Uigwe

Uigwe
The cover of the Mount Odaesan archive copy of the Uigwe for the funeral of Empress Myeongseong
Korean name
Hangul	의궤
Hanja
Revised Romanization	uigwe
McCune–Reischauer	ŭigwe

Uigwe (Hangul: 의궤; Hanja: 儀軌) is the generic name given to a vast collection of approximately 3,895 books recording in detail the royal rituals and ceremonies of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. There is no generally agreed English translation; some scholars suggest "book of state rites", while the Glossary of Korean Studies from the Korea Foundation suggests "manual of the state event" or "rubrica for a state ceremony." The expression "Royal Protocols" (of the Joseon Dynasty) is widely used.

The collection of Uigwe, was inscripted in UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme in 2007.

Combining text and detailed illustrations, each Uigwe preserves the records of the Superintendency (dogam), set up temporarily to plan and carry out special state rites. These rites included investitures, coronations, weddings, banquets, the painting of royal portraits, funerals and ancestral rites. Each Uigwe, some in several volumes with several copies, was written either by hand but more often printed using woodblocks for the History Archive copies. Most of the Uigwe, had one exclusive edition for the king, distinguished by silk covers, high quality paper, binding, superior handwriting and overall presentation, was intended to serve as the royal viewing copy. The silk covers used exclusively for the king were made of quality silk, had superior patterns often of clouds, and usually had red decorations around its borderline. Four to nine other copied version for scholars were kept for each of the four state archives, which for most of the Joseon period were located on Mount Jeongjoksan on Ganghwa-do Island; Mount Jeoksang in Muju-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province; Mount Odaesan in Gangwon-do Province and Mount Taebaeksan in Yeongwol-gun County. The Uigwe for funerals and weddings includes large and detailed images of processions, often involving thousands of participants.