• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.52-64
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• 2015

This research traced the characteristics of the semantic landscape, construction intent, landscape composition, and geomantic conditions of the area subject to the research based on the research methods of 'field investigation, document studies, and interviews,' centering around the entire area of Gokseong Hamheo-pavilion (Jeonnam Tangible Cultural Assets No. 160). The result of the research, specifically revealing the forms and methods by which the reciprocal view of nature and landscape composition appearing in the landscape of the entire area of Hamheo-pavilion, as part of the analysis and interpretation over the view-based construction characteristics and position of the entire area of Gokseong Hamheo-pavilion, can be summarized as follows. First, Hamheo-pavilion is a pavilion built as a resting area and as a venue for educational activities in 1543 in the nearby areas after Gwang-hyeon Sim founded Gunjichon-jeongsa for educational activities and dwelling purposes at Gunchon at the 30th year of King Jungjong. Gunchon, where Hamheo-pavilion and Gunjichon-jeongsa is located, exhibits the typical form having water in the front, facing Sunja-river(present Seomjin-river), and a mountain in the back side. Dongak-mountain, which is a guardian mountain, is in a snail-type form where cows leisurely ruminate and lie on the riverside, and the Hamheo-pavilion area is said to be an area bordering on one's way of enjoying peace and richness as it is a place with plentiful grass bushes available for cows to ruminate and lie down while sheppards may leisurely play their flutes at the riverside. The back hill of Hamheo-pavilion is a blood vessel that enters the water into the underwater palace of the turtle, and the building sitting on the turtle's back is Hamheo-pavilion, and the Guam-jodae(龜巖釣臺) and lava on the southern side below the cliff can be interpreted to be the underwater fairly land wanted by the turtle.6) Second, Hamheo-pavilion is the scenery viewpoint of Sungang-Cheongpung (3rd Scenery) and Seolsan-Nakjo(雪山落照, 9th Scenery) among the eight sceneries of Gokseong, while also the scenery viewpoint of Hamheo-Sunja(2nd Scenery) and Cheonma-Gwiam(天馬歸岩, 3rd Scenery) among the eight sceneries of Ipmyeon. On the other hand, the pavilion is reproduced through the aesthetics of bends through sensible penetration and transcendental landscape viewed based on the Confucian-topos and ethics as the four bends among the five bends of Sunja-river arranged in the 'Santaegeuk(山太極) and Sutaeguek(水太極, formation of the yin-yang symbol by the mountain and water)' form, which is alike the connection of yin and yang. In particular, when based on the description over Mujinjeong (3rd Bend), Hoyeonjeong(4th Bend), andHapgangjeong(2nd Bend) among the five bends of Sunja-river in the records of Bibyeonsainbangan-jido(duringthe 18th century) and Okgwahyeonji(1788), the scenery of the five bends of Sunja-river allow to glimpse into its reputation as an attraction-type connected scenery in the latter period of the Joseon era, instead of only being perceived of its place identity embracing the fairyland world by crossing in and out of the world of this world and nirvana. Third, Hamheo-pavilion, which exhibits exquisite aesthetics of vacancy, is where the 'forest landscape composed of old big trees such as oak trees, oriental oak trees, and pine trees,' 'rock landscape such as Guam-jodae, lava, and layered rocks' and 'cultural landscape of Gunchon village' is spread close by. In the middle, it has a mountain scenery composed of Sunja-river, Masan-peak, and Gori-peak, and it is a place where the scenery by Gori-peak, Masan-peak, Mudeung-mountain, and Seol-mountain is spread and open in $180^{\circ}$ from the east to west. Mangseo-jae, the sarangchae (men's room)of Gunjichon-jeongsa, means a 'house observing Seoseok-mountain,' which has realized the diverse view-oriented intent, such as by allowing to look up Seol-mountain or Mudeung-mountain, which are back mountains behind the front mountain, through landscape configuration. Fourth, the private home, place for educational activities, pavilion, memorial room, and graveyard of Gunji-village, where the existence and ideal is connected, is a semantic connected scenery relating to the life cycle of the gentry linking 'formation - abundance - transcendence - regression.' In particular, based on the fact that the descriptions over reciprocal views of nature regarding an easy and comfortable life and appreciations for a picturesque scene of the areas nearby Sunja-river composes most of the poetic phrases relating to Hamheo-pavilion, it can be known that Hamheo-pavilion is expressed as the key to the idea of 'understanding how to be satisfied while maintaining one's positon with a comfortable mind' and 'returning to nature,' while also being expressed of its pedantic character as a place for reclusion for training one's mind and training others through metaphysical semantic scenery.

• 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.