Abstract
There are records and claims that tung oil was applied to Korean traditional buildings and furniture as finishing paint. Records of the use of tung oil(桐油) exist in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty(朝鮮王朝實錄) and The Royal Protocols of the Joseon Dynasty(朝鮮王朝儀軌). However, there is also a claim that tung oil was not produced in Korea on its own, and that tung oil was not applied to important buildings such as palaces. Silhak scholar(實學者) Seo Yu-gu says that in Korea, people do not know how to grow tung trees, and boiled perilla oil is called tung oil. If tung oil was used in the Joseon Dynasty, it would be necessary to use tung oil for waterproof coating to preserve current architectural heritage, otherwise, tung oil coating would not be desirable. Analyzing the Yeonggeon Uigwe(營建儀軌) among the Joseon Dynasty's Uigwes shows that tung oil is neither mentioned nor used. In addition, as a result of analyzing the Uigwes mentioned in tung oil, it was found that perilla oil or Myeongyu(明油), not tung oil, was recorded in the actual material used. Therefore, the records of the use of tung oil during the Joseon Dynasty can be seen as records using Myeongyu(明油) or Beopryeon perilla oil(法煉荏油).