• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.97
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• pp.14-54
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• 2020

The overall study of Samsaebulhoedo (painting of the Assembly of Buddhas of Three Ages) at Yongjusa Temple has focused on dating it, analyzing the painting style, identifying its painter, and scrutinizing the related documents. However, its greater coherence could be achieved through additional support from empirical evidence and logical consistency. Recent studies on Samsaebulhoedo at Yongjusa Temple that postulate that the painting could have been produced by a monk-painter in the late nineteenth century and that an original version produced in 1790 could have been retouched by a painter in the 1920s using a Western painting style lack such empirical proof and logic. Although King Jeongjo's son was not yet installed as crown prince, the Samsaebulhoedo at Yongjusa Temple contained a conventional written prayer wishing for a long life for the king, queen, and crown prince: "May his majesty the King live long / May her majesty the Queen live long / May his highness the Crown Prince live long" (主上殿下壽萬歲, 王妃殿下壽萬歲, 世子邸下壽萬歲). Later, this phrase was erased using cinnabar and revised to include unusual content in an exceptional order: "May his majesty the King live long / May his highness the King's Affectionate Mother (Jagung) live long / May her majesty the Queen live long / May his highness the Crown Prince live long" (主上殿下壽萬歲, 慈宮邸下壽萬歲, 王妃殿下壽萬歲, 世子邸下壽萬歲). A comprehensive comparison of the formats and contents in written prayers found on late Joseon Buddhist paintings and a careful analysis of royal liturgy during the reign of King Jeongjo reveal Samsaebulhoedo at Yongjusa Temple to be an original version produced at the time of the founding of Yongjusa Temple in 1790. According to a comparative analysis of formats, iconography, styles, aesthetic sensibilities, and techniques found in Buddhist paintings and paintings by Joseon court painters from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Samsaebulhoedo at Yongjusa Temple bears features characteristic of paintings produced around 1790, which corresponds to the result of analysis on the written prayer. Buddhist paintings created up to the early eighteenth century show deities with their sizes determined by their religious status and a two-dimensional conceptual composition based on the traditional perspective of depicting close objects in the lower section and distant objects above. This Samsaebulhoedo, however, systematically places the Buddhist deities within a threedimensional space constructed by applying a linear perspective. Through the extensive employment of chiaroscuro as found in Western painting, it expresses white highlights and shadows, evoking a feeling that the magnificent world of the Buddhas of the Three Ages actually unfolds in front of viewers. Since the inner order of a linear perspective and the outer illusion of chiaroscuro shading are intimately related to each other, it is difficult to believe that the white highlights were a later addition. Moreover, the creative convergence of highly-developed Western painting style and techniques that is on display in this Samsaebulhoedo could only have been achieved by late-Joseon court painters working during the reign of King Jeongjo, including Kim Hongdo, Yi Myeong-gi, and Kim Deuksin. Deungun, the head monk of Yongjusa Temple, wrote Yongjusa sajeok (History of Yongjusa Temple) by compiling the historical records on the temple that had been transmitted since its founding. In Yongjusa sajeok, Deungun recorded that Kim Hongdo painted Samsaebulhoedo as if it were a historical fact. The Joseon royal court's official records, Ilseongnok (Daily Records of the Royal Court and Important Officials) and Suwonbu jiryeong deungnok (Suwon Construction Records), indicate that Kim Hongdo, Yi Myeong-gi, and Kim Deuksin all served as a supervisor (gamdong) for the production of Buddhist paintings. Since within Joseon's hierarchical administrative system it was considered improper to allow court painters of government position to create Buddhist paintings which had previously been produced by monk-painters, they were appointed as gamdong in name only to avoid a political liability. In reality, court painters were ordered to create Buddhist paintings. During their reigns, King Yeongjo and King Jeongjo summoned the literati painters Jo Yeongseok and Kang Sehwang to serve as gamdong for the production of royal portraits and requested that they paint these portraits as well. Thus, the boundary between the concept of supervision and that of painting occasionally blurred. Supervision did not completely preclude painting, and a gamdong could also serve as a painter. In this light, the historical records in Yongjusa sajeok are not inconsistent with those in Ilseongnok, Suwonbu jiryeong deungnok, and a prayer written by Hwang Deok-sun, which was found inside the canopy in Daeungjeon Hall at Yongjusa Temple. These records provided the same content in different forms as required for their purposes and according to the context. This approach to the Samsaebulhoedo at Yongjusa Temple will lead to a more coherent explanation of dating the painting, analyzing its style, identifying its painter, and interpreting the relevant documents based on empirical grounds and logical consistency.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.43
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• pp.5-46
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• 2021

The film Moranbong is the product of a trip to North Korea in 1958, when Armangati, Chris Marker, Claude Lantzmann, Francis Lemarck and Jean-Claude Bonardo left at the invitation of Joseon Film. However, for political reasons, the film was not immediately released, and it was not until 2010 that it was rediscovered and received attention. The movie consists of the narratives of Young-ran and Dong-il, set in the Korean War, that are folded into the narratives of Chunhyang and Mongryong in the classic Chunhyangjeon of Joseon. At this time, Joseon's classics are reproduced in the form of the drama Chunhyangjeon, which shares the time zone with the two main characters, and the two narratives are covered in a total of six scenes. There are two layers of middle-story frames in the movie, and if the same narrative is set in North Korea in the 1950s, there is an epic produced by the producers and actors of the Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon and the Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon as a complete work. In the outermost frame of the movie, Dong-il is the main character, but in the inner double frame, Young-ran, who is an actor growing up with the Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon and a character in the Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon, is the center. The following three OST albums are Corée Moranbong released in France in 1960, Musique de corée released in 1970, and 朝鮮の伝統音樂-唱劇 「春香伝」と伝統樂器- released in 1968 in Japan. While Corée Moranbong consists only of the music from the film Moranbong, the two subsequent albums included additional songs collected and recorded by Pyongyang National Broadcasting System. However, there is no information about the movie Moranbong on the album released in Japan. Under the circumstances, it is highly likely that the author of the record label or music commentary has not confirmed the existence of the movie Moranbong, and may have intentionally excluded related contents due to the background of the film's ban on its release. The results of analyzing the detailed scenes of the Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon, Farewell Song, Sipjang-ga, Chundangsigwa, Bakseokti and Prison Song in the movie Moranbong or OST album in the 1950s are as follows. First, the process of establishing the North Korean Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon in the 1950s was confirmed. The play, compiled in 1955 through the Joseon Changgeuk Collection, was settled in the form of a Changgeuk that can be performed in the late 1950s by the Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon between 1956 and 1958. Since the 1960s, Chunhyangjeon has no longer been performed as a traditional pansori-style Changgeuk, so the film Moranbong and the album Corée moranbong are almost the last records to capture the Changgeuk Chunhyangjeon and its music. Second, we confirmed the responses of the actors to the controversy over Takseong in the North Korean creative world in the 1950s. Until 1959, there was a voice of criticism surrounding Takseong and a voice of advocacy that it was also a national characteristic. Shin Woo-sun, who almost eliminated Takseong with clear and high-pitched phrases, air man who changed according to the situation, who chose Takseong but did not actively remove Takseong, Lim So-hyang, who tried to maintain his own tone while accepting some of modern vocalization. Although Cho Sang-sun and Lim So-hyang were also guaranteed roles to continue their voices, the selection/exclusion patterns in the movie Moranbong were linked to the Takseong removal guidelines required by North Korean musicians in the name of Dang and People in the 1950s. Second, Changgeuk actors' response to the controversy over the turbidity of the North Korean Changgeuk community in the 1950s was confirmed. Until 1959, there were voices of criticism and support surrounding Taksung in North Korea. Shin Woo-sun, who showed consistent performance in removing turbidity with clear, high-pitched vocal sounds, Gong Gi-nam, who did not actively remove turbidity depending on the situation, Cho Sang-sun, who accepted some of the vocalization required by the party, while maintaining his original tone. On the other hand, Cho Sang-seon and Lim So-hyang were guaranteed roles to continue their sounds, but the selection/exclusion patterns of Moranbong was independently linked to the guidelines for removing turbidity that the Gugak musicians who crossed to North Korea had been asked for.