremonies. From the documentation, we can learn the procedures and costumes of 'Ga-Rye' and 'Gil-Rye.'
The extant documentation of 'Bal-Kee' is composed of 950 pieces kept in "Jang-Suh Gak," covering about 100 years from the Prince crown's 'Ga-Rye' in 1819 (the 19th year of King Soon-Jo).
This dissertation aims to identify the procedures and women's wedding costumes, focusing on the 'Ga-Rye' and 'Gil-Rye' recorded in 'Goong-Joong-Bal-Kee.'
The similarities and differences between the procedures of 'Ga-Rye' and 'Gil-Rye' are as follows:
First, 'Gan-Taek,' the rite of selecting the bride and 'Nap-Chae,' the rite of making a formal marriage request to the bride's family were the same in both ceremonies.
Second, the rite of sending marriage presents and documents was called 'Nap-Jing' in 'Ga-Rye,' while called 'Nap-pye' in 'Gil-Rye,' though the meanings were the just same.
Third, only 'Ga-Rye' had the rite of notifying wedding date called "Go-Ki," the appointment rites of 'Chaek-Bi(the rite of appointing a queen)' and 'Chaek-Bin(the rite of appointing a royal concubine.'
Fourth, both 'Ga-Rye' and 'Gil-Rye' had 'Chin-Young,' a welcoming rite for a bride-to-be.
To sum up, 'Gil-Rye' had much simpler procedures in terms of the traditional wedding procedures called 'Yook-Rye' than 'Ga-Rye,' while it had much more complicated procedures of greeting the elders in court and parents following 'Yook-Rye.'
Therefore, there were not only positional differences in procedures of 'Ga-Rye' and 'Gil-Rye' but also the differences in costumes, which are as follows.
First, in case of 'Gan-Taek,' the costumes were the same in 'Ga-Rye' and 'Gil-Rye,' after which the brides wore green 'Wonsam' when they entered their own quarters in court.
Second, in appointment rites, a queen wore crimson 'Chunkyeui' and a princess (a prince crown's wife) wore light blue 'Chunkyeui,' both of which were prohibited for women from other classes. Besides, Noyeui, Jangsam and Wonsam were also worn in the rites.
Third, there were class differences in terms for costumes, as different names were adopted to refer to the costumes worn by women in higher positions. In addition, 'Ga-Rye' had more numbers and kinds of costumes than 'Gil-Rye.' There were also class differences in the orders of wearing clothes ('Eui-Cha'), fabrics ('Jik-Gem'), accessories ('Boo-Geum') and patterns ('Moon-Yang') by restricting some of them partially to some higher positions.
Therefore, it can be successfully revealed that there were different costume structures by class in "Ga-Rye' and 'Gil-Rye' through 'Goong-Joong-Bal-Kee.' Further researches are called for to determine the right period of some 'Goong-Joong-Bal-Kee' with no specific dates and to identify the inter-relationships of the recorded ritual items.