Features and Functions of Sŏnwŏnjŏn of the Late Chosŏn Period Reflected in Ritual Foods and Vessels, Interior Setting, and the Enshrined Portraits
Authors: Son Myenghee 
Published: January 2022

Sŏnwŏnjŏn (璿源殿, Hall of Jade Source) stands out from other royal portrait halls within the late Chosŏn period on account of its unofficiality. This comes through in its rites, ritual foods and vessels, interior setting, and the enshrined portraits. Sŏnwŏnjŏn was an informal sacred hall where royal family members could personally present offerings and worship before portraits of late Chosŏn kings in the inner court. Birthday tea rituals (誕辰茶禮), which drew on non-Confucian traditions, were established as the representative rite of this hall. Unlike many other ritual halls at the time, these tea rituals often featured the active participation of royal women including queen dowagers and royal consorts. From the preparation of rituals to acts of veneration, they played an active role. This stands in stark contrast to the rites of Yŏnghŭijŏn (永禧殿, Hall of Eternal Happiness), the representative official portrait hall of late Chosŏn, which were always performed by male officials. Yŏnghŭijŏn primarily used oil-and-honey pastries (油蜜菓) and brass vessels for the offering tables. Conversely, Sŏnwŏnjŏn presented vessels made from the most luxurious materials of the time, such as silver, gold, and even jade. The vessels included delicacies comprised of various kinds of meat and fish dishes for the tea rituals. Objects originally produced for the king’s use in life were also incorporated into Sŏnwŏnjŏn rites. In sum, the ritual foods and vessels for tea rituals echoed the table setting for a king in the inner banquet (內進饌) to commemorate his birthday. The rites as well as the ritual foods and vessels of Sŏnwŏnjŏn seem to have followed the tea rituals of a spirit hall, in which a deceased king’s spirit tablet was enshrined for about two years and royal family members could serve as if the late king was alive. The physical environment of a chamber at Sŏnwŏnjŏn mimicked the interior setting of a spirit hall, and consisted of a baldachin, a three-sided Five Peak screen, a royal bed, and a set of four-panel peony paintings. This interior differs from one of official portrait halls, wherein there was a one-sided Five Peak screen and a royal bed without the use of Peony screens. Indeed, Sŏnwŏnjŏn functioned as a substitute for a spirit hall. In the 19th century, the hall was distinguished from a sprit hall by the more lavish decoration of its inner space with paintings rich in symbolism, additionally including Plum screens and Sea-and-Peaches of Immortality screens. The subject matter of the paintings expressed the royal family’s hope for the eternal life of their ancestors. Portraits selected for worship in Sŏnwŏnjŏn matched the intimate and informal character of this late Chosŏn portrait hall. Unlike Yŏnghŭijŏn in which full-length portraits of late Chosŏn kings in official attire were displayed, a majority of the displayed or enshrined portraits at Sŏnwŏnjŏn presented kings in ordinary attire. Moreover, half-length portraits were enshrined therein. Kings and also the queen dowagers were primarily responsible for deciding what went into it. While ritual requirements were important to these decisions, human feelings for the portrait subjects also influenced the selection.