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Research Article

Devotion Crafted by Hands: Re-examining Discourses on Burial Chambers of Royal Tombs in Early Joseon

AHN Sohui

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Korean History, Graduate School, Seoul National University

Published: April 2026 · Vol. 48 No. 1 · pp. 103-132

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36092/KJHS.2026.48.1.103

Abstract

This study analyzes the role of materiality and craftsmanship in burial ritual. Burial chamber was the focal space expressing devotion to the deceased. In addition to the kings and scholar-officials, this paper focuses on the agencies of technocrats, craftsmen, craftsmanship and materiality, suggesting that forming alliances with technology and materials was crucial in practicing Confucian values. Stone and lime were main contenders for the chamber. Stone had been the classic material dating back to ancient time, representing for dignity and opulence. On the other hand, lime was brought up to the debate in Early Joseon, being supported by Zhu Xi’s Family Rituals(Jia Li). Scholar-officials upheld lime, eagerly seeking coherence between the ritual texts and reality. However, the significance of the stone for contemporaries did not easily fade away. Technocrats and craftsmen played their role in this stage. Their sense of material and space stimulated intellectual flexibility of debaters over the chamber; thereby, as scholar-officials had striven for, lime could become the protagonist for the chamber.
Keywords: burial chamberburial ritualFamily RitualsLee CheonSejongYejong