• 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.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.237-244
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• 2019

In this study, we applied terahertz imaging technology to three Korean modern oil paintings ('Boy,' 'Girl,' and 'Hyehwadong Landscape'); investigated the types of inner layer information in the pictures that can be extracted with terahertz imaging technology; and analyzed the conditions for extracting them. The biggest problem in the terahertz imaging analysis we encountered was the image distortion caused by the change of the distance between the target surface and the terahertz detector, depending on the surface curvature of the target paintings. We then developed a 'working distance maintaining device' to solve this problem. As a result, the terahertz imaging technique was used to identify the base material characteristics and any patterns of damage inside, and presented the optimal conditions for identifying each characteristic. In addition, it was useful to employ the terahertz frequency-division image to check the characteristics of the background materials. To confirm coloring techniques such as brush strokes, it is effective to compare the maximum reflection peak image with the cross-section image; and to detect damage information inside the paintings that cannot be observed on the surface, to compare the cross-section image with the frequency-division image. On the other hand, according to the terahertz imaging analysis of the oil paintings, the internal structural damage marks of 'Boy' and 'Girl' were confirmed, and the artist's painting style was confirmed in 'Hyehwadong Landscape.' The above results are expected to be useful for the analysis and diagnosis of Korean modern oil paintings for their preservation.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.24
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• pp.117-132
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• 2020

The painting layer of Payathonzu temple mural paintings in the ruins of Bagan Myanmar has been damaged due to various reasons. In this study, the applicability of Neem resin, a traditional Myanmar adhesive, as a fixative on the painting layer was examined. Cow glue and Paraloid B-72 were selected as fixatives in the comparison group, and pseudo-specimens with conditions similar to the original mural paintings were produced to examine the changes before and after applying the fixatives and according to the deterioration experiments. As a result of conducting the experiments and comparing the fixatives, it was found that changes on the surface such as smudge, yellowing and gloss are greater with the application of higher concentration of Neem resin than with other fixatives. However, such changes were relatively small under the condition of 4% concentration. It was also confirmed that chromaticity and glossiness vary greatly between before- and after-application of the fixatives but that such discrepancies tend to decrease at 4% concentration compared to other concentrations. As for fixation strength, it was found that the fixation capacity of Neem resin on the base and painting layers is overall higher than other fixatives as the concentration is increased. Therefore, the applicability of 4% concentration of Neem resin as a fixative on the painting layer was confirmed considering the low surface changes according to environmental factors, low color discrepancy and glossiness, and characteristics of excellent fixation strength. It is believed that the findings of this study could be used as basic data for the preservation of Payathonzu temple mural paintings in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.691-703
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• 2013

The costume culture of ladies in late Goryeo is an important and rare source for cultural fashion souvenir design. This study investigates the historical costume design sources of late Goryeo to suggest high quality traditional and practical ornament souvenir designs for female dolls as well as examples of coordination with doll costumes. The costume culture of late Goryeo contained golden Buddhism and a revival of $12^{th}$ century Goryeo costume characteristic after the period of Mongolian influences from the Yuan. The main sources for doll ornament designs are $14^{th}$ century Buddhist paintings, a few ornament relics of Goryeo, ancient literature, and portraits of ladies in the $14^{th}$ century that originated from five doll's traditional ornaments (lotus hairpin, cloud-shaped hairpin, Buddhist flower hair ornament, vase-shaped Binyeo, and bell of animalhuman face) and three wig designs (wigs from Buddhist paintings and portraits, and hairpiece) with bleached gilding silver, silk, various gemstones and synthetic hair. These doll ornament and wig designs imply the symbol of Buddhism, exorcism, and costume culture of $14^{th}$ century Goryeo ladies that can be matched with two doll gowns, half-sleeved jacket, skirt, two Jogoris, apron, under trousers as formal, semi-formal, and town-wear according to the T.P.O of late Goryeo; in addition, five ornaments can be used as owner's ornaments. The partial changing colors and materials due to the characteristics of doll ornament goods as well as better communication between researcher and constructor remain to be improved.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.11 no.3 s.31
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• pp.105-120
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• 2002

Eight drawings of Sukcheon-je-a-do are the architectural drawings of the government offices. These were drawn in the representation of Sabang-jeondo-myobeob. Sabang-jeondo-myobeob is one of Korean traditional drawing type, that is constructed with turned-over elevations drawn on the site plan. The analytic observation viewed in the iconographical diagrams of eight drawings led me following conclusions. First, the most typical expression of Sabang-jeondo-myobeob can be summarized as the combination of three elevations toward the inside and one elevation toward the outside. The former is expression of territoriality, and the latter is expression of the facade. Second, in Sabang-jeondo-myobeob both elevations of crosswise direction and of lengthwise direction are described at the viewpoint of eye level. And they center around the courtyards with intent to describe the relation between buildings and the outdoor space. Third, the facade of pavilions, disposed on the crosswise direction in Sabang-jeondo-myobeob, are described with the both viewpoint of down-view and up-view. It is the expression peculiar to Korean traditional drawings, that describes the depth and richness on the facade of traditional wooden architecture. Fourth, some pavilions and landscapes are described in Pyonghaeng-saseon-dobeob, that is familiar drawing type in the Korean traditional paintings. From this expression we can deduce that the traditional architectural drawings such as Sukcheon-je-a-do were constructed by the traditional landscape painters.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.62 no.7
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• pp.54-66
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• 2012

This research analyzes the late Joseon's variously developed characteristics of women's underwear and its formative elements, and ultimately aims to apply such characteristics to designing modern outfits. The main purpose of the presented work is to give guidelines on utilizing the fashion legacy in a various way, and inheriting the traditional concept of beauty by developing it into modern fashion designs. The designing and producing of the work is based on the analysis of previous researches, genre paintings, and traditional costumes in museums. Based on this research, the application of traditional underwear design to today's outfits involves the following points. First, the presented work features the formative outlines of traditional underwear as an inspiration for outer garments. Secondly, various traditional textiles are used such as ramie fabrics, damask silk, silk fabrics, fur, etc. for four seasons and they are turned to practical use for modern outfits. Third, colors of choice are white and low saturation colors to create an elegant and serene atmosphere. Finally, traditional sewing techniques are specifically applied to modern fashion designs. Included are: Nubim technique, Gob-sol technique, and the patching method. This work pursues the design of practical use by tying up clothes with straps and knots to prevent them from falling off.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture Conference
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• 2007.10b
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• pp.19-29
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• 2007

The making of mountains and waters are recognized as essential to traditional Chinese landscapes and it is this concept that guided the Beijing Olympic Landscape, "Axis to Nature". The Olympic landscape extends the central axis of Beijing north until it is punctuated by the Forest Park Hill and dissipated by Forest Park Lake. Traditional landscape gardens, paintings, and poetry were researched and the plan assessed by eminent scholars and experts to conceive and construct an ecological park that features unique design and traditional Chinese landscape art.

• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.8
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• pp.33-58
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• 2009

This paper examines four genre paintings on the subject of child education by Jean-Baptiste-Sim${\'{e}}$on Chardin(1699-1779). The Governess, The Diligent Mother, Saying Grace, and The Morning Toilette garnered critical attention after they were exhibited in the Salon from 1739 to 1741. After the exhibition, the paintings were made into prints and frequently sold to members of the bourgeois class in Paris. The iconographical details of Chardin's genre paintings have, thus far, been compared to Dutch genre pictures of the seventeenth century. Further, most studies conducted on Chardin's paintings focus on formal analysis rather than the historical and social contexts. Through attempting social-contextual readings of Chardin's educational series, this paper argues that the significance of Chardin's painting series of child education lies in his representation of the ideal French bourgeois family and the standard of early childhood education in the eighteenth-century French Enlightenment period. In each of the four child education paintings, Chardin depicted a mother with children in a domestic space. Even though this theme derives from traditional Dutch genre paintings in the seventeenth century, the visual motifs, the pictorial atmosphere and the painting techniques of Chardin all project the social culture of eighteenth century France. Each painting in the child education series exemplifies respectively the attire of a French gentlemen, the social view on womanhood and the education of girls, newly established table manners, and the dressing up culture in a 'toilette' in eighteenth century France. Distinct from other educational scenes in previous genre paintings, Chardin accentuated the naive and innocent characteristics of a child and exemplified the mother's warmth toward that child in her tender facial expressions and gesturing. These kinds of expressions illustrate the newly structured standard of education in the French Enlightenment period. Whereas medieval people viewed children as immature and useless, people in the eighteenth century began to recognize children for their more positive features. They compared children to a blank piece of paper (tabula rasa), which signified children's innocence, and suggested that children possess neither good nor bad virtues. This positive perspective on children slowly transformed the pedagogical methods. Teaching manuals instructed governesses and mothers to respect each child's personality rather than be strict and harsh to them. Children were also allotted more playtimes, which explains the display of various toys in the backgrounds of Chardin's series of four paintings. Concurrently, the interior, where this exemplary education was executed, alludes to the virtue of the bourgeois's moderate and thrifty daily life in eighteenth century France. While other contemporary painters preferred to depict the extravagant living space of a French bourgeoisie, Chardin portrayed a rather modest and cozy home interior. In contrast to the highly decorated living space of aristocrats, he presented the realistic, humble domestic space of a bourgeois, filled with modern household objects. In addition, the mother is exceptionally clad in working clothes instead of fashionable dresses of the moment. Fit to take care of household affairs and children, the mother represents the ideal virtues of a bourgeois family. It can be concluded that the four genre paintings of child education by Chardin articulate the new standards of juvenile education in eighteenth century France as well as the highly recognized social virtues between French bourgeois families. Thus, Chardin's series of child education would have functioned as a demonstration of the ideal living standards of the bourgeois class and their emphasis on early childhood education in the French Enlightenment period.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.915-929
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• 2000

As a result of research, the character of the general dress-costumes from the late 17th century to the early 18th century in Genre Paintings of DuSeo Yun and YoungSeok Cho is as follows. Firstly young women wore braided hair at the back of head and married women wore hair in the style of Unjeun-mori with Gache. The length of Jeogori (Korean traditional jacket) covered waistor shortened to waist length. The width of Jeongori was suitable, because side-seam line was straight or oblique as it comes into inner line. The width of Git was enough and Mokpan-git (shape of board) and Kal-kit (shape of knife) appeared, and sometimes used other color fabric. Sleeve was narrow and ostly folded up. Chima (Korean traditional skirt) used darker color fabric than Jeogori and the width of Chima was narrow and its length was short. Sokbaji (Korean traditional underpants) shown below were narrow and its end narrower. They were barefoot or they wore Hye (Korean traditional shoes) after putting on Beoseon (Korean traditional socks). Secondly general man's hair tie a topknot (sangtu) and put on headdres, 'Bang-lip', 'Mang-geon', hairband, 'Tang-geon' on head. The length of Jeogori became shorter from the line which covered hip to the line which covered waist. The width of Jeogori was suitable and sometimes it had a slit of side-seam line. The width of Git (neckand) was wide and the length of Git was long. 'Kal-git'appeared and it used other color fabric. The shape of sleeve was straight and narrow. They folded up their sleeves. They folded up their sleeves. They folded up their slack that look like 'Jam-bang-i'and the width of slacks was not suitable, and it was narrow. Baji (Korean traditional pants) were with or without knot, worn 'Hangjeon'(ankle band). They were barefoot and wore 'Hye'or 'Jipsin'(Korean traditional straw shoes). Thirdly a person of high birth or a low-ranked official put 'Yu-geon', 'Mang-geon', 'Gat', 'Tang-geon', 'Bok-du', 'Bok-geon', 'Whi-hang'on their head on a topknot. They wore 'Po (Shim-ui, Jick-ryeong'Jung-chi-mak, Do-po, etc)'on Baji and Jeogori. 'Po'was long and wide, it knot with 'Se-jo-dae'(string belt) or 'Po-baek-dae'(band belt). It had a slit of sideline and 'Mu'which had or had not or which were hard to confirm. The shape of sleeve was straight or very wide and its length was long. The width of Baji was wide and knotted with 'Hangjeon'and wore'Beoseon'and 'Hye'. Fourthly child's hair was short or knotted to the back of the head. The length of Jeogori reached waist line and its width was wide. It had a 'Jeogori'which had s slit of sideline. The shape of sleeve was 'Tong-su'(straight), and the length of sleeve was diverse. They put 'Baeja'on 'Jeogori'. The width of Baji was not wide. They wore them straight without or with knot, 'Hangjeon'. They were barefoot or put on 'Jipsin'.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2011

The results of tracking the symbolism of plants in the introduction factors of Sokhwa(folk painting) are as the following. 1. The term Sokhwa(俗畵) is not only a type of painting with a strong local customs, but also carries a symbolic meaning and was discovered in "Donggukisanggukjip" of Lee, Gyu-Bo(1268~1241) in the Goryo era as well as the various usage in the "Sok Dongmunseon" in the early Chosun era, "Sasukjaejip" of Gang, Hee-mang(1424~1483), "Ilseongrok(1786)" in the late Chosun era, "Jajeo(自著)" of Yoo, Han-joon(1732~1811), and "Ojuyeonmunjangjeonsango(五洲衍文長箋散稿)" of Lee, Gyu-gyung(1788~?). Especially, according to the Jebyungjoksokhwa allegation〈題屛簇俗畵辯證說〉in the Seohwa of the Insa Edition of Ojuyeonmunjangjeonsango, there is a record that the "people called them Sokhwa." 2. Contemporarily, the Korean Sokhwa underwent the prehistoric age that primitively reflected the natural perspective on agricultural culture, the period of Three States that expressed the philosophy of the eternal spirits and reflected the view on the universe in colored pictures, the Goryo Era that religiously expressed the abstract shapes and supernatural patterns in spacein symbolism, and the Chosun Era that established the traditional Korean identity of natural perspective, aesthetic values and symbolism in a complex integration in the popular culture over time. 3. The materials that were analyzed in 1,009 pieces of Korean Sokhwa showed 35 species of plants, 37 species of animals, 6 types of natural objects and other 5 types with a total of 83 types. 4. The shape aesthetics according to the aesthetic analysis of the plants in Sokhwa reflect the primitive world view of Yin/yang and the Five Elements in the peony paintings and dynamic refinement and biological harmonies in the maehwado; the composition aesthetics show complex multi-perspective composition with a strong noteworthiness in the bookshelf paintings, a strong contrast of colors with reverse perspective drawing in the battlefield paintings, and the symmetric beauty of simple orderly patterns in nature and artificial objects with straight and oblique lines are shown in the leisurely reading paintings. In terms of color aesthetics, the five colors of directions - east, west, south, north and the center - or the five basic colors - red, blue, yellow, white and black - are often utilized in ritual or religious manners or symbolically substitute the relative relationships with natural laws. 5. The introduction methods in the Korean Sokhwa exceed the simple imitation of the natural shapes and have been sublimated to the symbolism that is related to nature based on the colloquial artistic characteristics with the suspicion of the essence in the universe. Therefore, the symbolism of the plants and animals in the Korean Sokhwas is a symbolic recognition system, not a scientific recognition system with a free and unique expression with a complex interaction among religious, philosophical, ecological and ideological aspects, as a identity of the group culture of Koreans where the past and the future coexist in the present. This is why the Koran Sokhwa or the folk paintings can be called a cultural identity and can also be interpreted as a natural and folk meaningful scenic factor that has naturally integrated into our cultural lifestyle. However, the Sokhwa(folk paintings) that had been closely related to our lifestyle drastically lost its meaning and emotions through the transitions over time. As the living lifestyle predominantly became the apartment culture and in the historical situations where the confusion of the identity has deepened, the aesthetic and the symbolic values of the Sokhwa folk paintings have the appropriateness to be transmitted as the symbolic assets that protect our spiritual affluence and establish our identity.