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영어

With a focus on diplomatics, this article reveals the academic meaning of two royal edicts of merit subjects that were used in the early Joseon period. They are the Yi-je’s royal edict of Gae-guk merit subject(開國功臣) in 1392 and the Ma-cheonmok’s royal edict of Joa-myeong merit subject(佐命功臣) in 1401. The major content of this article can be summed up in the following two paragraphs. First, the royal edicts of merit subject in the early Joseon period were influenced by the Goryeo period. The royal edict in the early Goryo period was affected by the royal order of the Sung(宋) dynasty. Since then, it has kept the revised style. However, the style changed during the intervention period of the Yuan(元) dynasty. Also, the appearance of the Ming(明) dynasty influenced to the royal edict’s style in the late Goryo period and the Joseon period that succeeded it. Second, the royal seals stamped on the two royal edicts have very important meanings to both historical study and philological study. The Seal of Goryo’s King(高麗國王之印) on the Yi-je’s document is the only example that exists in Korea. It shows that the Seal of Goryo’s King was used in the foundational period of the Joseon Dynasty. The other seal, the Seal of Joseon’s King(朝鮮王寶), on the Ma-cheonmok's document, had was used before the Ming dynasty sent a new royal seal to Joseon in 1401. It was made in Joseon itself and was used for about 8 years.