• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.299-320
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• 2008

We study on the astronomical calendars that was used in the Silla era. The calendars are deduced from the records in Samguksagi. They were influenced from calendaric system of Tang Dynasty, which are Lin duk calendar(麟德曆), Ta yen calendar(大衍曆) and Sun myung calendar(宣明曆). We analyse them in detail according to the time and duration of use. Water clock system of Unified Silla was used four water vessels for supplying water. We found the model from documents on ancient water clock that are appeared in the old Korean, Chinese and Japanese historical records. We have assumed the model of Unified Silla clepsydra is similar type with Chinese records during Tang dynasty and with Japanese reconstructed water clock in Temple Asoka. After fluid dynamic experiment, we decide the suitable diameter of supplying pipe and volume of the vessels used in the clepsydra. We introduce the experimental instruments and methods for accomplishing the clock. We designed and reconstructed the water clock of Unified Silla and float rods for measuring time, that is based on the Silla's calendaric system.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.85-98
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• 2010

The natural hazards such as droughts, floods and frost injuries, and their relationships with the social unrest phenomena such as years of famine, smallpox and revolutions during the Medieval times(AD 936~1391) in Korea are compared and analyzed based on the History of Goryeo containing astronomical weather and climate events during the Goryeo Dynasty. Among the natural hazards during the Goryeo Dynasty, the droughts with a period of 4~5 years on average are recorded most frequently. By time series analysis, the most frequency of droughts can be found in AD 286~335, AD 786~835 and AD 1261~1320 during the Ancient and Medieval times. It is suggested that three cycles of the droughts during approximately 1,500 years of the Ancient and Medieval times are recognized and they had happened with the time intervals of approximately 500 years. The frequency of droughts increased in the late Goryeo Dynasty is consistent with those of the social chaos factors such as years of famines, smallpox and revolutions. These records suggest that the natural hazard such as years of famines was one of the most important factors influencing on the collapse of the Goryeo Dynasty, agrarian country.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.505-528
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• 2004

We have reproduced the records of lunar occultation recorded in the History of Three Kingdoms(삼국사기), the History of the Koryo Dynasty (고려사), the Annals of the Choson Dynasty (朝鮮王朝實錄), the Daily Records of Royal Secretariat of the Choson Dynasty (승정원일기), and obtained the epochs of their realizations. We analysed these results to understand how the system of hours had been kept and when a day began. During most of the periods encompassed by these annals, the 12 double hours(12진각법) and the system of 100 divisions of the day (백각법) had been used when the lunar and the solar eclipses were calculated by royal astronomers. In these systems, the starting point of a day is midnight. On the other hand, the five watch system of hours (경점법), in which a night is divided into five watches, was also used. In this system, a day begins at the sunrise. We found that the traditional twilight, called dusk and dawn (혼명) and used in the east Asian countries, largely corresponds to the nautical twilight in modern concepts. This fact means that the Korean expressions and words for time system in every day life had originated form the five watch system of hours. We pointed out that the sunrise and sunset were convenient boundary lines to ancient astronomers, as well as to farmers in the agricultural society. Our results can be used to determine the exact epoch of each astronomical record in chronicles.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.120-136
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• 2024

Yeong-dae(靈臺), Yeong-yu(靈囿), and Yeong-so(靈沼) - so-called 'Yeong-dae Garden' – appear in the poem 'Dae-ah(大雅)․Yeong-dae(靈臺)' in Shijing(詩經) which is considered the record of the earliest garden in East Asia, in the chapter 'Yanghyewang(梁惠王)' of Mencius(孟子). Focusing on those records, this research clarifies their characteristics and discusses the aspects related to garden practices in the Joseon Dynasty. The Yeong-dae Garden is the garden of King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty, who is considered a sage of Confucianism. It is considered to be the first imperial garden in China, and the basic form of all gardens consists of mountains and water. The characteristics of Yeong-dae Garden can be specified through the texts of Shijing and Mencius, the comments written by Zhu Xi and others, and later literature, such as Sambohwangdo. The characteristics of Yeong-dae Garden are as follows: In terms of form, the three spatial elements corresponding to raised ground, a wide area for raising animals, and a pond with fish form a simple arrangement; in terms of function, it combines observation and rest; and in terms of symbolism, it signifies the companionship of the public sentiment and the leader's sincerity. In literature from the Joseon Dynasty, Yeong-dae Garden mainly appear in historical materials related to the King, and its meaning shows an aspect of differentiation into two functions: an observatory for astronomical observation and a garden for rest and appreciation. For the intellectuals of Joseon who sought to restore an ancient ideal state like the Zhou Dynasty through Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism, the Yeong-dae Garden served as a control device to warn against royal garden's practices and a symbolic mechanism to expand its meaning of existence to good politics.