This study investigates the ritual use and spatial placement of beast-shaped incense burners (獸爐, suro) in the royal ceremonies of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392), focusing on their ceremonial functions and architectural positioning. These distinctive incense burners were primarily employed during two categories of state rituals: karye (family rites) and pillye (receptions for foreign envoys). In karye, a pair of suro was symmetrically placed on either side of the main pillars in front of Taegwanjŏn, the central ceremonial hall. In pillye, a single suro was set on a fragrance table (hyangan) in the courtyard of Hoegyŏngjŏn, where musk incense was burned. In auxiliary rites such as Sangwŏn Yŏndŭnghoe (Lantern Festival of the Upper Monastery) and Chungdong P'algwanhoe (Mid-Autumn Festival of the Eight Offerings), two suro were installed to the left and right of the eastern pavilions in front of Kanganjŏn and Ŭibongmun. These cases illustrate that the number and placement of suro varied depending on the nature and structure of each ritual, reflecting a deliberate correspondence between ritual form and spatial arrangement. Documentary evidence suggests that suro were already in use by around 1030 and continued to appear in royal rituals into the early Chosŏn dynasty. Notably, during the investiture of the queen consort in 1418—the first year of King Sejong’s reign—suro were still in use. That same year, hyangno (traditional incense burners) were employed in the enthronement ceremonies of the Retired King and the Queen Dowager, indicating the coexistence of suro and hyangno at this transitional juncture. Interestingly, the spatial placement of hyangno followed the same pattern established for suro in earlier Koryŏ court rituals. The suro used in Koryŏ royal ceremonies were incense burners crafted in the form of animals—typically featuring long legs, a cylindrical body, and a lid adorned with chamosu (mother-and-child beast) motifs. Such zoomorphic designs are not found in contemporaneous incense burners of neighboring states, underscoring the distinctly Koryŏ aesthetic and ritual identity embodied in the suro.
Yongjin Lee (Mon,) studied this question.