• 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'.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.212-240
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• 2022

This study is a multi-layered exploration of 「The Thirty-Six Scenery of Seongdeok Summer Mountain Resort(承德避暑山莊三十六景)」 (The 36th view of Kangxi) recited by Emperor Kangxi of China through literature study, ancient calligraphy diagrams, and field studies. The conclusion of tracing the landscape characteristics and implications contained in 「The 36th view of Kangxi」 through the analysis of the headword(標題語) and the interpretation of the Jeyeong poem(題詠詩) is as follows. 「The 36th view of Kangxi」 is an extension of the outer edge of the Eight Sceneries, and when compared to the existing Eight Sceneries peom and Eight Sceneries painting, it is found that the landscape is centered on the 'viewpoint' rather than the landscape object. In particular, it aimed to create a structured landscape centered on nine types of buildings represented by 'Jeon(殿)' and 'Jeong(亭)' was given. In particular, Yeouiju, located in Lake district, is a scenic country endowed with the character of a gardens in Garden, which is composed by collecting famous representative Chinese landscapes and landscapes of Sansu-si and Sanshu Painting. As a result of headword analysis to understand the characteristics of landscape components, 14 landscapes (38.9%) related to water elements and 13 landscapes(36.1%) related to mountain elements, the elements related to architecture and civil engineering were classified in the order of 3 cases(8.3%), and the elements related to the skylight were classified in the order of 2 cases(5.6%). However, in Jeyeong-si, the mention of landscape vocabulary for climate elements was overwhelming. In other words, in the poems of 「The 36th Scenery of Kangxi」, scenery vocabulary symbolizing 'coolness' such as 雲(cloud), 水(water), 泉(spring), 清(clear), 波(wave), 流(wave), 風(wind) and 無暑(without heat), etc. It is not a coincidence that it appears, and it is strongly attached to the sense of place of Summer Mountain Resort in Rehe(熱河). Among the 23 landscapes whose seasonal background was confirmed, the fact that the lower landscape is portrayed as the majority and the climate elements of the resort area are portrayed in three-dimensional and multi-dimensional ways are closely related to the period of enjoying the gardens of Kangxi, the main subject of the landscape. In addition, many animal and plant landscapes appearing in Jeyeong-si appear to be in the same context as the spatial attributes of not only recreation, but also contemplation and hunting. On the other hand, in Jeyeongsi, there are 33 wonders(91.7%) citing famous people and famous books through ancient poems, old stories, and ancient stories tends to be prominent. It is inferred that this was based on Kangxi's understanding and pride in traditional Chinese culture. In 「The 36th view of Kangxi」, not only a book-writing description of the feelings of being entrusted to the family sutras, but also the spirit of patriotism, love, self-discipline and respect for mother and filial piety are strongly implied. Ultimately, 「The 36th view of Kangxi」 shows the real scene of the resort, as well as the spiritual dimension, in a multi-faceted and three-dimensional way, and the spirit of an emperor based on the dignity of the royal family and the sentiments of a writer it deserves to be called a collection of imperial records that were intended to reveal.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.18
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• pp.413-444
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• 2009

This paper is an analysis of stage and performance elements for the ceremonial procedures and dance featured in bongsudang-jinchan, a feast celebrating the 60th birthday of Hyegyeong-gung Hongssi (Crown Princess Hong of Hyegyeonggung), the mother of King Jeongjo, which took place in Hwaseong haegung palace in 1795. The primary sources used are data on bongsudangjinchan recorded in Wonhaeng-eulmyojeongriuigwe, Jeongjo-sillok, Hongjae-jeonseo, pictorial sources such as Folding Screens of Hwaseong-neunghaeng and Hwaseong Ilgi, which is a journal in Korean by Yi Hui-pyeong. A court ceremony to offer music, dance, flowers, and food, as well as wine and poetry which express the sentiments of chung (fidelity) and hyo (filial piety) was considered a national ceremony and has constituted a unique musical culture during the 500 years of Joseon dynasty. However, after the fall of Joseon dynasty, ceremonial music and dance, which have been organically linked within the overall symbolic system of ye (courtesy), became scattered to become independent 'pieces.' As a result, all of their philosophy, principles, and the time-space interpretation of court music and dance became greatly reduced, leaving only the artistic expression and formal structure of the music and dance to become emphasized. Since the 1990s, there has been many research and events aiming to re-create the court ceremonial tradition, resulting in the increase of the related performance activities. This is especially true with bongsudang-jinchan, which is now being performed on modern stage in various forms. However there are still many problems to be solved, such as the issue of re-creating and restoring the original, and the question of artistic value found in the traditional pieces. Until now, much focus has been paid to the outer re-construction of uiju document as recorded in Wonhaeng-eulmyo-jeongriuigwe. On the other hand, there lacked an in-depth study which analyzes the stage situation and performance elements. Therefore in this paper, after focusing on the stage structure and performance elements, it is concluded that bongsudang-jinchan, the only court feast to be held in Haeng gung, not only consists of the fundamental aspects of court performance principle as 'governing through ye and ak (music),' but also served as an important occasion to bring together the sovereign and the subject. Bongsudang-jinchan had features of both naeyeon (feast for ladies) and oeyeon (feast for gentlemen). It minimized the use of screens and allowed every guest to enjoy food, music, and dance together, but provided a separate tent for foreign guests, maintaining the ideal balance between equality and distinction among different gender and social status. A screen symbolizing the venue for the feast is placed for all of the government officials. The king then pronounces the beginning of the banquet in which the ideal of gunsin-dongyeon (king and officials dining together) is realized. This indicates that bongsudang-jinchan, compared to other court ceremonies that emphasize the principle of yeak (courtesy and music), focuses more on the spirit of harmony and rapprochement. The king played a more active role in bongsudang-jinchan than in any other royal feasts. Examples as recorded in uiju documents are; Jeongjo's conversation with his retainers after the 7th wine, king's bestowing of food and flowers to the officials, writing his own majesty's poems with regard to the festival, and asking the retainers to write replying poems. All these played an important part in making the occasion more rich, extensive, and meaningful. Moreover, as analysis of the structure of orchestral music and court dance featured in bongsudang-jinchan shows, it was like any other court banquet in that it employed minimal use of extravagance in movements and conversation. However, the colors and tonal texture used in the music and dance were more brilliant in this case. Compared to other banquets that took place before king Jeongjo, the dance style was more diverse, which included some of the latest additions. There were past performances arranged anew. Noteworthy are; the incorporation of "Seonyurak (Boat Dance)" and "Geommu (Sword Dance)," traditionally used for local officials and civilians feast, to suit the court taste; and the use of saenghwang (mouth organ), which was a rising instrument in pungnyubang (literati's private salon), for "Hakmu (Cranes Dance)." This especially indicates the nature of the 'open structure' pursued by the court banquets at the time, which strove to break away from the traditional rules and customs and accept something new.