The Aspects of Usage and Ritual Settings for the Royal Throne of the Rebuilt Sajeongjeon Pavilion During the Gojong Period of the Joseon Dynasty

This study infers the Royal throne of the rebuilt Sajeongjeon (殿) pavilion of Gyeongbokgung palace by analyzing the usage and settings of pyeonjeon in the royal office hall during the Gojong period of the Joseon dynasty. There is no known document or figure showing the inner space of Sajeongjeon at that time. Therefore, it must be inferred by using other indirect sources. The most important feature of the Royal throne of this pavilion was that there was no evidence of making dangga, the ciborium canopy above the throne. In the Gyeongbokgung Yeonggeonilgi () there is an extensive record of reconstruction of this Royal palace during the year of 1865-1868, nothing was recorded about the canopy of Sajeonjeon, but Geunjeongejon was clearly recorded. This means that the physical reconstruction involving the function and usage of the pavilion did not return to the old system of the early Joseon period. In the Sajeongjeon pavilion, only several cases of political meetings were held during the Gojong period. The original main ceremony of pyeonjeon and sangcham were not held. Even for a casual meeting, the setting of the inner space was similar to the sangcham ceremony. The Royal throne of this pavilion might have been composed of Gyoyi(椅) on the wooden rostrum in front of the painted screen. This screen was located between two columns of the rear part of the hall without a canopy above the throne. These were movable objects dependent upon the ceremony type.