• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.73-99
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• 2023

The dragon is a special imaginary figure created by the people of East Asia. Its archetypes appeared primarily as totemic symbols of different tribes and groups in the region. The formation of early dynasties probably generated the molding of the dragon symbol. Dragon symbols carried deep imprints of nature. They concealed alternative messages of how ancient people at different locations dealt with or interacted with nature. Under pressure to standardize in the medieval and late imperial periods, the popular dragon had to transform physically and ideologically. It became imposed, unified, and framed, conveying ideas of caste classification and power, and losing itsecological implications. The dragon transitioned from a semi-ecological domain into a total social caste system. However, many people considered the "standardized" dragon as the symbol of the oppressor. Because of continuous orthopraxy and calls for imperial reverence, especially under orthopractic agenda and the surveillance of local elites, the popularized dragon was imbued within local artworks or hidden under the sanctity of Buddhas or popular gods in order to survive. Through disguise, the popular dragon partially maintained its ecological narratives. When the imperial dynasties ended in East Asia (1910 in Korea, 1911 in China, 1945 in Vietnam), the dragon was dramatically decentralized. However, trends of re-standardization and re-centralization have emerged recently in China, as the country rises in the global arena. In this newly-emerging "re-orthopraxy", the dragon has been superimposed with a more externally political discourse ("soft power" in international relations) rather than the old-style standardization for internal centralization in the late imperial period. In the contemporary world, science and technology have advanced humanity's ability to improve the world; however, it seems that people have abused science and technology to control nature, consequently damaging the environment (pollution, global warming, etc.). The dragon symbol needs to be re-defined, "re-molded", re-evaluated and reinterpreted accordingly, especially under the newly-emerging lens-the New Confucian "anthropocosmic" view.

• The International Journal of Costume Culture
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.105-110
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• 2005

This paper documents a dress design process to demonstrate the theory that form follows intent. It includes a statement of the design context as a venue where the conceptual intent originated. The dragon icon became the subject, form, and content of the design project. The author's designerly endeavor is discussed with focus on reconfiguration of formal characteristics shown in the visual reference of the eastern dragon symbol into a dress design with the consideration of utilitarian, expressive, and symbolic issues. Throughout the process, the author was an active agent who created formal characteristics, manifested a thought into an object, and imbued a meaning to the dress, demonstrating the notion that form follows intent.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.129-148
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• 2023

Using sociohistorical approaches, the paper shows that before the 15th century, myths of Hùng Kings, considered to be the descendants of the Dragon race and ancestors of the Vietnamese people, may have existed locally. Vietnamese rulers and people strongly supported the integration of these myths into indigenous culture to form a new belief: the worship of Hùng Kings. By way of discovering the transformation process from the founding myths to the modern national beliefs of the Vietnamese, this paper attempts to demonstrate that both myths and worship of Hùng Kings were politically created and encouraged. The article also focuses on the reasons why these myths and worship reached a broad public as these were integrated into Vietnamese culture.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.130-144
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to apply iconology to discover the symbolic system of imaginary animals focused on four representative auspicious animals in Korean folk paintings. Study methods included literature review of folk paintings, iconological analytics books, and articles. A total of 16 folk paintings of four auspicious animals in the Joseon Dynasty were analyzed using Panofsky's iconology. The four auspicious animals were Yong(dragon), Bonghwang(the eastern version of the phoenix), Shingoo (divine turtle), and Kirin(one-horned combination of a dragon and horse). According to iconological analysis, Yong is a typical symbol of royal authority, a deity of water as an object of respect with a remarkable talent of transformation, and in iconographical interpretation, represents reverence for transcendent power. Bonhwang is the symbol of a king, sun worship, the emblem of nobility and integrity, and in iconographical interpretation, the psychic bing in the sky. Shingoo is fortune prophecy, longevity and immortality, an envoy of deity, and according to iconographical interpretation, the organic view of the world. Kirin is a divine benign creature, a symbol of talent and honor, mediator between sky and earth, and in iconographical interpretation, an expression of Confucian ideology. This study produced three results. First, the four auspicious animals projected the human hope to overcome human limitations through divine creatures with mythical abilities. Second, they reflected everyday common hopes and values of pursuing fortunes and happiness. Third, the four auspicious animals' iconology was not independent of each other; it seemed to be common to and combined with each other.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.35
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• pp.471-498
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• 2009

The aim of this study is to see how bamboo paintings developed and what is the iconographical meaning of them through bamboo Ti-hua-shi(poems on paintings) found in Sheng-Hua-Ji, a leading compilation of Ti-hua-shi(poems on paintings) of Song Dynasty. Bamboo paintings give shapes in a simpler and more direct way in drawing, which means bamboo paintings reveal concretely more characteristics of Ti-hua-shi (poems on paintings). Bamboo paintings, which flourished during Northern Song Dynasty, often had the image of the dragon, specially a lying dragon or a winding dragon, which suggests a great man in obscurity. Snow-laden bamboos were also a symbol of a great man, very wise man in Confucian tradition. This shows Confucian ideal examples were embodied through bamboo paintings. Another aspect of bamboo paintings is that bamboo paintings were regarded as a means of self-expression, which identified Confucian sadaebu (scholar-officials) who advocated simplicity and austerity in their life. Contrary to professional painters, who added color and decoration to their paintings, Confucian scholars of Song Dynasty reduced color and embellishment in their bamboo paintings in black-and-white to reveal their own identity, focusing on spirituality rather than the image itself. Therefore, drawing and appreciating bamboo paintings were highly respectable pastime among the literati of Song Dynasty. In short, Bamboo paintings in Song Dynasty were not only a Confucian symbol of a wise and virtuous man but also reflected the taste of Song sadaebu class who thought of bamboo as a symbol for moral and cultural responsibility of Confucian society.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.142-171
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• 2019

The dragon is an imaginary animal that appears in the legends and myths of the Orient and the West. While dragons have mostly been portrayed as aggressive and as bad omens in the West, in the Orient, as they symbolize the emperor or have an auspicious meaning, dragons signify a positive meaning. In addition, as the dragon symbolizes the emperor and its type has been diversified considering it as a divine object that controls water, people have tried to express it as a figure. The records related to dragons in the Goryeo dynasty appeared with diverse topics in 'History of Goryeo' and are generally contents related to founding myths, rituals for rain, and Shinii (神異), etc. The founding myth emphasizes the legality of the Goryeo dynasty through the dragon, and this influenced the formation of the dragon's descendants. In addition, the ability to control water, which is a characteristic of the dragon, was symbolized as an earth dragon related to the rainmaking ritual, i.e., wishing for rain during times of drought. Since the dragon was the symbol of the royal family, the use of the dragon by common people was strictly restricted. Furthermore, the association of a bronze dragon mirror with the royal family is hard to be excluded. The type and quantity of bronze double dragon mirrors discovered to have existed during the Goryeo dynasty is great, and the production and the distribution of bronze mirrors with double dragons seem to have been more active compared to other bronze mirrors, as bronze mirrors with double dragons produced during Goryeo and bronze mirrors originating in China were mixed. Therefore, in this article, the characteristics of diverse bronze mirrors from the 10th century to the 14th century in China were examined. It seems that the master craftsmen who produced bronze mirrors with double dragons during the Goryeo dynasty were influenced by Chinese composition patterns when making the mirrors. Because there were many cases where a bronze mirror's country of origin could not easily be determined, in order to identify the differences between bronze double dragon mirrors produced during the Goryeo dynasty and bronze mirrors produced in China, meticulous analysis was required. Thus, to ascertain that Goryeo mirrors were not imitations of bronze mirrors with double dragons originating in China but produced independently, the mirrors were examined using the bronze double dragon mirror type classification system existing in our country. Bronze mirrors with double dragons are classified into three types: Type I, which has the style of the Yao dynasty, includes the greatest proportion; however, despite there being only a small quantity for comparison, Types II and III were selected for the analysis of the bronze mirrors with double dragons made in Goryeo because they have unique composition patterns. As mentioned above, distinguishing bronze mirrors made during Goryeo from bronze mirrors made in China is challenging because Goryeo bronze mirrors were made under the influence of China. Among them, since the manufacturing place of the bronze mirrors with double dragons found at the nine-story stone pagoda in Woljeongsa Temple in Pyeongchang is questionable and the composition pattern of the bronze mirror is hard to find on bronze mirrors with double dragons made in China, the manufacturing place of those bronze mirrors were examined. These bronze mirrors with double dragons were considered as bronze mirrors with double dragons made during the Goryeo dynasty adopting the Yao dynasty style composition pattern as aspects of the composition pattern belonged to Type I, and the detailed combination of patterns is hard to find in mirrors produced in China.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.469-480
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• 2006

Patterns in clothing symbolize some specific meaning that differs across cultures and religions, although patterns have been mostly used to realize human desires to overcome natural hazards in every culture or religion. This research aims to compare animal patterns of Korea (Confucian/Buddhism culture) with those of Byzantine (Christian culture), based upon a research method of literature survey. It is found through the research that both cultures used common patterns, such as dragon, butterfly, bat, honeybee, peacock, fish, and chicken. In the case of dragon patterns, Korea used it to symbolize emperor, dignity, or authority, while Byzantine used it for devil. Bat patterns had different symbolic meanings in both cultures: they mean happiness, longevity, prosperity or many off-springs in Korea while they mean misfortune or unhappiness in Byzantine. On the other hand, the rest of animal patterns, including butterfly, honeybee, peacock, chicken, had quite a similar symbolic meaning. Butterfly means change of life or beginning of new life in Korea, whereas it means resurrection in Byzantine. Honeybee symbolizes diligence, order, and cooperation. Many animal patterns were used in both cultures at the same time. Another difference can be found in terms of the kind of animals; for example, Korea used wild goose, pheasant, giraffe, deer, mandarin duck & turtle, while Byzantine used eagle, snake, pigeon. Of course, each and every animal has its own meaning, mostly positive. Except dragons and bats, both cultures have a similar meaning in most of animal patterns. Generally speaking, Korea used imaginary animals to pray for human happiness, but Byzantine used real animals to pray for resurrections.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.435-444
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• 2021

This paper discusses the geometrical interpretation of the Taegeuk Shapes of Kameun Temple through the geometric analysis of mathematics. Based on the literature, This paper attempted to clarify that the origin of Gameunsa's founding of the spirit of patriotism may coincide with historical records through historical literature and geometric meaning. First, the background of the founding of Kameun temple, geographical location located near the East Sea, especially the history of the ancient Chinese mathematics at the time, And that mathematical knowledge influenced all fields such as agriculture, architecture, and art. Secondly, it is related to the historical record as the space of about 60 centimeters, which is uniquely underground, was identified as the structure of the excavated space. It is thought that there is a strong correlation with the origin that the King Munmu changed into a dragon, and set up the temple to be able to stay. Based on these, the clues of the interpretation of the taegeuk and the triangular pattern were searched in the samcheon yanggi(參天兩地) of the Oriental and circumference of the Western. The taegeuk and triangular patterns represent the symbols of yin-yang harmony, which correspond to the origin of its creation. the Korean people regarded the mysterious dragon as a symbol of yinyang harmony. In conclusion the Shapes of Kameun temple's stone is consistent with the contents mentioned in the historical record.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.79-94
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• 2004

The main purpose of this study is to discribe the transfiguration process and the symbols of theatrical costume of Sandai masque(산대놀이) during the Choson Dynasty. Sandai masque as a popular play is a very important form in the history of the Korean theatre. Furthermore in order to analyze the mutual relationship and difference between in the early and later Chosen Dynasty, Narye has is stressed deeply a national amusement event. In the early years of Choson Dynasty, non-official culture such as outside of Seoul and Seoul were subject to the official culture of the Court. In the late years, actors become more and more libral, separating themselves from the systemical restriction. The main reason for this is the growth of capitals in private sectors as well as the growth in demand for entertainment among private citizens. On these backgrounds, the transfiguration process of Sandai masque have changed the treatrical costume. The treatrical costume carries symbolic meaning to the obserber. The value of symbol changes as the time passes, overtime thereby altering its meaning as well. The caracters and plots change inevitably over years but the basic theme remains. The symbols of theatrical costume of Sandai masque are mainly focused on three subjects: first, the entrance of a dragon and tiger originated in the exorcism for good harvest; second, color symbolism expressed in the confrontation between red and black; and third, associate characteristics of dress forms related to regoinal classification of the mask dance.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.31
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• pp.153-176
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• 2013

In the early 20th century, the some of futurist painter was attempted to represents the 'fast-paced' and 'dynamism' on a two-dimensional picture. The expression of fast-paced and dynamic for look like move image in the painting have evolved as a variety of visual symbol. Visual symbols that represent these movements were settled as the line of the most movement expression in the comic. The of Toriyama Akira gained worldwide popularity is emphasized speed and dynamism as the action genre in cartoon, is nice a data to research the line of the movement expression of cartoon. There is three terms as the action line, The speed line, the effect line on the movement expression in The glossary of in the dictionary of , but it not easy to Separate them by means similar. This study is willing to says the semantically problem of previous lines on the movement expression and to present a new alternative in order to study the line on the movement expression of . This study Separate the line on movement expression from symbolic the perspective and try to newly define by using, was classified lines of four kinds by add the afterimage line on existing the speed line, the motion line, the effect line. First, the speed line was defined as 'The line expressing the movement expression of a moving target as the concept of speed'. It on the way of expression was subdivided the direct as speed line when it alter the shape of the target and the indirect speed line when it alter the background of the target. Second, the motion line was defined as 'The line simplified the moving form or the moving path of moving target'. Third, the effect line was defined as 'the line emphasizing the movement expression of a moving target by Sensory expression or emotional expression. Fourth, the afterimage lines was defined as 'The line expressing slowly moving or swaying the movement expression of target to the afterimage effect. The terminology presented in this study will be able to help the understanding of the line on the movement expression .