Isip gongsin hoemaengchuk (Scroll of Oath-taking Rites by 20 Meritorious Subjects)

This Isip gongsin hoemaengchuk, compiled after the conferral of merit titles on the Yeongguk (Guardians of the State) Meritorious Subjects, was made on the occasion of that conferral in the ninth month of 1646 (the 24th year of King Injo). The king, together with twenty groups of meritorious subjects ranging from the Gaeguk (Founding) Meritorious Subjects to the Yeongguk Meritorious Subjects and their descendants, performed the hoemaengje, an oath-taking rite in which the ruler and meritorious subjects swore mutual loyalty, and the oath text (hoemaengmun) composed for the occasion together with the roll of participants (hoemaengnok) were recorded and mounted as a handscroll (gwonchukjang). In the oath text, the king, the crown prince, the meritorious subjects and their descendants gathered to swear an alliance, pledging before heaven, earth and the spirits not to forget the grace bestowed by the state on the meritorious subjects and their descendants, to work together in gratitude for that grace, to remain loyal to the king, and to unite and cooperate among the descendants of the meritorious subjects. The hoemaengnok then records, for Kim Yu and the other Yeongguk Meritorious Subjects and the nineteen merit groups from the Gaeguk Meritorious Subjects onward, the princely titles, merit titles, official posts and personal names of the meritorious subjects themselves and of their eldest sons and eldest grandsons. It also includes the memorial submitted by the Rokhun Dogam (Directorate for Recording Merit) reporting on the oath-taking, and lists those unable to attend, classified by reason as illness, absence on official duty, or mourning. At the end is recorded the date "the third day of the ninth month of the third year of Shunzhi" (1646). This Isip gongsin hoemaengchuk is presumed to have been produced on a grand scale from the finest materials, intended for preservation by the royal court or the Chunghunbu (Office of Meritorious Subjects). Throughout the scroll, the carefully brushed characters, the vivid vermilion ruled columns, the fine materials and the imposing size together represent the essence of documentary culture in the late Joseon period. It is also of great value for the rarity of hoemaengchuk scrolls surviving in complete condition.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongnam, Gyeonggi

Designation

Treasure · 보물