Geobukyungbae held at Onyangminsokbangmulgwan

A hyungbae is an embroidered decorative cloth that was attached to the everyday ceremonial robes of the royal family and civil and military officials during the Joseon dynasty, serving as a badge of rank. The shape of its outer border and the type and number of its motifs varied with the wearer's rank. Round badges, called bo, symbolised heaven and were worn by the king, queen and crown prince, while square hyungbae symbolised earth and were worn by civil and military officials. The main motif differed between civil and military ranks, and the surrounding field was filled with auspicious motifs and symbols of longevity; the badges were attached to the chest and back of the official robe. Judging by its size, the Geobukyungbae held at Onyangminsokbangmulgwan is thought to date from the late nineteenth century, during the reign of Emperor Gojong, and is embroidered with gold thread. Instances of gold-thread hyungbae being worn are confirmed in the portrait of Grand Prince Yeoninggun from the early eighteenth century and in the portrait of Heungseon Daewongun from the late nineteenth century, and a surviving example is the qilin hyungbae held at the National Palace Museum of Korea. For this reason, it is thought that hyungbae woven with gold thread were made and issued by the state for princes who were not born daegun, legitimate sons of a queen, but who later ascended the throne, or for a daewongun, a reigning king's biological father who was not himself king. The portraits of Yeoninggun and Heungseon Daewongun, as well as the badge at the National Palace Museum of Korea, are embroidered with a qilin, a mythical hooved creature, but the badge at Onyangminsokbangmulgwan is embroidered with a turtle instead. In Chinese precedent, the qilin motif seen in these portraits symbolised the power and authority corresponding to the first rank of civil officials, whereas a turtle motif of this kind is otherwise unknown in either Korea or China. Comparing the various motifs on the turtle badge, the clouds in its ground and other subsidiary motifs largely match those of the hyungbae shown in Daewongun's 1869 portrait and the qilin badge at the National Palace Museum of Korea, suggesting that it, too, can be attributed to Heungseon Daewongun, Yi Ha-eung, during the reign of Emperor Gojong. However, while the qilin badge in the 1869 portrait and the one at the National Palace Museum both date from the period when Daewongun held power, Yi Ha-eung lost power in 1873, after which Emperor Gojong began to rule in his own right; the turtle badge is therefore thought to have been made after that date, from the same pattern. That is, the turtle, a symbol of longevity, appears to have replaced the qilin, a symbol of power, and the badge was most likely produced in 1880, when Daewongun (1820–1898) turned sixty, or in 1890, when he turned seventy.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Asan, Chungnam

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산