The Funeral Procession of Empress Myeongseong

This painting depicts the funerary procession of Empress Myeongseong in 1897, and is speculated to be a piece commissioned in the process of correcting procedural mistakes through the supervision of relevant officials in order to prevent such mistakes during the actual event. The state funeral of Empress Myeongseong was a significant event through which the Great Han declared itself to the world as an imperial power and an independant nation-state, and this picture illustrates the preparations and considerations behind this occasion. The daeyeo was a type of ceremonial palanquin used when transporting the jaegung, which was the casket containing the king or queen during a royal funeral. This was the most extravagant gama of all, carried by dozens of porters and led by a coordinator on top of the daeyeo itself.