• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.196-221
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• 2011

The Royal Private Shrines or the Samyo(私廟), were dedicated to members of Choseon's royal family who could not be enshrined at the (official) Royal Ancestral Shrine, the Jongmyo(宗廟). The Samyo were constructed at the national level and were systematically managed as such. Because these private Shrines were dedicated to those who couldn't belong to the Jongmyo but were still very important, such as the ruling king's biological father or mother. The details of all royal constructions were included in the State Event Manuals, and with them, the two-dimensional layouts of the Samyo also. From the remaining "Hyunsa-gung Private Tomb Construction Layout Record(顯思宮別廟營建都監儀軌)" of 1824, which is the construction record of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine(景祐宮) dedicated to Subin, the mother of King Sunjo(純祖), it became possible to investigate the so far unknown "The Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine", in terms of the year produced, materials used and other situational contexts. The investigation revealed that the "The Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine" is actually the "Hyunsa-gung Private Tomb Layout" produced by the Royal Construction Bureau. The bureau painted this to build Hyunsa-gung Private Shrine in a separately prepared site outside the court in 1824, according to the royal verdict to close down and move the temporary shrine inside the courtyard dedicated to Subin who had passed away in 1822. As the Construction Bureau must have also produced the Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine Layout, the painter(s) of this layout should exist among the official artists listed in the State Event Manual, but sadly, as their paintings have not survived to this day, we cannot compare their painting styles. The biggest stylistic character of the Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine is its perfect diagonal composition method and detailed and neat portrayalof the many palace buildings, just as seen in Donggwoldo(東闕圖, Painting of a panoramic view for Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces). A well-perceiving architectural painting employs a specific point of view chosen to fit the purpose of the painting, or it can opt to the multi-viewpoint. Korean traditional architectural paintings in early ages utilized the diagonal composition method, the bird-eye viewpoint, or the multi-viewpoint. By the 18th century, detailed but also artistic architectural paintings utilizing the diagonal method are observed. In the early 19th century, the peak of such techniques is exhibited in Donggwoldo(Painting of a panoramic view for Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces). From the perfect diagonal composition method employed and the details of the palace buildings numbering almost two hundreds, we can determine that the Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine also belongs to the same category of the highly technical architectural paintings as Donggwoldo(Painting of a panoramic view for Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces). We can also confirm this hypothesis by comparing the painting techniques employed in these two paintings in detailthe way trees and houses are depicted, and the way ground texture is expressed, etc. The unique characteristic of the Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine is, however, that the area surrounding the central shrine building(正堂), the most important area of the shrine, is drawn using not the diagonal method but the bird-eye viewpoint with the buildings lying flat on both the left and right sides, just as seen in the "Buildings Below the Central Shrine(正堂以下諸處)" in the State Event Manual's Painting Method section. The same viewpoint method is discovered in some other concurrent paintings of common residential buildings, so it is not certain that this particular viewpoint had been a distinctive feature for shrine paintings in general. On the other hand, when the diagonalmethod pointing to the left direction is chosen, the top-left and bottom-right sections of the painting become inevitably empty. This has been the case for the Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine, but in contrast, Donggwoldo shows perfect screen composition with these empty margins filled up with different types of trees and other objects. Such difference is consistent with the different situational contexts of these two paintings: the Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine is a simple single-sheet painting, while Donggwoldo is a perfected work of painting book given an official title. Therefore, if Donggwoldo was produced to fulfill the role of depiction and documentation as well as the aesthetic purpose, contrastingly, the Painting of Gyeongwoo-gung Shrine only served the purpose of copying the circumstances of the architecture and projecting them onto the painting.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.100
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• pp.50-80
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• 2021

This paper critically examines the history of the theories connected to the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda that have developed over the last 100 years focusing on the original number of stories the pagoda would have reached. Part II of this paper retraces the dynamic process of the rediscovery of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda by Westerners who traveled to Korea during the port-opening period. Koreans at the time viewed the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda as an object of no particular appeal or even as an eyesore. However, Westerners appreciated it as a wonder or magnificent sight. Since these Westerners had almost no prior knowledge of Buddhist pagodas, they were able to write objective travelogues. At the time, these visitors generally accepted the theory common among Joseon intellectuals that Wongaksa Temple Pagoda once had thirteen stories. Part III focuses on Japanese government-affiliated scholars' academic research on the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda after the proclamation of the Korean Empire and the Japanese Government-General of Korea's subsequent management of the pagoda as a cultural property during the colonial era. It also discusses issues with Japanese academic research and management. In particular, this portion sheds light on the shift in theories about the original number of stories of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda from the ten-story theory supported by Sekino Tadashi (關野 貞), whose ideas have held a great influence on this issue over the last 100 years, to the thirteen-story theory and then to the idea that it had more than thirteen. Finally, Part IV addresses the change from the multi-story theory to the ten-story theory in the years after Korea's liberation from Japan until 1962. Moreover, it highlights how Korean intellectuals of the Japanese colonial era predominantly accepted the thirteen-story theory. Since 1962, a considerable quantity of significant research on the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda has been published. However, since most of these studies have applied the ten-story theory suggested in 1962, they are not individually discussed in this paper. This retracing of the history of theories about the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda has verified that although there are reasonable grounds for supporting the thirteen-story theory, it has not been proved in the last 100 years. Moreover, the number of pagoda stories has not been fully discussed in academia. The common theory that both Wongaksa Temple Pagoda and Gyeongcheonsa Temple Pagoda were ten-story pagodas was first formulated by Sekino Tadashi 100 years ago. Since the abrasion of the Wongaksa Temple Stele was so severe the inscriptions on the stele were almost illegible, Sekino argued that the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda was a ten-story pagoda based on an architectural analysis of the then-current condition of the pagoda. Immediately after Sekino presented his argument, a woodblock-printed version of the inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele was found. This version included a phrase that a thirteen-story pagoda had been erected. In a similar vein, the Dongguk yeoji seungnam (Geographic Encyclopedia of Korea) published by the orders of King Seongjong in the late fifteenth century documented that Gyeongcheonsa Temple Pagoda, the model for the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda, was also a thirteen-story pagoda. The Wongaksa Temple Stele erected on the orders of King Sejo after the establishment of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda evidently shows that Sekino's ten-story premise is flawed. Sekino himself wrote that "as [the pagoda] consists of a three-story stereobate and a ten-story body, people call it a thirteen-story pagoda," although he viewed the number of stories of the pagoda body as that of the entire pagoda. The inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele also clearly indicate that the king ordered the construction of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda as a thirteen-story pagoda. Although unprecedented, this thirteen-story pagoda comprised a ten-story pagoda body over a three-story stereobate. Why would King Sejo have built a thirteen-story pagoda in an unusual form consisting of a ten-story body on top of a three-story stereobate? In order to fully understand King Sejo's intention in building a thirteen-story pagoda, analyzing the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda is necessary. This begins with the restoration of its original name. I disprove Sekino's ten-story theory built upon flawed premises and an eclectic over-thirteen-story theory and urge applying the thirteen-story theory, as the inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele stated that the pagoda was originally built as a thirteen-story pagoda.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.206-225
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• 2019

This paper examines the trade and development aspects of glass mirrors through the literature records of the Joseon Dynasty, and studies the characteristics of existing glass mirror crafts by referring to the terms and types shown in the literature. The glass mirror in the records had called western mirrors(西洋鏡, 洋鏡), glass mirrors(玻璃鏡, 玻瓈鏡), stone mirrors(石鏡), etc. Glass mirrors were imported mainly through trade with Russia and the Qing Dynasty since the 17th century and were banned from importation in the late Joseon Dynasty. These mirrors were something new that caused a great stirring in Joseon society in the 18th century, and in the 19th century, it grew larger as a commodity needed for everyday life, especially with trade with Japan. At that time, glass mirrors were used for various purposes, such as installing large glass at a store, which were not the standard mirror usage of confirming one's appearance. These mirrors surprised Koreans in Joseon who experienced them at Yanjing Liulichang(燕京 琉璃廠) in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result, the demand for glass mirrors rapidly increased and quickly surpassed that of bronze mirrors. Consequentially, new crafts using glass mirrors instead of bronze mirrors in Joseon began to be produced and used after the 18th century. In particular, integrated flat boards of glass mirrors were developed as crafts used indoors. It was convenient to use the hair comb box, a long-time presence in Joseon society, with the bronze mirror. This kind of mirror remained apparent in various genre paintings, including the Taepyeong Seongsido(太平城市圖, 'A Thriving City in a Peaceful Era') collected the National Museum of Korea which reflect its populism of the times. Also, the Mirror Stand(鏡臺) used in the Qing Period was produced in Joseon, but there was a difference in the way of making the drawers and box shapes between two nations. On the other hand, the Face Mirror(面鏡) was made to look at the face. Various crafts made with the aesthetic sense of Joseon, such as the ox horn inlaying craft technique, were produced with auspicious designs. In the 19th century, glass mirrors were imported from European countries, such as France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, however after the end of the 19th century Japanese crafts were popular. Glass mirrors, which were popular in the Meiji and Taisho eras of Japan, were imported and also the Mirror Screen(鏡屛) using large glass mirrors were used. In particular, the mirror screen had developed wood furniture since the previous time, which were used for banquets and large spaces, such as the drawing room, and were imported from China and Japan. In addition, the western architectural effect of attaching a mirror to the wall was also attempted to adjust the brightness of the space and introduce another image and scenery in the mirror. This was done at Deoksugung Palace's Seokjojeon.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2023

The Christian Museum of Gongju Jeil Church was first built in 1931 and was largely damaged during the Korean War, but the walls and chimneys have been preserved. This building has a high architectural values in that the chapel was reconstructed in 1956, and maintains its original form through repair of damaged parts rather than new construction. The stained glass windows were as installed in 1979 and has a great significance in the Dalle de Verre method using lump glass. However, some of the stained glass damaged partially, such as various cracks and splits, and vertical and horizontal cracks in the joint fillers of supporting the colored glass. As the structural materials of the stained glass window, an iron frame and cement mortar filled with it were used, and corrosion of iron, cracking of mortar and granular decomposition appear partially due to weathering. In the joint fillers, the content of Ca and S is very high, indicating that gypsum were used as admixtures, and the gypsums grow in a rhombohedral and forms a bundle, which is investigated to have undergone recrystallization. As a result of modeling the ultrasonic velocity at the joint fillers, the left and right windows at the entrance show relatively weak in the range of 800 to 1,600m/s, and the lower right corner of the altar window and the upper left corner of the center window were also 1,000 to 1,800m/s, showing relatively low physical properties. And gypsums produced during the neutralization of lime mortar were detected in the joint fillers and contaminants on the surface. Such salts may cause damage to the joint material due to freezing and thawing, so appropriate preventive conservation is required. Also, since various damage types are complexly appearing in stained glass window and joint filler, customized conservation treatment should be reviewed through clinical tests.