Sensory Realization of Daoist Desire: Seowangmo and the Peaches of Immortality in Korean Court Jeongjae Heonseondo

This study examined how the Daoist desire for longevity and immortality was recontextualized within the Confucian order of ye-ak (ritual propriety and music) in Joseon court culture, how it was made sensorially perceptible through material objects, bodies, movement, and sound, and how its ritual function was enacted through performance, focusing on Seowangmo (Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West) and the peaches of immortality featured in the court jeongjae Heonseondo. First, Seowangmo of Chinese Daoist mythology was recontextualized within the Confucian order of ye-ak through her incorporation into Heonseondo. The order of ye and ak was enacted through choreography, reinforcing royal authority. Second, the abstract Daoist desire for longevity and immortality was embodied in the peaches of immortality as sensorially perceptible material objects. The peaches functioned both as material symbols of longevity in the immortal realm and as actual offerings presented to the king during court banquet, thereby making the Daoist desire for longevity tangible. Third, the Daoist desire embodied in Heonseondo was transformed and repeatedly reproduced in new jeongjae of the late Joseon period through different material mediators. Through interactions with various religious and auspicious ideas, Daoist desire was translated into and expanded through diverse material forms, taking shape within the Confucian order of ye-ak. Ultimately, in Heonseondo, Daoist divinities and imaginings of longevity were not rejected by the Confucian order of ye-ak but were recontextualized and reorganized within it according to its principles.