• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.349-383
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• 2019

This paper examined the meaning and task of romance research with a focus on Reading the Romance(1984) by Janice A. Radway. This book, which analyzes romance texts by examining the situation and meaning of reading romance by women readers integrating between cultural studies and literary studies, is one of the most popular studies on the romance genre. Radway scrutinized the practical significance of reading romance in a community of women readers. Through a study involving questionnaires and in-depth interviews, she found that for women, romance reading is a 'compensatory fiction' that brings happiness and emotional redemption through a sense of liberation achieved by escaping from patriarchal daily life. The romance that women prefer is composed of 4 stages and 13 divisions: 'Encounter → Attest → Recovery → Happy End'. It also maintains a formula that begins with an immature female character's identity crisis and ends with a blissful union that recognizes the intrinsic value of the main character, who has turned into a man who is considerate of the women. Therefore, romance plays the role of pursuit of the 'female utopian fantasy' and at the same time a reconciliation of women to patriarchy. Feminist critics of the day criticized this argument. However, reading romance is a 'feminine reading', and romance is literature about the functional relationship between women's lives and patriarchy. Yet the interpretation could differ depending on the different viewpoints and definitions of the women's utopian fantasy. In recent years, the conditions of female reader's lives, awareness and imagination have been changing rapidly. As a result, the female utopian fantasy has also changed significantly. Nevertheless, women's lives in the real patriarchal system are still contradictory, and their adventurous imagination is spreading in alternative spaces such as the subculture. In this regard, the question is about the definition of romance and the meanings of romance research are still important task.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.46
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• pp.123-152
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• 2023

This paper will examine how the Avalokitesvara faith of India was restructured into the doctrines and practices related to the Sinicized version of the deity as Guanyin (觀音) Bodhisattva. Particular focus will be given to the Hangzhou area of China, when the Guanyin faith was still in the process of gaining establishment in China. In the Hangzhou area, Buddhist Orders grew significantly due to the wealth accumulated from commerce using canals and maritime trade, and the Chan (禪 typically known as Zen in English) Orders were particularly active during the Song Dynasty. Zhiyi (智顗), a prominent master from the Tiantai Order (天台宗), based his activities out of Hangzhou. He composed the text known as the Commentary on the Guanyin Petitioning Sutra (Qingguanyinjing-shu 請觀音經疏) based on a reinterpretation of a scripture related to Guanyin, and he systematized the Guanyin Repentance Ritual (Guanyin-chanfa 觀音懺法) by combining the Doctrines of Tiantai with the Guanyin faith. In addition, Ciyin Zunshi (慈雲遵式) reformulated that Guanyin Repentance Ritual into the Guanyin Petitioning Repentance Ritual (qing-guanyin-chan 請觀音懺) to make it into a common ritual that was more accessible to everyday people. The book, Records Regarding the Personal Conduct of the Chan Master Zhijue (zhijue-chanshi-zixing-lu 智覺禪師自行錄), which is written by Yongming Yanshou (永明延壽), a figure from the Fayan Order (法眼宗), one of the Chan Buddhist orders in the Hangzhou area during the Northern Song Dynasty, reveals the acceptance of the Guanyin faith as a daily practice within the 108 daily rituals (108事). In Chinese Buddhism, there were historical examples of monks being worshipped as incarnations of Guanyin Bodhisattva. An example of this includes iconography depicting Baozhi (寶誌), a figure from Jiliang (濟涼) who lived during the Southern Dynasties, as Ekādaśamukha (十一面觀音, Eleven-faced Guanyin Bodhisattva) in keeping with the belief that he was an incarnation of that deity. Monks of the Tiantai and Chan orders operating in the Hangzhou area actively utilized the transmission of Buddhist tales about Guanyin Bodhisattva as related to monks that exhibited miraculous powers (神異僧). This can be understood as a phenomenon demonstrating how Song Buddhism tried to attract more believers through the popularity of the Guanyin Faith.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-60
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• 2018

The paper was inspired by Jung's words in the Red Book "just as Christ tormented the flesh through the spirit, the God of this time will torment the spirit through the flesh." I propose that the new form of torment in this era could be eroticism as a way of the individuation process because it seems to be one of a very few ways left to modern men to grasp the sense of permanence, the essence of the divine, without religion because of its peculiar nature of transcendence. I suppose that it is not only a man who is tortured but also god is in torment since the divine needs a man as a womb for his incarnation. Therefore I suggest that man and god are fated to seduce each other to be redeemed by each other. I imagine that Eros with numinous sexuality seduces a man who has potentials for the god's incarnation and who would be willing to give in to the god's demand. This god needs a man who desires his essence of perpetuity, the eternal water of life, in ecstasy. Thus the purpose of the divine's seduction is to make a man awake from unconsciousness to pursue god himself, namely the individuation process. I call such divine seduction "eroticism of god" There seem to be a certain type of people who are destined to live eroticism as a way of individuation process. Through investigations, a melancholic tendency appears to be suitable for this type of individuation. Melancholia is deeply related to the poignant awareness of impermanence as the existential condition, which is a precondition for seeking permanence through eroticism. Melancholia essentially causes deep longing for eternity that bears fulfillment, which exists in eroticism, so melancholic agony seems inevitable for eroticism as the path for individuation in that, without knowing about deficiency, we never seek what is lacking in us. It can also be viewed that while a lover is driven to seduce lost love, what actually waits to become seduced for redemption is the god of love itself behind the human beloved. Man and god are fated to seduce each other for redemption. I suppose that the initiation to Eros implies how to seduce Eros. In a woman's psyche, psychological virginity is one of the essential qualities that her ego needs to attain. To the male it is vital to live his sensuality thoroughly and to experience his own and his lover's emotions to their limit. It cannot be an easy task because it demands us to give up our egotism entirely. Through eroticism, unconsciousness seduces us to make us live life as a whole. The god of love brings powerful sexuality as a means of "spiritual crisis" to redeem our lukewarm soul. Only a few can withstand the experience since it requires a strong will to bear the brunt of the sword despite the keen awareness that it may leave us bleeding in pain.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.2-31
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• 2020

CheomSeongDae (瞻星臺) is a stone structure built in Gyeongju, the former Silla Dynasty capital, during the reign of Queen Seondeok (632~647AD). There exist dozens of hypotheses regarding its original purpose. Depending on to whom you ask, the answer could be a celestial observatory, a religious altar, a Buddhist stupa, a monumental tower symbolizing scientific knowledge, and so on. The most common perception of the structure among lay people is a stargazing tower. Historians, however, have suggested that it was intended as "a gateway to the heavens", specifically the Trāyastriṃśa or the second of the six heavens of Kāmadhātu located on the top of Mountain Sumeru. The name "Cheom-seong-dae" could be interpreted in many different ways. 'Cheom (瞻)' could refer to looking up, staring, or admiring, etc.; 'Seong (星)' could mean a star, heaven, night, etc.; and 'heaven' in that context can be a physical or religious reference. 'Dae (臺)' usually refers to a high platform on which people stand or things are placed. Researchers from the science fields often read 'cheom-seong' as 'looking at stars'; while historians read it as 'admiring the Trāyastriṃśa' or 'adoring Śakra'. Śakra is said to be the ruler of Trāyastriṃśa' who governs the Four Heavenly Kings in the Cāturmahārājika heaven, the first of the six heavens of Kāmadhātu. Śakra is the highest authority of the heavenly kings in direct contact with humankind. This paper examined the usages of 'cheom-seong' in Chinese literature dated prior to the publication of 『Samguk Yusa』, a late 13th century Korean Buddhist historical book that contains the oldest record of the structure among all extant historical texts. I found the oldest usage of cheom-seong (瞻星臺) in 『Ekottara Āgama』, a Buddhist script translated into Chinese in the late 4th century, and was surprised to learn that its meaning was 'looking up at the brightness left by Śakra'. I also found that 'cheom-seong' had been incorporated in various religious contexts, such as Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhist, Christianism, and Taoism. In Buddhism, there was good, bad, and neutral cheom-seong. Good cheom-seong meant to look up to heaven in the practice of asceticism, reading the heavenly god's intentions, and achieving the mindfulness of Buddhism. Bad cheom-seong included all astrological fortunetelling activities performed outside the boundaries of Buddhism. Neutral cheom-seong is secular. It may help people to understand the nature of the physical world, but was considered to have little meaning unless relating to the spiritual world of Buddhism. Cheom-seong had been performed repetitively in the processes of constructing Buddhist temples in China. According to Buddhist scripts, Queen Māyā of Sakya, the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, died seven days after the birth of Buddha, and was reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. Buddha, before reaching nirvana, ascended from Jetavana to Trāyastriṃśa and spent three months together with his mother. Gautama Buddha then returned to the human world, stepping upon the stairs built by Viśvakarman, the deity of the creative power in Trāyastriṃśa. In later years, King Asoka built a stupa at the site where Buddha descended. Since then, people have believed that the stairway to the heavens appears at a Buddhist stupa. Carefully examining the paragraphic structure of 『Samguk Yusa』's records on Cheomseongdae, plus other historical records, the fact that the alignment between the tomb of Queen Seondeok and Cheomseongdae perfectly matches the sunrise direction at the winter solstice supports this paper's position that Chemseongdae, built in the early years of Queen SeonDeok's reign (632~647AD), was a gateway to the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, just like the stupa at the Daci Temple (慈恩寺) in China built in 654. The meaning of 'Cheom-seong-dae' thus turns out to be 'adoring Trāyastriṃśa stupa', not 'stargazing platform'.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2022

This paper examined the history and development of Gyeongbokgung Palace's back garden based on historical materials and drawings such as Joseon Ilgi(Diaries of Joseon Dynasty), Joseon Wangjo Sillok(the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), Doseongdaejido(the Great Map of Seoul), Bukgwoldohyeong(Drawing Plan of the Northern Palace), the Bukgung Palace Restoration Plan, Restoration Planning of Gyeongbokgung Palace and the following results were derived. First, it was confirmed that the Back Garden of Gyeongbokgung Palace was famous for its great location since the Goryeo Dynasty, and that it was named Namkyeong at that time and was a place where a shrine was built, and that castles and palaces were already built during the Goryeo Dynasty under the influence of Fengshui-Docham(風水圖讖) and Zhouli·Kaogongji(周禮考工記). Although the back garden of Gyeongbokgung Palace in the early Joseon Dynasty stayed out of the limelight as a back garden for the palace, it has a place value as a living space for the head of the state from King Gojong to the present. Second, in order to clearly identify the boundaries of back garden, through literature such as map of Doseongdo (Map of the Capital), La Coree, Gyeongmudae Area, Japanese Geography Custom Compendium, Korean Photo Album, JoseonGeonchukdoJip(The Illustration Book of Joseon Construction), Urban Planning Survey of Gyeongseong, it was confirmed that the current Blue House area outside Sinmumun Gate was built outside the precincts of Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was found that the area devastated through the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, was used as a space where public corporations were combined through the process of reconstruction during the King Gojong period. In Japanese colonial era, the place value as a back garden of the primary palace was damaged, as the palace buildings of the back garden was relocated or destroyed, but after liberation, it was used as the presidential residence and restored the place value of the ruler. Third, in the back garden of Gyeongbokgung Palace, spatial changes proceeded through the Japanese Invasion and Japanese colonial era. The place with the greatest geographical change was Gyeongnongjae area, where the residence of the Japanese Government-General of Korea was built, and there were frequent changes in the use of the land. On the other hand, the current Gyeongmudae area, the forests next to the small garden, and the forests of Baekak were preserved in the form of traditional forests. To clarify this, 1:1200 floor plan of inner Gyeongmudae residence and satellite images were overlapped based on Sinmumun Gate, and as a result, it was confirmed that the water path originating from Baekak still exists today and the forest area did not change. Fourth, in the areas where the traditional forest landscape was inherited, the functional changes in the topography were little, and major old-age colonies are maintained. The old trees identified in this area were indicator tree species with historical value. Representatively, Pinus densiflora for. multicaulis Uyeki, located in Nokjiwon Garden, is presumed to have been preserved as one of Pinus densiflora for. multicaulis Uyeki planted next to Yongmundang, and has a historicality that has been used as a photo zone at dinners for heads of state and important guests. Lastly, in order to continuously preserve and manage the value of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Blue House, it is urgent to clarify the space value through excavation of historical materials in Japanese colonial era and establish a hierarchy of garden archaeology by era. In addition, the basis for preserving the historical landscape from the Joseon Dynasty to the modern era from Gyeongbokgung Palace should not damage the area of the old giant trees, which has been perpetuated since the past, and a follow-up study is needed to investigate all the forests in Blue House.