• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.104
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• pp.40-69
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• 2023

This paper examines the relationship between celadon wine vessels and royal banquets by focusing on their unique forms. It explores the symbolism in their forms and designs and the changes that took place in the composition of these vessels. By examining the royal annals in Goryeosa (The History of the Goryeo Dynasty), the relation of celadon wine vessels and royal banquets is examined in terms of the number of banquets held in the respective reigns of the Goryeo kings, the number of banquets held by type, and the purpose of holding them. A royal banquet was a means of strengthening the royal authority by reinforcing the hierarchy and building bonds between the king and his vassals. It was also an act of ruling that demonstrated the king's authority and power through praise of his achievements and virtues. Royal banquets were held most often during the reigns of King Yejong (r. 1105-1122), King Uijong (r. 1146-1170), King Chungnyeol (r. 1274-1308), and King Gongmin (r. 1351-1374). Particular attention is paid here to the changes in the types and forms of celadon wine vessels that occurred starting in the reigns of King Yejong and King Chungnyeol, which is also the period in which the number of royal banquets increased and royal banquet culture evolved. The king and his subjects prayed for the king's longevity at royal banquets and celebrated peaceful reigns by drinking and performing various related acts. Thus, the visual symbolism of vessels for holding, pouring, or receiving alcohol were emphasized. Since the manner of drinking at a banquet was exchanges of pouring and receiving alcohol between the king and his subjects, the design of the ewers and cups had a significant visual impact on attendees. It can be seen, therefore, that decorating wine vessels with Daoist motifs such as the immortals, luan (a mythological bird), turtle dragons, fish dragons, and gourd bottles or with Confucian designs like hibiscus roots was intended as a visual manifestation of the purpose of royal banquets, which was to celebrate the king and to pray for both loyalty and immortality. In particular, the Peach Offering Dance (獻仙桃) and Music for Returning to the Royal Palace (還宮樂), which correspond to the form and design of celadon wine vessels, was examined. The lyrics of the banquet music embodied wishes for the king's longevity, immortality, and eternal youth as well as for the prosperity of the royal court and a peaceful reign. These words are reflected in wine vessels such as the Celadon Taoist Figure-shaped Pitcher housed in the National Museum of Korea and the Bird Shaped Ewer with Daoist Priest in the Art Institute of Chicago. It is important to note that only Goryeo celadon wine vessels reflect this facet of royal banquet culture in their shape and design. The composition of wine vessel sets changed depending on the theme of the banquet and the types of liquor. After Goryeo Korea was incorporated into the Mongol Empire, new alcoholic beverages were introduced, resulting in changes in banquet culture such as the uses and composition of wine vessel sets. From the reign of King Chungnyeol (r. 1274-1308), which was under the authority of the Yuan imperial court, royal banquets began to be co-hosted by kings and princesses, Mongolian-style banquets like boerzhayan (孛兒扎宴) were held, and attendees donned the tall headdress called gugu worn by Mongol women. During the reign of King Chungnyeol, the banquet culture changed 132 banquets were held. This implies that the court tried to strengthen its authority by royal marriage with the Yuan court, which augmented the number of banquets. At these banquets, new alcoholic drinks were introduced such as grape wine, dongnak (湩酪), and distilled liquor. New wine vessels included stem cups, pear-shaped bottles (yuhuchunping), yi (匜), and cups with a dragon head. The new celadon wine vessels were all modeled after metal wares that were used in the Yuan court or in the Khanates. The changes in the celadon wine vessels of the late Goryeo era were examined here in a more specific manner than in previous studies by expanding the samples for the study to the Eurasian khanates. With the influx of new types of wine vessels, it was natural for the sets and uses of Goryeo celadon wine vessels to change in response. The new styles of celadon wine vessels linked the Goryeo court with the distant Khanates of the Mongol Empire. This paper is the beginning of a new study that examines the uses of Goryeo celadon by illuminating the relations between royal banquets and these unique celadon wine vessels that are stylistically different from everyday vessels. It is to be hoped that more studies will be conducted from diverse perspectives exploring both the usage of Goryeo celadon vessels and their users.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.66-71
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• 2012

In ancient Goryeo celadon, the effect of the chemical composition and ionic state of Fe on the color was evaluated by Mossbauer spectroscopy and Design of Experiment (DOE) analysis. The ancient celadon pieces excavated from the kiln sites in GangJin and Buan areas were analyzed by Mssbauer spectroscopy, chromaticity, and DOE analysis. The color of celadon was found to be mainly determined by that of glaze since variations of $L^*$, $a^*$, and $b^*$ values for the body were much smaller than those for the glaze. As $Fe^{2+}$/$Fe^{3+}$ in glaze increases, $L^*$ value increases, whereas $a^*$/$b^*$ value decreases, which is well consistent with the result on the synthetic glaze. As the amount of titanium increases in the glaze, the $a^*$ and $b^*$ values decrease; on the other hand, the $L^*$ value increases, which is well consistent with the result on the synthetic glaze.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.62-78
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• 2023

The act of burning incense originated from Buddhist rituals and customs, and gradually formed its own culture. In the Goryeo Dynasty, in addition to religious and national rituals, incense came to be enjoyed more generally and widely. In particular, Goryeo literati enjoyed the elegant lifestyle of staying home and burning incense. This was part of a regional culture shared across East Asia. Such incense burning applied the same methods as were used during the same period in China. In collections of writings from the Goryeo Dynasty, it can be seen that incense methods such as gyeok-hwa-hoon-hyang (隔火熏香) and jeon-hyang (篆香) were used. A particular method of incense influenced the size and shape of the incense burner utilized. Small incense burners suitable for simple everyday incense were used, such as the hyangwan (香垸), a cup (wine glass)-shaped burner. White porcelain incense burners from Song were discovered in Gaegyeong, and celadon incense burners from Goryeo were made in the same shape. This phenomenon shows that there was great demand for ceramic incense burners in Goryeo in the 12th and 13th centuries. During this period, incense burners that imitated metalware were produced, and some applied the techniques and patterns of Goryeo celadon. The Goryeo Dynasty-era incense burner was basically a necessity for use in various rituals, but gradually came to be widely used also by individuals.

• 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.

• 한국문화재보존과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.195-199
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• 2005

• Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2012

The first twenty-five years of scientific study within Korea on Korean traditional ceramics has been characterized as a bridging effort to understand the rich field of artistic ceramic masterpieces on one hand with analytic results gained from mounds of broken shards and kiln wastes on the other. First shard pieces were collected directly from the waste mounds, but most of the analyzed shards were provided by art historians and museum staffs directly involved in systematic excavations. The scientific study is viewed as one of many complimentary ways in learning about the multi-faceted ceramics culture, ultimately connecting human spirits and endeavors from the past to the present to the future. About 1350 pieces of analyzed shards have been so far collected and organized according to the production location and time period. From the experimental results of the analysis, the compositional and microstructural characteristics of bodies and glazes have been deduced for many kiln sites of Goryeo and Joseon dynasties. Except for a few local kilns, porcelain stone was used as body material in both dynasties. The principle of mixing a clay component with a flux material was used in Korean glazes as was in China. The clay component different from body clay was often used early on. In Gangjin a porcelain material appropriate for whiteware body was mixed for celadon glaze, and in Joseon Gwangju kilns glaze stone was chief clay material. The use of wood ash persisted in Korea even in making buncheong glazes, but in Joseon whitewares burnt lime and eventually crushed lime were used as flux material.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.403-414
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• 2011

This study is re-creational experiment of Goryeo gold-painted decoration based on the research of the gold remaining and gold painting technique on the two pieces of Goryeo gold-painted celadon and the three pieces of Chinese gold-painted porcelain on North Song period which ones have been owned by National Museum of Korea since 2007. For the observation of glue state and color developing ability, four kinds of agglutinative agent and gold powder were mixed over the porcelain sherds, then gradually fired from $100^{\circ}C$ to $1200^{\circ}C$. Visual effect and ideal temperature were measured. Among of them, oil and glue showed the best results in glue state and color developing ability. Through those results, the entire Goryeo engraved celadon were reproduced in modern facilities. Oil and glue were gold-painted over the glaze then it was fired at the ideal temperature 700 to $800^{\circ}C$. For observation the binding condition, the gold-painting cross section was looked by the scanning electron microscope (SEM). As the result, oil and glue did not make much difference in Agglutinative agent, but gold was good, the color developing ability, however, in the case of oil, the edge of gold is curled because of its interfacial tension, and it is not dried well at room temperature so the working property is not as good as the glue. Glue more effective in terms of work efficiency, but color developing ability to fall slightly in this experiment were able to see through.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.67-80
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• 2014

This study examined the chemical characteristics and the microstructure of Goryeo whiteware which was excavated in the kiln site Yucheon-ri, Gangwon-do, the southern part of South Korea. this area is considered to be used in the middle of the time of Goryeo Dynasty. We analyzed the chemical characteristics comparing Goryeo Whiteware from Seo-ri, Jungam-ri, Bangsan-dong and The temple site of Beopcheon. Based on the analysis, we confirmed the properties of raw material for making pottery. It is featured that body composition of Goryeo Whiteware from Yucheon-ri contains high silica and low solvent. However, the contents of the glaze are vice versa. Goryeo whiteware tends to contain larger part of oxide than that of titanium oxide, which applies to Goryeo Celadon. the whitewares during the early days of Goryeo Dynasty varies in components depending on kilns, whereas it does not mean that chronological changes happened in components. The whiteware shards from Yuchoen-ri have a similar aspect. The whiteware shard from the temple of Beopchen differ in composition, Thus they are estimated to have been produces and shipped from various sites. In conclusion, we judged that the component difference among Goryeo whitewares stems from production environment and origin of raw materials rather than chronological changers.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.150-167
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to share the status and introduce a scientific analysis of the GeumguJagi (gilt-silver overlay porcelain, 金釦瓷器) excavated from Seongneung (石陵). This analysis aimed to highlight the GeumguJagi excavated from the Royal Tombs of Goryeo with a clear lower year (1237) and to aid research into the GeumguJagi. In 2001, the National Institute of Cultural Heritage excavated and investigated Seongneung in Heejong (熙宗). Various artifacts such as celadon, gold, bronze, and iron products were collected from the chambers inside of the tomb. There were a total of 160 celadon items including bowls, dishes, glasses, and saucers. Of those, there were 58 celadon items (including fragments) with metal frames on the openings. These consisted of bowls, plates, lids, and saucers. Until recently, in various exhibitions and papers, only one GeumguJagi was known to have been excavated from Seongneung, which was a . However, the survey identified a number of further GeumguJagis. It had been understood from inherited and excavated products that the materials used for ornaments were restricted to high-quality celadon. However, this study confirmed that the excavation of Seongneung demonstrated the use of various other materials for different models and qualities of GeumguJagis. It can be said that it is characteristic that various models and quality are confirmed together through the excavation of Seongneung. A scientific analysis was carried out that selected 12 of 58 products excavated from Seongneung. Results showed that the main component used for Geumgu ornaments was tin (Sn), and trace amounts of copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) were also commonly identified. When analyzing the material used to affix the metal fittings, this was found to be glue (膠) made from animal skins, muscle, and bones. This pattern matches that of the GeumguJagi excavated from Paju Hyeeumwonji, and the reason for this could be assumed on the basis of the contents of the 『Cheongonggaemul (天工開物)』 written by Song Ongsung (宋應星) during the Ming Dynasty. At that time, metals such as tin and copper would have been difficult to obtain. 『Xuānhwafengshi Gaolitujing (宣和奉使高麗圖經)』 shows that the use of metal was limited to certain classes; thus, the use of the GeumguJagi seems to have been centered around the royal family.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.638-647
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• 2021

Organic residues are substances derived from diverse natural sources. Recent scientific analysis of organic residues has yielded important information in restoring the lifestyles of ancient peoples. In this study, the organic material contained within the celadon oil bottle of the Goryeo dynasty, excavated from the Soejoul site in Geumneung-dong, Chungju, was analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The results showed that the organic materials in the bottle were plant-derived oils. In particular, polyunsaturated fatty acids and phytosterols were detected using GC-MS analysis. Sesamin components were also identified. Sesamin, which is a characteristic component of sesame seeds, is a lignan and an antioxidant. As the organic residues in the oil bottle were derived from sesame seeds, it is presumed that sesame oil was stored in the bottle.