Public Discourse and Private Sentiment: Ritual Controversies, Ritual Authority, and Political Succession in Ming and Chosŏn

Abstract

In this article I explore the issue of ritual authority in the Ming and Chosŏn through a comparison of the Great Rites Controversy and the Injo Rites Dispute which occurred a century later. I argue that Ming Taizu created an alternative source of ritual authority predicated on natural emotions through his changing of the national mourning code. By utilizing this source of ritual authority, Shizong and his allies undermined the ritual authority of the classical texts and Neo-Confucian commentaries cited by their opponents and in doing so not only won the conflict but also increased the ritual authority of the emperor vis-à-vis the bureaucracy. In Chosŏn, on the other hand, both sides argued along Song Neo-Confucian lines and rejected Ming ritual authority. Nonetheless, the lack of an alternate source of ritual authority that King Injo could rely upon led him to turn to the Ming for support in a calculated political move to end the dispute in his favor.