• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.97
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• pp.87-104
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• 2020

Myogilsang on Diamond Mountain, signed and dated (2000) by Seon-u Yeong (1946-2009), is the first work by a North Korean artist to enter the collection of the National Museum of Korea (fig. 1a). The donor acquired the painting directly from the artist in Pyeongyang in 2006. In consequence, there are no issues with the painting's authenticity.This painting is the largest among all existing Korean paintings, whether contemporary or from the Joseon Dynasty, to depict this iconography (see chart 1. A Chronological List of Korean Myogilsang Paintings.) It is ink and color on paper, measures 130.2 × 56.2 centimeters, and is in a hanging scroll format. Since this essay is intended as a brief introduction of the painting and not in-depth research into it, I will simply examine the following four areas: 1. Seon-u Yeong's background; 2. The location and the traditional appellation of the rock-cut image known as Myogilsang; 3. The iconography of the image; and 4) A comparative analysis of Seon-u Yeong's painting in light of other paintings on the same theme. Finally, I will present two more of his works to broaden the understanding of Seon-u Yeong as a painter. 1. Seon-u Yeong: According to the donor, who met Seon-u at his workshop in the Cheollima Jejakso (Flying Horse Workshop) three years before the artist's death, he was an individual of few words but displayed a firm commitment to art. His preference for subjects such as Korean landscapes rather than motifs of socialist realism such as revolutionary leaders is demonstrated by the fact that, relative to his North Korean contemporaries, he seems to have produced more paintings of the former. In recent years, Seon-u Yeong has been well publicized in Korea through three special exhibitions (2012 through 2019). He graduated from Pyeongyang College of Fine Arts in 1969 and joined the Central Fine Arts Production Workshop focusing on oil painting. In 1973 he entered the Joseon Painting Production Workshop and began creating traditional Korean paintings in ink and color. His paintings are characterized by intense colors and fine details. The fact that his mother was an accomplished embroidery specialist may have influenced on Seon-u's choice to use intense colors in his paintings. By 1992, he had become a painter representing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with several titles such as Artist of Merit, People's Artist, and more. About 60 of his paintings have been designated as National Treasures of the DPRK. 2. The Myogilsang rock-cut image is located in the Manpok-dong Valley in the inner Geumgangsan Mountain area. It is a high-relief image about 15 meters tall cut into a niche under 40 meters of a rock cliff. It is the largest of all the rock-cut images of the Goryeo period. This image is often known as "Mahayeon Myogilsang," Mahayeon (Mahayana) being the name of a small temple deep in the Manpokdong Valley (See fig. 3a & 3b). On the right side of the image, there is an intaglio inscription of three Chinese characters by the famous scholar-official and calligrapher Yun Sa-guk (1728-1709) reading "妙吉祥"myogilsang (fig. 4a, 4b). 3. The iconography: "Myogilsang" is another name for the Bhodhisattva Mañjuśrī. The Chinese pronunciation of Myogilsang is "miaojixiang," which is similar in pronunciation to Mañjuśrī. Therefore, we can suggest a 妙吉祥 ↔ Mañjuśrī formula for the translation and transliteration of the term. Even though the image was given a traditional name, the mudra presented by the two hands in the image calls for a closer examination. They show the making of a circle by joining the thumb with the ring finger (fig. 6). If the left land pointed downward, this mudra would conventionally be considered "lower class: lower life," one of the nine mudras of the Amitabha. However, in this image the left hand is placed across its abdomen at an almost 90-degree angle to the right hand (fig. 6). This can be interpreted as a combination of the "fear not" and the "preaching" mudras (see note 10, D. Saunders). I was also advised by the noted Buddhist art specialist Professor Kim Jeong-heui (of Won'gwang University) to presume that this is the "preaching" mudra. Therefore, I have tentatively concluded that this Myogilsang is an image of the Shakyamuni offering the preaching mudra. There is no such combination of hand gestures in any other Goryeo-period images. The closest I could identify is the Beopjusa Rock-cut Buddha (fig. 7) from around the same time. 4. Comparative analysis: As seen in , except for the two contemporary paintings, all others on this chart are in ink or ink and light color. Also, none of them included the fact that the image is under a 40-meter cliff. In addition, the Joseon-period paintings all depicted the rock-cut image as if it were a human figure, using soft brushstrokes and rounded forms. None of these paintings accurately rendered the mudra from the image as did Seon-u. Only his painting depicts the natural setting of the image under the cliff along with a realistic rendering of the image. However, by painting the tall cliff in dark green and by eliminating elements on either side of the rock-cut image, the artist was able to create an almost surreal atmosphere surrounding the image. Herein lies the uniqueness of Seon-u Yeong's version. The left side of Seon-u's 2007 work Mount Geumgang (fig. 8) lives up to his reputation as a painter who depicts forms (rocks in this case) in minute detail, but in the right half of the composition it also shows his skill at presenting a sense of space. In contrast, Wave (fig. 9), a work completed one year before his death, displays his faithfulness to the traditions of ink painting. Even based on only three paintings by Seon-u Yeong, it seems possible to assess his versatility in both traditional ink and color mediums.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 1997

${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$(1445) is a book compiled the medical achievements of China and Choseon in those times and it's our source of pride to have it In this country. It also deserves careful investigation since this book can provide some clues of features of missing books in China and Korea. The extent of accuracy of xylographica of old books determines the possiblity of in depth further study. So authors attempted to investigate the xylographica of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ one of the 3 main books in Korea. Previous investigation done by Miki Sakae and Kim Doo Jong are noticeable. On the basis of their respective works, we analyzed 'Annals of the Choseon Dynasty' to find records related with ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ and estimated the situation of its publication. We tried figure the situation of those times of China, Japan and Korea(including North Korea) and tried to estimate the book's original xylographica as much as we could. By King Sejong's command, the first draft of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ consisted of 365 books was made by collaboration of civil officials and medical officers during the period from 1443 to 1445. And then from 1451(first year of Moonjong's reign) to 1464(l0th year of Sejo's reign) lots of manpowers were employed and through the process of countless erasure, proofreading, arrangement and rearrangement revised version of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ which is called by Sejo text was completed. After 3 years of wood engraving work, the first printed form of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ (alternately called Seongjong text) in folding case consisted of 266 chapters, 264 volumes came into the world in 1477.(8th year of Seongjong's reign). This was 32 years after the initial completion of the edition. So ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ exists in three forms as Sejong text, Sejo text and Seongjong text respectively. Since those texts were plundered during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, none of the original copy remains within korea. The texts were constantly moved to kadeungcheongieong, to Kongdeungpyeongio, Jesookoan of Edo, to East University of department of classic books, to Cheoncho archives, to the Imperial Museum and finally is kept in the royal palace at present. (Doseoryo text Eulhae printing type) Reduced-size republication books of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ in wooden type were imported at the time of 'Byeongja Korea-Japan Treaty in 1876' and of those 2 books, one copy was treasured in the Royal Household of the Yi Dynasty and than was lost during the Korean War circa 1950. The other remaining copy has been kept succesively by Kojong's imperial grant, Royal doctor Hong Cheol Bo, Hong Taek Joo, Hong Ik Pyo the book agent, and now is kept In Yonsei University Library and this is the only existing copy in Korea at present. In 1965, Dongyang Medical college published the transcription version of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ consisting of 11 books and then in 1981 after edition and arrangement by Choonghoa(中華) publishing company, photoprint copy of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ was published in Keumgang(金剛) publishing company In 1991, October Yeokang(驛江) publishing company producd photocopies of ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ which were previously translated into Korean by North Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine and then issued by medical publishing company. In China, two institutes, Zhejiang Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Huzhou Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital cooperated to publish a revised and marked text consiting of 11 books by adding marking points to japanse Edohakhoondang text which were used as a reference. Both the korean and chinese texts issued were grounded by the ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ kept in the royal palace. Any further study concerning ${\ulcorner}$Classified Collection of Medical Prescriptions${\lrcorner}$ can acquire its accuracy and objectivity when the japanese text kept in the royal palace is taken as an original copy.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.104
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• pp.70-100
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• 2023

The celadon made in the Goryeo era, a time when Buddhism was flourishing in Korea, naturally contains many elements of Buddhist culture. Among them, inlaid celadon with Sanskrit inscriptions bears a close relationship with esoteric Buddhism. However, the research on deciphering the Sanskrit inscriptions has made little progress due to the small number of extant examples. However, the four recent excavations at the No. 23 kiln site in Sadang-ri, Gangjin have yielded new materials that allow the existing materials to be categorized into several types. The results obtained through the reading and interpretation of the inscriptions are as follows: First, the Sanskrit characters inlaid on the celadon were parts of mantras. Inscriptions where only one character is apparent cannot be deciphered, but scholars have revealed that others are written in the manner of a wheel mantra represent the "Mantra for Purifying the Dharma-Realm," "Six-Syllable Mantra of the Vidyaraja," "Sweet Dew Mantra," "Jewel Pavilion Mantra," "Mantra of the Savior Bodhisattva," "Dharani of the Mind of the Budha of Infinite Life," and "Mantra for Extinguishing Evil Rebirth." Each mantra was written in Siddham script. Second, they are believed to have been produced during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries based on the arrangement of the inscriptions and the way the "Sweet Dew Mantra" is included in the "40 Hands Mantra." In particular, the celadon pieces with a mantra inlaid in a concentric manner are dated to the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries based on their production characteristics. Third, the interpretation of the inlaid mantras suggests that they all refer to the "Shattering Hell" and "Rebirth in the Pure Land." Based on this, it can be concluded that some of these inlaid celadon wares with mantras may have been used in Buddhist rituals for the dead, such as the ritual for feeding hungry ghosts (施餓鬼會). Also, because the Sadang-ri No. 23 kiln site and the "ga" area of the site are believed to have produced royal celadon, it is likely that these rituals were performed at the royal court or a temple under its influence. Fourth, this inlaid Goryeo celadon with Sanskrit mantras was not a direct influence of the ceramics of Yuan China. It emerged by adopting Yuan Chinese Buddhist culture, which was influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, into Goryeo Korea's existing esoteric practices. Fifth, the celadon wares inlaid with a Sanskrit mantra reveal a facet of the personal esoteric rituals that prevailed in late Goryeo society. Changes in esotericism triggered by the desire for relief from anxieties can be exemplified in epitaph tablets and coffins that express a shared desire for escaping hell and being born again in paradise. Sixth, the inlaid celadon with Sanskrit mantras shares some common features with other crafts. The similarities include the use of Siddham Sanskrit, the focus on Six-Syllable Mantra of the Vidyaraja, the correspondence with the contents of the mantras found on Buddhist bells, wooden coffins, and memorial tablets, and their arraignment in a similar manner with rooftiles. The major difference between them is that the Mantra for Extinguishing Evil Rebirth and the Sweet Dew Manta have not yet been found on other craftworks. I believe that the inscriptions of Sanskrit mantras are found mainly on inlaid celadon vessels due to their relatively low production cost and efficiency.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.70-95
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• 2013

The Tejaprabha Buddha painting, located in the Korai Museum in Kyoto, Japan, was made in 1569 when Joseon Dynasty was in his $14^{th}$ year under SeonJo's ruling, and is only one of Tejaprabha Buddha paintings from the early Chosun dynasty. With its well preserved state, the painting allows clear indications of all icons and list of names that were written, and the record region also has minimal deterioration. This Buddhist painting is a GumSeonMyoHwa which is drawn with gold lining on red hemp cloth and has a relatively small dimension of $84.8{\times}66.1cm$. With the Tejaprabha Buddha in the center, the painting has two unidentified Bodhisattvas, Navagrabha, Rahu, Keto, YiSipPalSoo (28 constellation of the eastern philosophy), SipYiGoong (12 zodiacs of the western philosophy), SamDaeYookSung, and BookDooChilSung (the Big Dipper), all of which provide resourceful materials for constellation worshipin the Joseon era. This painting has a crucial representation of the overall Tejaprabha Buddhism - a type of constellation worships - from the early Joseon dynasty. Even though the composition does seem to be affiliated with the paintings from the Koryo dynasty, there are meaningful transformations that reflect changes in content into constellation worship in Joseon dynasty. As a part of the Tejaprabha Buddha, SipIlYo has become a center of the painting, but with reduced guidance and off-centered 'Weolpe (star)', the painting deteriorates the concept of SipIlYo's composition. Furthermore, addition of Taoistic constellation beliefs, such as JaMiSung (The purple Tenuity Emperor of the North Pole), OkHwangDaeChae, and CheonHwangJae, eliminates the clear distinction between Taoistic and Buddhist constellation worships. Unlike the Chinese Tejaprabha Buddha painting, the concept of YiSipPalSoo (28 constellation of eastern philosophy) in this painting clearly reflects Korean CheonMoonDo's approach to constellation which can be applied to its uniqueness of the constellation worships. The fact that the Big Dipper and ChilWonSungKoon (Buddha of the Root Destiny Stars of the Northern and central Dipper) are simultaneously drawn can also be interpreted as the increase in importance of the constellation worship at the time as well.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.200-221
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• 2019

The National Hangeul Museum houses a document list of the wedding gifts that Queen Sunwon granted her royal son-in-law, Nam Nyeong-wie, in August 1837. A total of 55 items were recorded in Hangeul Gungseo style on yellow paper. This list included four types of government officials' uniforms, casual wear, accessories, etc. The results of studying the 19th-century male officials' uniforms through this historic record were as follows. The clothing record in the List of Wedding Gifts was more accurate than that in the Dukongongju Garyedeungrok. The four types of government official uniforms for Nam Nyeong-wie included jeobok, sangbok, sibok, and gongbok. For the joebok, there was geumkwan, daehong-hangrah joebok, baeksam, ahole, seodae, gakpae, peseul, paeok, husu, and mokhwa. The record of the List confirms that baeksam was used as jungdan for joebok. For the gongbok, there was daehong-hangrah gongbok, blue seolhancho duhgre, blue saenggyeonggwangju changui, and green waehangrah kurimae. The record of the List shows that the lining of the gongbok was duhgre, and confirms, for the first time, that changui and kurimae were worn inside the gongbok. For the sangbok, there was samo, ssanghakhyungbae embroidered with golden thread, dark green cloud patterned gapsa gwandae, blue cloud patterned gapsa duhgre, blue ssangmuncho changui, and Chinese purple hwamunsa kurimae. For the sibok, there was pink gwangsa gwandae, and blue gwangcho duhgre. For the lining, blue duhgre was used. Lastly, the fabrics used for those costumes were all suitable for the climate in August.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.385-392
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• 2005

This study was conducted in order to analysis the forest fire effect to the raptors habitating in and around the large forest fire occurred area, Goseong country, Gangwon province, Korea. There were observed raptor birds belonging to 8 species, 3 families, and 2 orders in the survey area. The most dominant species was Eurasian Hobby(Falco subbuteo), which was followed by Common Buzzard(Buteo buteo), Kestrel(Faico tinnunculus) and Chinese Sparrow Hawk(Accipiter soloensis). The largest number of species and individuals were observed in May 2002. In partially undamaged areas and undamaged areas, five species of rapacious birds were observed, which was the largest number of species observed. If an environment where rapacious birds can build nests is created in forest fire damaged area in order to raise the number of species and population, the number of species and population of rapacious birds living in the forest fire damaged area will grow further.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.902-912
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• 2020

Objective: Mongolia is one of a few countries that supports over 25 million goats, but genetic diversity, demographic history, and the origin of goat populations in Mongolia have not been well studied. This study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity, phylogenetic status and population structure of Mongolian native goats, as well as to discuss their origin together with other foreign breeds from different countries using hypervariable region 1 (HV1) in mtDNA. Methods: In this study, we examined the genetic diversity and phylogenetic status of Mongolian native goat populations using a 452 base-pair long fragment of HVI of mitochondrial DNA from 174 individuals representing 12 populations. In addition, 329 previously published reference sequences from different regions were included in our phylogenetic analyses. Results: Investigated native Mongolian goats displayed relatively high genetic diversities. After sequencing, we found a total of 109 polymorphic sites that defined 137 haplotypes among investigated populations. Of these, haplotype and nucleotide diversities of Mongolian goats were calculated as 0.997±0.001 and 0.0283±0.002, respectively. These haplotypes clearly clustered into four haplogroups (A, B, C, and D), with the predominance of haplogroup A (90.8%). Estimates of pairwise differences (Fst) and the analysis of molecular variance values among goat populations in Mongolia showed low genetic differentiation and weak geographical structure. In addition, Kazakh, Chinese (from Huanghuai and Leizhou), and Arabian (Turkish and Baladi breeds) goats had smaller genetic differentiation compared to Mongolian goats. Conclusion: In summary, we report novel information regarding genetic diversity, population structure, and origin of Mongolian goats. The findings obtained from this study reveal that abundant haplogroups (A to D) occur in goat populations in Mongolia, with high levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.185-204
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to take into consideration the formative and aesthetic characteristics of wedding dresses that existed during the periods of Neo-Classicism and Romanticism which appeared as a reaction toward Neo-Classicism. The method of the research was mainly focused on precedent research data and general references. Furthermore the data on wedding dresses was mainly collected from British, French, and American library and museum web sites. The result of the research is the following. The Neo-Classicism art, which appeared along with the enlightenment in the beginning of the 19th century, pursues beauty based on associations and imitations of ancient Greek and Roman arts. In addition to aforementioned pursuits, the Neo-Classicism art also pursued universal beauty and social usefulness through law and order. This aesthetic value was also applied to the wedding dresses, so classical beauty, natural beauty and universal beauty were expressed as follows: corsets of the previous era were removed from general clothing and Empire style that imitated natural Greek style became predominant. Also, muslin replaced high quality clothes which were used as the main materials of the dressing during the previous era. Empire style's wedding dress became popular and simple colors and styles of the wedding dress expressed the beauty of the human body and emphasized civility at the same time. Romanticism art and costumes opposed rationalism and pursued sentimentalism. Moreover, it pursued diversity, exotic tastes and accepted diverse reactionism unlike Neo-Classicism's simplification and standardization. These aesthetic characteristic were applied to the wedding dress of this period; wedding dress of romanticism pursued feminine and elegant beauty with "X" silhouettes and various decorations, like general costumes. And they were decorated with a variety of excessive accessories, details and trimmings to express romantic sentimentalism. Exotic tastes which included Chinese, Egyptian, Indian influence and other diverse tastes were expressed through hair style, accessories and patterns of shawl. However, the white color in the wedding dress revealed purity and sanctity which cannot be found from general costumes regardless of whether the dress expressed Neo-classicism or Romanticism. As a formal dress worn during wedding ceremonies, the wedding dresses of the royalty revealed dignity and authority and significantly influenced later wedding dress designs.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.175-184
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• 2012

A purpose of this research is to find out characteristic of bronze artifacts and gold ornaments excavated from Xiongnu tombs No. 2~4 at Duurlig Nars in Mongolia through scientific analysis of them. The Tombs are comparatively small. There were still lots of relics remaining although the tombs had been already robbed. Also the tombs are evaluated important since the origin of them show coexisting of chinese and northern style. First of all, an analysis result about bronze vessels found in this site, they have high lead(Pb) content and relatively low tin(Sn) content, as compared with the Bronze Han Mirror and End-fittings of Bronze Parasol Rib. Especially in case of bronze tray and bronze lamp from the no. 2 tomb and also bronze cauldron from the no. 4 tomb contain only 1wt% of tin which means binary alloy composition(Cu-Pb). Also, in the case of gold ornaments found in the no. 2 tomb, they have comparatively high purity. And the research suppose that the high possibility of that they were used soldering using alloy of Au-Cu or diffused bonding(using malachite and copper oxide) for joining gold grains of gold granulation ornament. Further scientific research and analysis in Mongolia and other countries will provide more clues to solve mystery of Xiongnu culture.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.32
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• pp.53-60
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• 2011

The aim of this study is to investigate the traditional manufacturing technique of lacquering by comparing and analyzing materials used for wooden lacquerware artifacts with focus on the Joseon dynasty Eugye, and to apply the manufacturing technique to the conservation treatment of the lacquerware. artifacts. This study conducted the documentary survey focusing on "Yongjo Jeongsun Queen Consort Garye Dogam Eugye",and "Jeongjo Gukjang Dogam Eugye." The royal lacquering is roughly classified into three categories-scarlet lacquering, quality black lacquering, and terra rosa lacquering- according to materials used for lacquerware. The bean flour was mostly used for under lacquering of the articles which was offered to the king and in case of other articles, bean flour was used mixed with bone ashes. In some cases, burned pine soot was added to under lacquering. Japanese scarlet lacquering was applied by mixing maechil-main coat, in inverted commas- with Japenese scarlet after lacquering jeonchil-base coat, in inverted commas-. In case of Chinese scarlet lacquering, part of terra rosa was used mixed with red clay. For quality black lacquering, basically jeonchil and maechil were used, but sometimes part of burned pine soot was added. In addition, terra rosa lacquering was applied by basically using terra rosa mixed with red clay. Lastly, gloss was given by using perilla oil. It is expected that the traditional materials and technique examined through both documentary and relic research will contribute to advanced result of the conservation treatment of wooden lacqueringware artifacts.