조선왕릉의 석물은 儀衛의 石儀物로, 「世宗五禮」, 『國朝五禮儀』, 『國朝喪禮補編』 같은 禮典에 석물의 종류, 형식, 수량, 크기 등을 명시하여 규범화했다. 석물의 크기 규범은 시기에 따라 변화했는데, 실제 석물 제작에서는 반영하기 어려운 푼(分) 단위까지 세밀하게 규정하기도 했다. 이는 크기의 규범이 임의로 정해진 것이 아니라 분명한 근거에 의해서 산출되었음을 의미한다. 본고에서는 조선왕릉 석물 중에서 대표적 석물인 석인을 중심으로 크기 규범의 산출 근거를 추적하며 석물의 척도 규범의 변천사를 고찰하였다. 우선, 조선왕릉 석물 척도 규범의 변천 과정을 정확히 파악하기 위해서 왕릉 석물제도에 사용되었던 영조척 길이를 파악할 필요가 있기 때문에 『國朝五禮儀』, 『國朝喪禮補編』 같은 禮典에 실린 圖說을 실측하여 영조척의 길이를 밝혔다. 그리고 〈국상의제〉, 「세종오례」, 『국조오례의』, 『국조속오례의』, 『국조상례보편』에 실린 석인 크기 규범의 변천 과정을 문헌 기록과 실제 능에 설치된 석물의 크기를 비교하면서 고찰하였다. 조선시대 최초의 능인 신덕왕후 貞陵은 아직 조선왕릉 석물제도가 마련되기 전에 고려 공민왕릉의 制樣과 尺度를 바탕으로 조성되었는데, 청계천 광통교의 부재로 사용되고 있는 정릉 병풍석 크기를 근거로 정릉 석인상이 10尺이었음을 추정하였다. 태종이 건원릉을 조성하면서 왕릉제도를 정비하였으며, 조선시대 최초의 상장제도인 <국상의제>는 건원릉 의궤를 토대로 작성되었고 석인 길이를 7尺 5寸으로 정했다. 7尺 5寸의 크기는 신덕왕후 정릉의 석인 크기 10척에서 4분의 1을 감한 것으로 파악된다. 『국조오례의』에서는 문석인을 8尺 3寸, 무석인을 9尺으로 다시 약간 크게 정했는데, 이는 〈국상의제〉의 석물 크기에 문석인은 10분의 1, 무석인은 10분의 2를 더해 규범화한 것이다. 세월이 흐르면서 왕릉에서 석실과 병풍석이 사라지는 등, 실제 왕릉 造營에 변화가 일어났기 때문에 영조는 석물제도의 규범을 수정하였다. 1752년 『국조상례보편』 初版本에서 석인 크기를 문석인 5尺 1寸 1分, 무석인 5尺 4寸으로 정했는데, 문석인을 1푼(分)까지 명시한 것은 후릉 석물을 척량해온 수치를 그대로 사용했기 때문이다. 1758년 『국조상례보편』 改修板本에서는 영조의 선왕인 경종 의릉 석물을 참조해서 문석인 5척 8촌 2푼, 무석인 6척 2촌으로 약간 크게 개정하였다. 조선시대 왕릉의 석물 크기 규범은 고정된 것이 아니라 현실에 맞게 조정되었으며, 규범을 정할 때는 당시에 가장 의미 있는 능의 석물을 典範으로 삼거나 참조하여 尺數를 도출하였다. 여기서 典範으로 참조한 석인의 크기는 석물을 실측한 수치라기보다 의궤에 등록된 수치인데, 이는 문헌을 중시하던 조선사회의 한 단면을 보여준다. 조선왕릉 석물 척도 규범은 구속력이 강한 법령이 아니라 최소치 혹은 최대치를 정하는 ‘가이드라인’으로 활용되었다. 따라서 조선왕릉 석물은 조성 당시의 경제적, 정치적 상황에 따르는 유연성이 있었고, 이로 인해 조선왕릉 석물은 더욱더 역사적 가치를 지니게 되었다.
Stone sculptures in royal tombs of the Joseon Dynasty were ritual objects whose kinds, forms, numbers, and dimensions were stipulated in ritual codes such as “Five Rites of King Sejong,” “Five Rites of the State,” and “Revised Edition on State Funerals.” Dimension regulations of stone sculptures changed according the period and sometimes specified minimal measures such as a “pun” (= 0.3 ㎝), which hardly made any difference in making actual sculptures. Nonetheless, this suggests that dimensions of stone sculptures were not randomly determined but calculated based on precise criteria. This article reconstructs the criteria for deciding dimensions of stone sculptures and their changes throughout the dynasty, focusing on the most representative stone sculptures of Joseon royal tombs, that is, seokin (stone figures of humans). First of all, the article identified the length of Yeongjo-cheok, which was the standard measure utilized in the regulations on sizes of stone sculptures in the royal tombs by actually checking the dimensions of the illustrations in the ritual codes such as “Five Rites of the State” and “Revised Edition on State Funerals.” Moreover, it investigated the development of the regulations based on “Formality of State Funerals,” “Five Rites of King Sejong,” “Five Rites of the State,” “Sequel to the Five Rites of the State,” and “Revised Edition on State Funerals,” and compared the regulations in different periods with actual stone sculptures installed in royal tombs. The first royal tomb of the Joseon Dynasty, Jeong-reung of Queen Shindeok, had been built according to the rules, designs, and scales of the tomb of King Gongmin of the Goryeo, before the regulations concerning stone sculptures in royal tombs were established in the Joseon Dynasty. A seokin in Jeong-reung is estimated as ten cheok (= 30.3 cm) long based on the size of the stone screen of Jeong-reung, which is currently built in the Gwangtong Bridge of the Cheonggye stream. King Taejong established the system of royal tombs during the construction of Geonwon-reung, which served as the standard for making the first funerary rules of the Joseon Dynasty, “Formality of State Funerals.” According to the funerary rules, the length of a seokin was to be seven cheok and five chon (= 3.03 ㎝). This length of a seokin was probably determined by deducting one forth of the entire length of a seokin in Jeong-reung from its original length. Subsequently, the sizes of a seokin became bigger based on “Five Rites of the State,” since a stone figure of a civil official and a stone figure of a military official were stipulated as eight cheok and three chon and nine cheok respectively in the new ritual code. The new sizes of the two types of stone figures were decided by adding one tenth of the entire length of a seokin in “Formality of State Funerals” to its original length and two tenth of that to the original respectively. In the following period, the constructions of royal tombs changed such as the disappearance of stone chambers and stone screens, and thus King Yeongjo revised the rules of stone sculptures accordingly. In the first version of the “Revised Edition on State Funerals” made in 1752, the sizes of a stone figure of a civil official and a stone figure of a military official were decided as five cheok, 1 chon and 1 pun, and five cheok and four chon respectively. The reason why the size of a stone figure of a civil official specified even the minimal length of 1 pun is because the size was determined according to the measurement of a stone sculpture in Hureung. In the revised version of “Revised Edition on State Funerals” made in 1758, the sizes of a stone figure of a civil official and a stone figure of a military official were made slightly bigger to be five cheok, eight chon and two pun, and six cheok and two chon respectively, according to the dimensions of the stone sculptures in Uireung of King Gyeongjong. Dimensions of stone sculptures for royal tombs of the Joseon Dynasty were not completely fixed but changed according to the circumstances of the period. They were usually decided based on those of the stone sculptures of the most important tombs at that time. However, the sizes of the “model” sculptures were not actually measured but derived from their dimensions recorded in the Royal Protocols, illustrating how the Joseon society regarded textual records as important. The rules of dimensions of stone sculptures in Joseon royal tombs were not enforced as laws but utilized as guidelines. Therefore, sizes of stone sculptures were adjusted based on the economic and political conditions at the time of construction of a royal tomb. For this reason, the stone sculptures of Joeson royal tombs came to have more rich history.