Constructing Political Authority in Court Banquet Paintings: Musin Chinch’ando (1848) in the Reign of King Hon̆jon̆g; [헌종(憲宗)대 궁중연향도의 정치적 함의: 《무신진찬도(戊申進饌圖)》(1848년)를 중심으로]

초록

This study examines Musin Chinch’ando ((Chinese text), a screen depicting the banquet of the Musin year, 1848), commissioned by King Hon̆jong ((Chinese text), r. 1834-1849) to commemorate the sixtieth birthday of Grand Queen Dowager Sunwon̆ ((Chinese text), 1789-1857), and argues that court banquet paintings functioned not merely as documentary records but as visual devices that constructed political meaning. The Musin chinch’an ((Chinese text), court banquet) was a composite ritual that combined the birthday banquet of Grand Queen Dowager Sunwon̆ with the conferral of honorific titles upon Sunjo ((Chinese text), r. 1800-1834) and Ikchong ((Chinese text), 1809-1830), the preceding kings. This configuration reflected Hon̆jong’s political intention to consolidate authority after the end of the queen dowager’s regency, while simultaneously asserting both the legitimacy of the dynastic succession and the autonomy of his kingship. The Directorate for the Banquet (chinch’anso) was composed of established meritorious officials (sesin) from the reigns of Sunjo and Ikchong, members of the queen dowager’s affinal kin group (oc̆h’ok̆), as well as newly appointed officials selected by Hon̆jong. The emphasis on their affiliations with the Ch’ongwiyŏng ((Chinese text), royal guard command) and the Kyujanggak ((Chinese text), Royal Library) symbolically represented the close attendant faction that Hon̆jong sought to cultivate. Musin chinch’andoexpands the scope of ritual representation by incorporating scenes of chinha ((Chinese text), congratulatory rite), chinch’an ((Chinese text), court banquet), and hoejak ((Chinese text), court audience). Through this expanded pictorial program, the painting presents Hon̆jong in a staged and sequential manner—as the legitimate heir to the royal lineage, as the successor to the queen dowager, and as the sovereign of his officials. Furthermore, its three-tiered composition and converging perspective toward the upper register articulate both a hierarchical spatial order and a heightened sense of realism. Ultimately, this work may be understood as a court banquet painting that symbolically structures political relationships reorganized around Hon̆jong within a systematic ritual framework and a unified visual form. © 2026 Art History Association of Korea. All rights reserved.