조선 국왕 내사인內賜印의 위치와 정치적 권위

초록

This study analyzes the spatial conventions and political symbolism of the royal seal, or naesa-in (內賜印), which the king used when presenting books as royal gifts in the late Joseon period. By examining the placement of these seals and comparing them with other institutional or private seals, the study clarifies the hierarchical status and representational function embodied in the naesa-in. Major examples of such seals include the seonsajigi (宣賜之記), gyujangjibo (奎章之寶), and dongmunjibo (同文之寶). These seals were generally affixed in the upper-right area within the framing lines on the opening page of the book, and the placement of each seal was adjustedin accordance with the royal names, titles, or references in the text so as to observe the practice of avoiding the use of royal appellations (pihwi, 避諱). However, such avoidance was not applied as an absolute rule. When King Yeongjo personally authored the naesagi (內賜記), i.e. the note accompanying the royal grant, and impressed the naesa-in, the seal was applied directly over expressions designating the monarch, such as yeo (予, “I”) and jeukjo (卽祚, “enthronement”). A similar situation appears in the text written by Crown Prince Sado when recording the transmission of a book to his heir, where self-referential characters were not avoided. These cases suggest that, in circumstances involving the monarch’s or crown prince’s own authorship and direct impression, the need to observe the principle of pihwieffectively disappeared. A comparison with the official seals of various court institutions, such as the Gyujanggak (奎章閣), Imunwon (摛文院), Sigangwon (侍講院), and Hongmungwan (弘文館), and with the private ownership seals commissioned by King Jeongjo, reveals that the naesa-infollowed a positional rule intended to reflect superior authority. Institutional seals were typically impressed in the lower- or upper-right of the opening page, thereby maintaining a positional distance beneath the location of the naesa-in. Moreover, practices in King Jeongjo’s reign, in which gyujangjibowas carved directly into the woodblocks used for printing, illustrate the monarch’s active engagement in publication projects and attest to his intellectual pride and aesthetic interest in imprint culture. In addition, a comparative view with imprinting customs found in Chinese books dating from the Ming and Qing periods reveals certain parallels in terms of the spatial arrangements, while also demonstrating that Joseon developed its own distinctive conventions—such as the layout of the naesagi, adjustments to the placement of the seals, and the construction of hierarchical positions. With these findings, this study elucidates the visual mechanism by which royal authority was symbolically articulated in Joseon’s book culture, and clarifies the political order and symbolic structure embedded in imprint practices of the late Joseon dynasty.

키워드