As evidenced in kings’ portraits of the Goguryeo and Silla periods, an individual portraiture, which was created to emulate the semblance of an individual, emerged during the Three Kingdoms period. Later, government-run temples that housed royal portraits, where one could pray for the repose of former kings, were built separately during the Unified Silla period. Some of the temples contained funerary portraits of eminent monks and aristocrats. Such tradition of portrait enshrinement, which was institutionalized during the early Goryeo dynasty, was passed on from ancient to medieval times. In accordance with ritualistic institutions based on one’s reverence for kings, as well as the growing emphasis on Confucian ideology of cultural influence or virtue, individual portraiture carried the same function as ritualistic religious paintings. Portraits of kings and queens, meritorious subjects, civil officials, and sages were produced in keeping with rituals and ceremonies for ancestor worship and sometimes, as a token of esteem for the deceased or as a means to provide a visual image of the individual for later generations. In the case of portraits of kings and queens, such royal portraits were created within a month of their decease. These portraits were first housed in Honjeon Hall(魂殿) and later, in Gyeongryeongjeon Hall(景靈殿). Once their subjects became the fifth patriarchs of the newly ascended king, portraits of the former kings and queens were finally relocated to and enshrined in their own memorial temples. Jinjeon Temple, also known as Chindang(眞堂) or Yeongjeon Hall(影殿), was located in each memorial temple. A primary purpose of the temple was to house royal portraits, thereby allowing people to consecrate the royal ancestors and serve them on a daily basis. Since the beginning of the Goryeo dynasty, Jinjeon Hall, along with Gyeongryeongjeon Hall of the royal palace, became governmentally institutionalized and remained institutionalized throughout the Joseon dynasty. Moreover, the infusion of politico-religious significance in the portraits of meritorious officials and those of sages and worthies seemingly expedited the evolution of portraiture that was used for enshrinement at ritualistic facilities. In fact, since the ninth year of King Seongjong(990), the practice of reposing one’s parents using their portraits was commended as filial deed among the commoners, which led to a wide dissemination of portraiture among the general populace.

곽약허 Guo, Ruo Xu, 박은화 Park, Eun Hwa, trans., 『도화견문지 Tuhuajianwenzhi』, 시공아트 Seoul: Sigong Art, 2005. 김상범 Kim, Sang-bum, 「북송시기 경령궁과 국가의례 Jinglinggong and Imperial Rites in Northern Song China」, 『동양사학연구 Journal of Asian Historical Studies』136, 2016.