• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.1-19
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• 2013

This study tries to review 'Sakuteiki(作庭記)', the Book of Garden Making, compiled at the end of the 11th Century during the Heian Period of Japan, from the East-Asian perspective. 'Sakuteiki' is a Garden Theory Book, the oldest in the world as well as in Asia, and it contains the traditional knowledge of Japanese ancient garden culture, which originated from the continent(Korea and China). Traditional knowledge related to East-Asian garden culture reviewed in this paper is "Fungsu Theory"(風水, Asian traditional ecology: Fengshui in Chinese; Fusui in Japanese), stemmed from the culture to seek sound and blessed places to live in. Viewed from modern landscape architecture, the Fungsu Theory corresponds to ecology(science). The Fungsu Theory was established around the Han Dynasty of China together with the Yinyangwuxing(陰陽五行) Theory and widely used for making human residences including gardens. It was transmitted to Japan via Korea as well as through direct transaction between Japan and China. This study reinterprets garden design principles represented in Sakuteiki, which were selected in 5 key words according to the Fungsu Theory. The 5 key words for the Fungsu Theory are "the place in harmony of four guardian gods(四神相應地)", "planting trees in the four cardinal directions", "flow of Chi(氣)", "curved line and asymmetry", and "mountain is the king, water is the people". Garden design principles of "the place in harmony of four guardian gods(四神相應地)" and "planting trees in the four cardinal directions" are corresponding to "Myeongdang-ron(明堂論, Theory of propitious site)". The place in harmony of four guardian gods mentioned in Sakuteiki is a landform surrounded by the flow of water to the east, the great path to the west, the pond to the south, and the hill to the north. And the Theory originated from Zhaijing(宅經, Classic of dwelling Sites) of China. According to this principle, the city was planned and as a miniature model, the residence of the aristocrat during the Heian period was made. At the residence the location of the garden surrounded by the four gods(the flow of water, the great path, the pond, and the hill) is the Myeongdang(明堂, the propitious site: Mingtang in Chinese; Meido in Japanese). Sakuteiki explains how to substitute for the four gods by planting trees in the four cardinal directions when they were not given by nature. This way of planting originated from Zhaijing(宅經) and also goes back to Qiminyaoshu (齊民要術), compiled in the 6th Century of China. In this way of planting, the number of trees suggested in Sakuteiki is related to Hetu(河圖) and Luoshu(洛書), which are iconography of Yi(易), the philosophy of change, in ancient China. Such way of planting corresponds to that of Yongdoseo(龍圖墅, the villa based on the principle of Hetu) presented in Sanrimgyeongje (山林經濟), an encyclopedia on agriculture and living in the 17th Century of Korea. And garden design principles of "the flow of Chi(氣)", "curved line and asymmetry" is connected to "Saenggi Theory(生氣論, Theory of vitality)". Sakuteiki explains the right flow of Chi(氣) through the proper flow and the reverse flow of the garden stream and also suggests the curved line of the garden stream, asymmetric arrangement of bridges and stones in the garden, and indented shape of pond edges, which are ways of accumulating Chi(氣) and therefore lead to "Saenggi Theory" of the Fungsu Theory. The last design principle, "mountain is the king, water is the people", is related to "Hyeongguk Theory(形局論, Theory of form)" of the Fungsu Theory. Sakuteiki explains the meaning of garden through a metaphor, which views mountain as king, water as the people, and stones as king's retainers. It compares the situation in which the king governs the people with the help of his retainers to the ecological phenomena in which mountain(earth) controls water with the help of stones. This principle befits "Hyeongguk Theory(形局論, Theory of form)" of the Fungsu Theory which explains landform on the analogy of social systems, people, animals and things. As above, major garden design principles represented in Sakuteiki can be interpreted in the context of the Fungsu Theory, the traditional knowledge system in East Asia. Therefore, we can find the significance of Sakuteiki in that the wisdom of ancient garden culture in East-Asia was integrated in it, although it described the knowhow of a specific garden style in a specific period of Japan.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.96
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• pp.123-154
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• 2019

Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain is a ten-panel folding screen with images and postscripts. Commissioned by Bak Gyeong-bin (dates unknown), this screen was painted by Jo Jung-muk (1820-after 1894) in 1868. The postscripts were written by Hong Seon-ju (dates unknown). The National Museum of Korea restored this painting, which had been housed in the museum on separate sheets, to its original folding screen format. The museum also opened the screen to the public for the first time at the special exhibition Through the Eyes of Joseon Painters: Real Scenery Landscapes of Korea held from July 23 to September 22, 2019. Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain depicts real scenery on the western slopes of Inwangsan Mountain spanning present-day Hongje-dong and Hongeun-dong in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. In the distance, the Bukhansan Mountain ridges are illustrated. The painting also bears place names, including Inwangsan Mountain, Chumohyeon Hill, Hongjewon Inn, Samgaksan Mountain, Daenammun Gate, and Mireukdang Hall. The names and depictions of these places show similarities to those found on late Joseon maps. Jo Jung-muk is thought to have studied the geographical information marked on maps so as to illustrate a broad landscape in this painting. Field trips to the real scenery depicted in the painting have revealed that Jo exaggerated or omitted natural features and blended and arranged them into a row for the purposes of the horizontal picture plane. Jo Jung-muk was a painter proficient at drawing conventional landscapes in the style of the Southern School of Chinese painting. Details in Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain reflect the painting style of the School of Four Wangs. Jo also applied a more decorative style to some areas. The nineteenth-century court painters of the Dohwaseo(Royal Bureau of Painting), including Jo, employed such decorative painting styles by drawing houses based on painting manuals, applying dots formed like sprinkled black pepper to depict mounds of earth and illustrating flowers by dotted thick pigment. Moreover, Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain shows the individualistic style of Jeong Seon(1676~1759) in the rocks drawn with sweeping brushstrokes in dark ink, the massiveness of the mountain terrain, and the pine trees simply depicted using horizontal brushstrokes. Jo Jung-muk is presumed to have borrowed the authority and styles of Jeong Seon, who was well-known for his real scenery landscapes of Inwangsan Mountain. Nonetheless, the painting lacks an spontaneous sense of space and fails in conveying an impression of actual sites. Additionally, the excessively grand screen does not allow Jo Jung-muk to fully express his own style. In Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, the texts of the postscripts nicely correspond to the images depicted. Their contents can be divided into six parts: (1) the occupant of the tomb and the reason for its relocation; (2) the location and geomancy of the tomb; (3) memorial services held at the tomb and mysterious responses received during the memorial services; (4) cooperation among villagers to manage the tomb; (5) the filial piety of Bak Gyeong-bin, who commissioned the painting and guarded the tomb; and (6) significance of the postscripts. The second part in particular is faithfully depicted in the painting since it can easily be visualized. According to the fifth part revealing the motive for the production of the painting, the commissioner Bak Gyeongbin was satisfied with the painting, stating that "it appears impeccable and is just as if the tomb were newly built." The composition of the natural features in a row as if explaining each one lacks painterly beauty, but it does succeed in providing information on the geomantic topography of the gravesite. A fair number of the existing depictions of gravesites are woodblock prints of family gravesites produced after the eighteenth century. Most of these are included in genealogical records and anthologies. According to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historical records, hanging scrolls of family gravesites served as objects of worship. Bowing in front of these paintings was considered a substitute ritual when descendants could not physically be present to maintain their parents' or other ancestors' tombs. Han Hyo-won (1468-1534) and Jo Sil-gul (1591-1658) commissioned the production of family burial ground paintings and asked distinguished figures of the time to write a preface for the paintings, thus showing off their filial piety. Such examples are considered precedents for Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain. Hermitage of the Recluse Seokjeong in a private collection and Old Villa in Hwagae County at the National Museum of Korea are not paintings of family gravesites. However, they serve as references for seventeenth-century paintings depicting family gravesites in that they are hanging scrolls in the style of the paintings of literary gatherings and they illustrate geomancy. As an object of worship, Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain recalls a portrait. As indicated in the postscripts, the painting made Bak Gyeong-bin "feel like hearing his father's cough and seeing his attitudes and behaviors with my eyes." The fable of Xu Xiaosu, who gazed at the portrait of his father day and night, is reflected in this gravesite painting evoking a deceased parent. It is still unclear why Bak Gyeong-bin commissioned Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain to be produced as a real scenery landscape in the folding screen format rather than a hanging scroll or woodblock print, the conventional formats for a family gravesite paintings. In the nineteenth century, commoners came to produce numerous folding screens for use during the four rites of coming of age, marriage, burial, and ancestral rituals. However, they did not always use the screens in accordance with the nature of these rites. In the Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, the real scenery landscape appears to have been emphasized more than the image of the gravesite in order to allow the screen to be applied during different rituals or for use to decorate space. The burial mound, which should be the essence of Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, might have been obscured in order to hide its violation of the prohibition on the construction of tombs on the four mountains around the capital. At the western foot of Inwangsan Mountain, which was illustrated in this painting, the construction of tombs was forbidden. In 1832, a tomb discovered illegally built on the forbidden area was immediately dug up and the related people were severely punished. This indicates that the prohibition was effective until the mid-nineteenth century. The postscripts on the Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain document in detail Bak Gyeong-bin's efforts to obtain the land as a burial site. The help and connivance of villagers were necessary to use the burial site, probably because constructing tombs within the prohibited area was a burden on the family and villagers. Seokpajeong Pavilion by Yi Han-cheol (1808~1880), currently housed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is another real scenery landscape in the format of a folding screen that is contemporaneous and comparable with Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain. In 1861 when Seokpajeong Pavilion was created, both Yi Han-cheol and Jo Jung-muk participated in the production of a portrait of King Cheoljong. Thus, it is highly probable that Jo Jung-muk may have observed the painting process of Yi's Seokpajeong Pavilion. A few years later, when Jo Jungmuk was commissioned to produce Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, his experience with the impressive real scenery landscape of the Seokpajeong Pavilion screen could have been reflected in his work. The difference in the painting style between these two paintings is presumed to be a result of the tastes and purposes of the commissioners. Since Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain contains the multilayered structure of a real scenery landscape and family gravesite, it seems to have been perceived in myriad different ways depending on the viewer's level of knowledge, closeness to the commissioner, or viewing time. In the postscripts to the painting, the name and nickname of the tomb occupant as well as the place of his surname are not recorded. He is simply referred to as "Mister Bak." Biographical information about the commissioner Bak Gyeong-bin is also unavailable. However, given that his family did not enter government service, he is thought to have been a person of low standing who could not become a member of the ruling elite despite financial wherewithal. Moreover, it is hard to perceive Hong Seon-ju, who wrote the postscripts, as a member of the nobility. He might have been a low-level administrative official who belonged to the Gyeongajeon, as documented in the Seungjeongwon ilgi (Daily Records of Royal Secretariat of the Joseon Dynasty). Bak Gyeong-bin is presumed to have moved the tomb of his father to a propitious site and commissioned Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain to stress his filial piety, a conservative value, out of his desire to enter the upper class. However, Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain failed to live up to its original purpose and ended up as a contradictory image due to its multiple applications and the concern over the exposure of the violation of the prohibition on the construction of tombs on the prohibited area. Forty-seven years after its production, this screen became a part of the collection at the Royal Yi Household Museum with each panel being separated. This suggests that Bak Gyeong-bin's dream of bringing fortune and raising his family's social status by selecting a propitious gravesite did not come true.