• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.96
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• pp.89-122
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• 2019

In this paper, I argue that the Handscroll of a Sightseeing Trip to the Hangang and Imjingang Rivers by Jeong Su-yeong (1743~1831, pseudonym: Jiwujae) is a record of his private journeys to several places on the outskirts of Hanyang (present-day Seoul) and that it successfully embodies the painter's subjective perspective while boating on these rivers and going on outings to nearby mountains. Around 1796, Jeong Su-yeong traveled to different places and documented his travels in this 16-meter-long handscroll. Several leaves of paper, each of which depicts a separate landscape, are pieced together to create this long handscroll. This indicates that the Handscroll of a Sightseeing Trip to the Hangang and Imjingang Rivers reflected the painter's personal subjective experiences as he went along his journey rather than simply depicts travel destinations. The Handscroll of a Sightseeing Trip to the Hangang and Imjingang Rivers features two types of travel: boating and mountain outings on foot. Traveling by boat takes up a large portion of the handscroll, which illustrates the channels of the Hangang and Imjingang Rivers. Mountain outings correspond to the sections describing the regions around Bukhansan, Gwanaksan, and Dobongsan Mountains. Jeong Su-yeong traveled to this wide span of places not just once, but several times. The fact that the Hangang River system are not presented in accordance with their actual locations shows that they were illustrated at different points. After visiting the riversides of the Hangang and Namhangang Rivers twice, Jeong Su-yeong delineated them in fourteen scenes. Among them, the first eight illustrate Jeong's initial trip by boat, while the other six scenes are vistas from his second trip. These fourteen scenes occupy half of this handscroll, indicating that the regions near the Hangang River are painted most frequently. The scenes of Jeong Su-yeong's first boating trip to the system of the Hangang River portray the landscapes that he personally witnessed rather than famous scenes. Some of the eight scenic views of Yeoju, including Yongmunsan Mountain, Cheongsimru Pavilion, and Silleuksa Temple, are included in this handscroll. However, Jeong noted spots that were not often painted and depicted them using an eye-level perspective uncommon for illustrating famous scenic locations. The scenes of Jeong's second boating trip include his friend's villa and a meeting with companions. Moreover, Cheongsimru Pavilion and Silleuksa Temple, which are depicted in the first boating trip, are illustrated again from different perspectives and in unique compositions. Jeong Su-yeong examined the same locations several times from different angles. A sense of realism is demonstrated in the scenes of Jeong's first and second boating trips to the channels of the Hangang River, which depict actual roads. Furthermore, viewers can easily follow the level gaze of Jeong from the boat. The scenes depicting the Imjingang River begin from spots near the Yeongpyeongcheon and Hantangang Rivers and end with places along the waterways of the Imjingang River. Here, diverse perspectives were applied, which is characteristic of Imjingang River scenes. Jeong Su-yeong employed a bird's-eye perspective to illustrate the flow of a waterway starting from the Yeongpyeongcheon River. He also used an eye-level perspective to highlight the rocks of Baegundam Pool. Thus, depending on what he wished to emphasize, Jeong applied different perspectives. Hwajeogyeon Pond located by the Hantangang River is illustrated from a bird's-eye perspective to present a panoramic view of the surroundings and rocks. Similarly, the scenery around Uhwajeong Pavilion by the Imjingang River are depicted from the same perspective. A worm's-eye view was selected for Samseongdae Cliff in Tosangun in the upper regions of the Imjingang River and for Nakhwaam Rock. The scenes of Jeong Su-yeong's mountain outings include pavilions and small temple mainly. In the case of Jaeganjeong Pavilion on Bukhansan Mountain, its actual location remains unidentified since the pavilion did not lead to the route of the boating trip to the system of the Hangang River and was separately depicted from other trips to the mountains. I speculate that Jaeganjeong Pavilion refers to a pavilion either in one of the nine valleys in Wooyi-dong at the foot of Bukhansan Mountain or in Songajang Villa. Since these two pavilions are situated in the valleys of Bukhansan Mountain, their descriptions in written texts are similar. As for Gwanaksan Mountain, Chwihyangjeong and Ilganjeong Pavilions as well as Geomjisan Mountain in the Bukhansan Mountain range are depicted. Ilganjeong Pavilion was a well-known site on Gwanaksan that belonged to Shin Wi. In this handscroll, however, Jeong Su-yeong recorded objective geographic information on the pavilion rather than relating it to Shin Wi. "Chwihyangjeong Pavilion" is presented within the walls, while "Geomjisan Mountain" is illustrated outside the walls. Handscroll of a Sightseeing Trip to the Hangang and Imjingang Rivers also includes two small temples, Mangwolam and Okcheonam, on Dobongsan Mountain. The actual locations of these are unknown today. Nevertheless, Gungojip (Anthology of Gungo) by Yim Cheonsang relates that they were sited on Dobongsan Mountain. Compared to other painters who stressed Dobong Seowon (a private Confucian academy) and Manjangbong Peak when depicting Dobongsan Mountain, Jeong Su-yeong highlighted these two small temples. Jeong placed Yeongsanjeon Hall and Cheonbong Stele in "Mangwolam small temple" and Daeungjeon Hall in front of "Okcheonam small temple." In addition to the buildings of the small temple, Jeong drew the peaks of Dobongsan Mountain without inscribing their names, which indicates that he intended the Dobongsan peaks as a background for the scenery. The Handscroll of a Sightseeing Trip to the Hangang and Imjingang Rivers is of great significance in that it embodies Jeong Su-yeong's personal perceptions of scenic spots on the outskirts of Hanyang and records his trips to these places.

• 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.