• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.34-51
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• 2012

Jangneung (the Royal Tomb of King Danjong) and Sareung (the Royal Tomb of Queen Jeongsun) are simple in their design and layout. Not only are the sizes of the stone statues small, but stone soldiers are not installed at all despite the fact that Danjong at one point served as the King of Joseon. Moreover, only a pair of seoksu (stone animal) is installed for each Tomb. These royal tombs were originally made as common tombs and later upgraded as Royal Tombs when Danjong's royal status was reinstated posthumously in 1698. Thus, in comparison to royal tombs in general, the scale of these tombs is by far modest. For this paper, archival records and other literature for the burial upgrade process and the stone sculptures are examined; also, the stone sculptures have been examined and measured on-site, and they have been compared and analyzed based on the data thus obtained. Furthermore, this paper traces the historical context of the period in which the simplification of the stone sculptures took place for Jangneung and Sareung. The paper argues that the cause of the modest scale lies not so much in the fact that King Danjong had been dethroned as a commoner, but in the cataclysmic famine and epidemic that swept the country during the time when the two royal tombs were upgraded as such.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.124-139
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• 2013

Choi Cheon-yak(about 1684~1755) is an artist who left the various artistic works such as sculptures of royal tombs, architectures. In addition, he was not only a skilled caster but also an able artisan carving jade in the early Joseon Dynasty period. Starting from making royal seals of King Suk-jong, he had made more than about 40 Royal seals until 1755. Choi Cheon-yak was well known as a skilled jade craftsman. Another of his great abilities was to carve subjects into ideal figures. In virtue of his greater abilities, he could take part in the process of constructing Royal tombs and sculpting the stone statues of military officials' which were erected at aristocrats' tombs. With these accumulated skills, when he was in charge of designing the folding screen stones for King In-jo's Jang Neong, he could even replace 12 animals system and clouds with peonies and lotus. Among his various abilities, his skill in carving a sculpture can stand comparison with any other contemporaries. His sculpture skill was at its zenith in 1752, the stone statues of military officials' at the Ui soseson's tomb count his showpiece that describes a model at the age of his late teens and is a realistic and portrayal sculpture, which met the royal family's dignity. In the same year, the stone statues of military officials' constructed by Choi Cheon-yak was elected in front of the Jo Hyen-myeong's tomb(1690~1752). This masterpiece referred to the armor of those of King Gong-min Neong and newly added a helmet and the patterns of a tortoise shell. These patterns of a tortoise shell were passed down to Park Moon-su's tomb in 1756 and Queen Jeong-sung's Hong Neung by his colleagues : Kim Ha-jeong and Byeon Yi-jin etc. He was one of the greatest sculptors in the $18^{th}$ century. People in Joseon praised him highly for his imaginative work from an amorphous object. Especially, these stone statues of military at Jo Hyeonmyeong's tomb shows the proofs of his supreme artwork.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.66-77
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• 2016

This contribution studied constructional intentions, ideas, thought and aesthetic consciousness of Joseon Royal Tombs regarding its location, spatial organization and elements. A literature investigation and a field study have been carried out, and the royal tombs of the Goryeo Dynasty and the Shilla Dynasty also have been studied to look for the its origins. The outcomes are as follows. The tomb's system of Joseon Royal Tombs inherited the King Gongmin's Tomb of the Goryeo Dynasty of Buddhism, but they have their own characteristics in a spatial organization and elements involved in Confucianism, Taoism, not only Buddhism. In the aspect of location, Joseon Royal Tombs followed the Feng-shu geometric principle to find a land that have a mountain in the back, and a river in the front. Spatial plan was carried out with Confucianism to apply the order of rank. Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are shown with the elements such as architecture, landscape architecture, stone objects, and historical forest being connected each other. Especially, constructional intentions, ideas, thought and aesthetic consciousness are connected with the people in Joseon Royal Tombs through the ritual ceremony of Confucianism.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.66-81
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• 2014

Burnt down during the Imjin War(壬辰倭亂) of 1592, Gyeongbokgung Palace(景福宮) remained in ruins until 1865, when in the second year of King Gojong's(高宗) reign, reconstruction work began. At the time, a royal protocol(uigwe, 儀軌) for the reconstruction was not produced. Instead, the Gyeongbokgung Palace Construction Diary(Gyeongbokgung yeonggeon ilgi, 景福宮營建日記) records the reconstruction process from June to September of 1865. The contents of this diary reveal that the stone used in the construction was obtained from Ganghwa(江華), the Yeongpung field(映楓亭) just beyond Dongdaemun, and Samcheongdong(三淸洞), among other sites. In addition, selected stone remaining from the original Gyeongbokgung Palace site - such as that from the palace astronomical observatory(ganuidae, 簡儀臺) - as reused, while a number of buildings and stonework from Gyeonghuigung Palace(慶熙宮) were moved to Gyeongbokgung Palace. As a result, a number of $17^{th}$ and $18^{th}$ century stonework are currently located at Gyeongbokgung Palace. The Gyeongbokgung Palace Construction Diary contains a record indicating that the bronze dragon(靑銅龍) excavated from the lotus pond at the palace's Gyeonghoeru Pavilion(慶會樓) was created by special technician byeolganyeok(別看役) Kim Jae-su(金在洙) in 1865 for the symbolic purpose of protecting the palace from fire. The diary also reveals that among Kim Jae-su and the other special technicians(byeolganyeok) tasked with the installation and oversight of the palace stonework was Lee Se-ok(李世玉) - aid to have created the haechi statue at Gwanghwamun Gate. This indicates that there were men of court painter(hwawon, 畵員) background among the construction special technicians(byeolganyeok). Moreover, the diary records the names of the stoneworkers(seokjang, 石匠) who worked under these special technicians to actually carve the stonework. These included Jang Seong-bok(張聖福), who participated in the creation of the Geunjeongjeon Hall(勤政殿); and Kim Jin-myeong(金振明), who took part in the construction of Gwanghwamun Gate(光化門). Based on these results, it is possible to identify a number of special iconographic features of the scale-covered animal form(insuhyeong, 鱗獸形) auspicious animal statues at Gyeongbokgung Palace. These include a protruding mouth and large nose, formalized ears, and a mane along the back. Comparing these iconographic features with those found in the stonework of Joseon tombs makes it clear that these palace statues were created in the latter half of the $19^{th}$ century - the period corresponding to Gojong's palace reconstruction. This study was able to confirm that this iconography was taken up by the Gyeongbokgung Palace construction special technicians(byeolganyeok) and stoneworkers(seokjang) as they worked on tomb stonework earlier in their careers.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.62-79
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• 2015

The Stele for State Preceptor Doseon and Seon Master Sumi of Dogapsa Temple in Yeongam was erected in the fourth month of 1653. It was made with stone obtained from Yeosan(present-day Yeosan-myeon, Iksansi), and contains an inscription - engraved in the spring of 1651 - commemorating the two priests. The project to erect the monument was led by eminent monks, including Gakseong and Sucho, with the support of royal patrons and powerful statesmen including Prince Inpyeong(1622~1658). This monument is thought to be the first of its kind to have a capstone in the shape of a 'dragon loop' handle of the kind traditionally attached to the top of a temple bell. Stone stelae with a dragon-loop-shaped capstone continued to be used by the royalty and nobility of Joseon until the 18th century. The inscription engraved on the rear face of the monument reveals that it was made by Jo Mal-ryong, a renowned stonemason who worked on stone monuments and figures for royal tombs in the mid-Joseon period. He is known as the only stonemason to have been awarded the third highest rank(Jeong-sampum) of government, including the posts of Grand Master(Tongjeong Daebu) and General(Jeolchung Janggun), as recorded in the inscription. The monument corroborates the prevalent view that he was the creator of monumental capstones of the highest aesthetic merit in Joseon, and provides valuable insights about the leading artisans who produced monumental stones for royal tombs in the 17th century. This particular monument is highly regarded as a valuable historical relic because of the detailed information contained in the inscription, including the dates, work processes, patrons and artisans related with its creation, and because it features outstanding workmanship by some of the greatest artisans of the period. The monument also provides important clues about the transition from the Buddhist monuments created under the auspices of the royalty and nobility of mid-period Joseon to the symbolic stone structures and figures made for the tombs of royalty and nobility.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.198-221
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• 2009

Royal tombs of Joseon dynasty are the crystallization of history, ideology, culture, art, architecture, and ritual ceremony of Joseon dynasty, all mingled in one. So, they are very significant symbols showing 500 years of dynastic history as a whole. Among various factors comprising a royal tomb, stone figures surrounding grave mound are special factors as a symbol protecting it. Further among them, twelve zodiac images arrayed nearest to the grave mound represent the core of the function. Images of twelve zodiac signs originated from the tombs of the Unified Silla Kingdom are certain to hold important role and position in the construction of royal tombs, judging from huge scale and excellent sculptural art of them. However, both their scale and form had been gradually simplified in Goryeo and Joseon dynasty, thus the importance of them has been underestimated compared to other stone figures Images of twelve zodiac signs were very important factors which decorated royal tombs both as a protective role and as a concept of direction. Their historicity and symbolism cannot be neglected in that they had been transmitted to the royal tombs of Joseon dynasty. In this paper, images of twelve zodiac signs expressed in the royal tombs of Joseon dynasty are classified into 3 forms, and reviewed the origin and development of them for each period. They could be classified into 3 forms ; civil vassals with human body and head, civil vassals with human body and head wearing hat decorated with zodiac animals, Chinese characters of either zodiac signs or either a combination of 10 calendar signs and 8 trigrams. The above 3 forms originated from China and became a favorite motif to decorate the royal tombs from early Joseon period until late Joseon by replacing each other and thus changing along the course of the dynasty. In the meantime, we can see a unique character in the images of twelve zodiac signs of royal tombs of Joseon dynasty. In some cases, 24 directions are expressed in which 10 calender signs and 8 trigrams are composed altogether. Images of twelve zodiac signs in the royal bombs of Joseon dynasty are very significant as evidences by which we can confirm uniqueness and tradition of Korean tomb system transmitted from Unified Silla period.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.44-55
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• 2012

This study is to interpret how landscape aesthetic characteristics of moderation, which is the point of human-oriented neo-confucianism vision, are projected to the landscape organization of a Dodong-SeoWon, known for its overflow to neo-confucianism grounds and standards among domestic SeoWon. The aspects of neo-confucianism discussion in the shape of Dodong-SeoWon with the beauty of from and contents dominating the landscape of Dodong-SeoWon different from constructive completeness as 7 external and internal landscape organization including placement, circulation, setting, vista, fencing, naming, and decoration are as follows. The left direction of Dodong-SeoWon, part of external organization, is the result of landscape organization that emphasized the stage of moderation through the unification of man and nature by naturalizing natural direction to human-oriented directions. Important aspects to rule external orders and standards of Dodong-SeoWon are principles of one classes based on ranks and bilateral symmetry that is the unity of setting and circulation landscape organization from penetrating the spirit of moderation with no bias. By securing territoriality by fencing the unity of verticality and horizontality, the landscape organization to reach moderation is expressed. Meanwhile, Suwoloo(水月樓) perceived on the floor of central assembly hall, the formation of time frame from roof piles of Hwanjumun(喚主門) as well as pilars of Jungjeongdang(中正堂), and rime link method inducing visual balance and openness through segment, combination, and others are vista organization that show the ideality of unique neo-confucianism building. Also as part of landscape organization contents. semantically, building name including arrangement from Taegukdoseol, ideological naming following the name of Ssanggye-SeoWon, which is the former body, the name of the hall symbolizing the transfer of neo-confucianism enlightenment, impartiality with no bias, as well as Geoinjae(居仁齋) and Geoijae(居義齋) based on olympic, are also results of applying neo-confucianism standards. Additionally. the SeoHoe(瑞花) expressing the change of IleumIlyang(一陰一陽) on the stylobate of Jungjeongdang, Saeho(細虎) which goes up and down, as well as Simul made of four dragons, are artistic expression of the moderation that symbolizes the harmony of ying and yang with no exceeding or insufficiency. Humorous and unique rocks and stones evenly arranged in all spots of Dodong-SeoWon are to promote anti-strict organization by offsetting the image and external order of the lecture hall as strict as it is, and this is very ironic as it is the other landscape organization in different dimension as well as the expression of moderation.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.180-193
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• 2022

The East Nine Royal Tombs is a representative place in the Royal Tombs of Joseon (a World Heritage Site). It consists of 1,289 stone artifacts including 979 related stone structures, 310 stone statues, and objects. Most of the stone structures in the East Nine Royal Tombs are composed of biotite granite, but some tombs are composed of light red granite. As a result of magnetic susceptibility measurement, the average data from Geonwolleung to Mongneung, excluding Hyeolleung, were similar, so it is estimated that stones were obtained from the same quarry. In the case of Sungneung, Sureung, and Gyeongneung, the range of susceptibility measurement is widely distributed. It assumed that the newly produced stones were mixed in the moving and construction process. Also, stones might be gathered from different quarries. As a result of a conservation status investigation, both the mound member and the ridge stone had the highest damage rate due to peeling and granular decomposition according to surface weathering. In the case of surface discoloration, yellowing and soils were found in the burial mound members. Yellowing, blackening, and soil were identified in the ridge stone structures. Bio-degradation is the major factor of deterioration of the East Nine Royal Tombs and the conservation status of the tombs were detected as grades 4 to 5. It seems that it is easy for the environment of the royal tombs to form soil for the microorganisms and fine conditions for continuous moisture. In the case of structures, they are in relatively good condition. As a result of a comprehensive damage rating for each tomb, the overall condition is good, but the Geonwolleung Royal Tomb and Hyeolleung Tomb, which were created in the early period, had relatively high weathering ratings. Stone objects in East Nine Royal Tombs have lost many pieces and gateway members due to surface deterioration. Also, secondary damage is ongoing. Each damage factor of the stone artifacts of the East Nine Royal Tombs combines to cause various and continuous damages. Therefore, it is necessary to establish regular conservation status data of the stone artifacts for efficient management after processing as well as conservation treatment of the royal tombs, and specific management manuals and systems. This study investigated the conservation status of stone structures in the East Nine Royal Tombs, a World Heritage Site, and systematically classified them to provide priority and necessity for conservation processing. We look forward to establishing a plan for the conservation and management of the East Nine Royal Tombs with this database in the future.