• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.1-26
• /
• 2010

The Ten Ox Herding Pictures by Kuo-an, a Zen Master of China in the Middle Ages are interpreted from the view point of the analytical psychology of C.G. Jung. Basically, I agree with the previous Jungian comments on it by M. J..Spiegelman, M.Miyuki, and H.Kawai at the Ox Herding Pictures are symbolic manifestations of the individuation process in terms of C.G.Jung. In connection with the process of Jungian analysis, I went through, not only the pictures but also the eulogies and critical comments of Zen masters in order to elucidate the symbolical meanings of each stage of spiritual development in Zen meditation. I noticed that the Ox Herding Pictures suggest the preference of suppression and conscious control of shadow in Jung's terms rather than its assimilation through making conscious the unconscious inferior personality. Also, the feminine psyche seems to be not particularly taken into consideration. In another words, different psychic aspects are represented in one single image : Ox. Due to the simplicity of pictorial expressions, the Ox Herding Pictures provide us possibilities to pour abundant imaginations into the pictures. The images comprise multiple irrational meanings; therefore it is warranted to render multiple interpretations of the Pictures as shown in the eulogies and comments by other Zen masters. The sequences of the Pictures need not coincide with a linear process but rather with a circular process of enlightenment, as Miyuki has suggested. Kuo-an's Pictures clearly suggest the danger of ego inflation and the fact that the final goal of Zen meditation should be the capability of the enlightened to serve the people.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
• /
• v.42
• /
• pp.45-73
• /
• 2022

The phenomenon of veneration for Queen Mother of the West [西王母 Chn: Xiwangmu Kr: Seowangmo] is a 'cultural flow' that has garnered great interest not only in China but also in Korea for many years. To properly understand the cultural trend regarding the Queen Mother of the West, it is essential to view the related mythology as it corresponds to East Asian women as well as the transformation of society's view of women. In addition to the outcomes that result from the establishment of a patriarchal society, the relationship between goddesses and gods gradually becomes a relationship of discrimination based upon differences. Accordingly, as women change into objects that are given meaning rather than subjects that give meaning, the de-sacredization of the goddess occurs. This paper focused on the changes in the perception of the Queen Mother of the West from the view of Yin-Yang theory. This approach shows a transition process of transforming wherein she has morphed into an assistant or spouse of a god as part of a trend that deemphasizes the divinity of her as a stand-alone goddess. Yin-Yang theory is the key to understanding culture, history, and art as well as Chinese philosophy. This key can be further applied to the theme of women in mythology. What is particularly noteworthy about the process by which the Queen Mother of the West was defined as a goddess is that she was original described as half-human and half-beast and yet by the time her depictions became fully human and fully woman, she was described instead as an absolute beauty endowed with great artistic talent. In this paper, it will be revealed that the perception of the Queen Mother of the West, as an absolute beauty and artistic talent, is embedded with the male societal desire for an image of the feminine as understood via Yin-Yang theory. Queen Mother of the West as she was depicted in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海經 Chn: Shanhaijing Kr: Sanhaegyeong) had a half-human half-beast form that instilled people with fear of disasters and punishments from heaven. However, in the Han Dynasty, her religious significance became that of an object to ward off evil and attain blessings. By the time of the novel, Tales of the Strange (志怪小說 Chn: Zhiguaixiaoshuo Kr: Jigoesoseol), from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, she was transformed into a goddess in the image of beautiful woman in charge longevity and immortality. From the perspective of Yin-Yang theory, the changes in the perception of Queen Mother of the West was found to contain the following meaning: as an extension of the establishment of a patriarchal system and subordinate laws, her new form was made to be pleasing to the male gaze and Yin-Yang theory was brought in to support those changes later.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.41-50
• /
• 2004

This research proposes the on-stage costumes for the play Hamlet of Shakespeare performed by Yunheedan Guhri Pae - the Street Theater Troupe. Stage costumes have an important role in displaying the characteristics of each characters to the audience and has big visual effects. However, in order to design the costumes in the object viewpoints of the audience, the survey on the images of the characters who had actually watched the performance was taken place and proposed the costume design according to the results of the survey. Hamlet a: This result was applied to propose a sweater in black color, black leather pants and vest. Hamlet b: This result was applied to propose hooded coat in purple in middle level of brightness and color spectrum and yellow coat. For free image, loose pants in blue and vest in the same color tone were proposed. Gertrude a: This result was applied to use purple (violet) with reddish tone to propose the formation of a dress applying tailored suit. Gertrude b: This result was applied to propose purple gown and the one-piece dress with black laces. Ophelia a: This result was applied to propose feminine white dress and cape in purple color tone. Ophelia b: This result was applied to propose dyed and weaved clothes. Through the surveys as above, the images of each character was driven in adjectives, and using the results driven from the brightness, coloration, and color, color images were proposed. Only one costume cannot make up for the stage costumes and because it exists as an element of stage production, it is true that costumes are limited in some areas. However, that limit can become the motive of the costume. There is a limit, which the designer cannot produce the costumes as he or she had designed but I believe it is the center of the on-stage customers to display the characteristics of the characters according to the given concept. The limit of this research is the fact that because the costumes were designed so they fit the conditions already given, thus it was difficult to regard the process of designing and producing the costume as a project done according to the interaction. And in the future, if it is possible, I wish for the joint research with the people responsible for stage art to take place as a practical stage art. It was possible to produce practical costume since they were produced for actual performance and the production of costumes considering the dance steps, line of flow, and acting, was able to reduce the trial and error on stage. Through this research, I felt that the understanding and smooth interaction on diverse other areas not limited to the costume design should be taken place and believe that this was a research that proposes new research method since there had been only a few previous research regarding the on-stage costumes for actual performances. Therefore, this research had depended on the surveys given to the audiences to endow objectivity, however, I wish this research can contribute to defining effective process and methods for the on-stage costumes with more active researches with diverse methods and in diverse areas. I am sorry that the costume production for all the characters and all the scenes in Hamlet couldn't be done due to many limitations. As the following research assignment, I am planning on designing the costumes for all the scenes.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
• /
• v.40
• /
• pp.111-131
• /
• 2015

An unusual success engendering loyalty among cult fans in the United States, Mamoru Oshii's 1995 cyberpunk anime, Ghost in the Shell (GITS) revolves around a female cyborg assassin named Motoko Kusanagi, a.k.a. "the Major." When the news came out last year that Scarlett Johansson was offered 10 million dollars for the role of the Major in the live action remake of GITS, the frustrated fans accused DreamWorks of "whitewashing" the classic Japanimation and turning it into a PG-13 film. While it would be premature to judge a film yet to be released, it appears timely to revisit the core achievement of Oshii's film untranslatable into the Hollywood formula. That is, unlike ultimately heteronormative and humanist sci-fi films produced in Hollywood, such as the Matrix trilogy or Cloud Atlas, GITS defies a Hollywoodization by evoking much bafflement in relation to its queer, posthuman characters and settings. This essay homes in on Major Kusanagi's body in order to update prior criticism from the perspectives of posthumanism and queer theory. If the Major's voluptuous cyborg body has been read as a liberating or as a commodified feminine body, latest critical work of posthumanism and queer theory causes us to move beyond the moralistic binaries of human/non-human and male/female. This deconstruction of binaries leads to a radical rethinking of "reality" and "identity" in an image-saturated, hypermediated age. Viewed from this perspective, Major Kusanagi's body can be better understood less as a reflection of "real" women than as an embodiment of our anxieties on the loss of self and interiority in the SNS-dominated society. As is warned by many posthumanist and queer critics, queer and posthuman components are too often used to reinforce the human. I argue that the Major's hybrid body is neither a mere amalgam of human and machine nor a superficial postmodern blurring of boundaries. Rather, the compelling combination of individuality, animality, and technology embodied in the Major redefines the human as always, already posthuman. This ethical act of revision-its shifting focus from oppressive humanism to a queer coexistence-evinces the lasting power of GITS.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.99-148
• /
• 2022

This study aims at the psychological elucidation of some conscious aspects of the personality of Yi Sun-sin (1545-1598), the Korean national hero, and the unconscious teleologic meanings of his dreams mentioned in Nanjung Ilgi (Diary in War Time) from the viewpoint of analytical psychology of C.G. Jung. Yi Sun-sin was a man of discipline, incorporated with the spirit of Confucian filial piety, hyo (hsiao) and royalty, chung. He was a stern man but with a warm heart. In his diary, Yi Sun-sin poured forth his feelings of suffering, despair, and extreme solicitude caused by slanders of his political opponents, his grief for the loss of mother and son, and his worries about the fate of his country, which the Japanese invaders now plundered. The moon night offered him the opportunity to touch with his inner soul, by reciting poems, playing Korean string, 'Keomungo', and flute. Further, he widened his scope by asking for the answers from the 'Heaven' through divination and dream. Yi Sun-sin's attitude toward his mother who raised the future hero and maternal principles were considered in concern with the Jungian term 'mother complex'. Won Gyun, Yi Sun-sin's rival admiral, who persistently accused Yi Sun-sin of 'slanders,' certainly represents the unconscious shadow image of Yi Sun-sin. The reciprocal 'shadow' projection has intervened in the conflicting relationship between Yi and Won. In concern to the argument for the suicidal death of Yi Sun-sin, the author found no evidence supporting such an argument, No trace of latent suicidal wish was found in his dreams. For Yi Sun-sin, the determination of the life and death depends on Heaven. 32 dreams from the diary and 3 from other historical references were reviewed and analyzed in the Jungian way. Symbols of anima, Self, and individuation process were found. His dream repeatedly suggests that Yi Sun-sin is an extraordinary man chosen by the divine man (神人). In the dream, Yi Sun-sin was a disciple of the divine man receiving instructions on various strategies, and he alone could see the great thing or events. The dream of a beautiful blue and red dragon, whom he was friendly touching, indicates Yi Sun-sin's eligibility for the kingship. Yi Sun-sin seemingly did not aware of this message of the unconscious. Perhaps he sensed something special but did not identify with 'the disciple of gods' and 'royal dragon' in his dream. His modest attitude toward the dream has prevented him from falling into ego inflation. There were warning signals in two dreams that suggested disorders in the dreamer's instinctive feminine drive. Spirits of the dead father and brothers appear in the dream, giving advice or mourning for the death of Sun-sin's mother. Though Yi Sun-sin was a genuine Confucian gentleman, a dream revealed his unconscious drive to destroy the Confucian authoritative 'Persona' by trampling down the cylindrical traditional Korean hat. To the dreams of synchronicity phenomena Yi Sun-sin immediately solves the problem in concrete reality. He understood dreams as valuable messages from the superior entity, for example, the Confucian Heaven (天) or Heaven's Decree (天命). Furthermore, the 'Heaven' presumably arranged for him the way to the national hero and imposed necessary trials upon him. Both his persecutors and advocates of him guided him in the way of a hero. Yi Sun-sin followed his destiny and completed the living myth of the hero. His mother, King Seon-jo, and prime minister Liu Seong Yong, all have contributed to embodying the myth of the hero. Yi Sun-sin died and became god, the divine healer of the nation.