• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.100
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• pp.50-80
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• 2021

This paper critically examines the history of the theories connected to the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda that have developed over the last 100 years focusing on the original number of stories the pagoda would have reached. Part II of this paper retraces the dynamic process of the rediscovery of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda by Westerners who traveled to Korea during the port-opening period. Koreans at the time viewed the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda as an object of no particular appeal or even as an eyesore. However, Westerners appreciated it as a wonder or magnificent sight. Since these Westerners had almost no prior knowledge of Buddhist pagodas, they were able to write objective travelogues. At the time, these visitors generally accepted the theory common among Joseon intellectuals that Wongaksa Temple Pagoda once had thirteen stories. Part III focuses on Japanese government-affiliated scholars' academic research on the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda after the proclamation of the Korean Empire and the Japanese Government-General of Korea's subsequent management of the pagoda as a cultural property during the colonial era. It also discusses issues with Japanese academic research and management. In particular, this portion sheds light on the shift in theories about the original number of stories of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda from the ten-story theory supported by Sekino Tadashi (關野 貞), whose ideas have held a great influence on this issue over the last 100 years, to the thirteen-story theory and then to the idea that it had more than thirteen. Finally, Part IV addresses the change from the multi-story theory to the ten-story theory in the years after Korea's liberation from Japan until 1962. Moreover, it highlights how Korean intellectuals of the Japanese colonial era predominantly accepted the thirteen-story theory. Since 1962, a considerable quantity of significant research on the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda has been published. However, since most of these studies have applied the ten-story theory suggested in 1962, they are not individually discussed in this paper. This retracing of the history of theories about the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda has verified that although there are reasonable grounds for supporting the thirteen-story theory, it has not been proved in the last 100 years. Moreover, the number of pagoda stories has not been fully discussed in academia. The common theory that both Wongaksa Temple Pagoda and Gyeongcheonsa Temple Pagoda were ten-story pagodas was first formulated by Sekino Tadashi 100 years ago. Since the abrasion of the Wongaksa Temple Stele was so severe the inscriptions on the stele were almost illegible, Sekino argued that the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda was a ten-story pagoda based on an architectural analysis of the then-current condition of the pagoda. Immediately after Sekino presented his argument, a woodblock-printed version of the inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele was found. This version included a phrase that a thirteen-story pagoda had been erected. In a similar vein, the Dongguk yeoji seungnam (Geographic Encyclopedia of Korea) published by the orders of King Seongjong in the late fifteenth century documented that Gyeongcheonsa Temple Pagoda, the model for the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda, was also a thirteen-story pagoda. The Wongaksa Temple Stele erected on the orders of King Sejo after the establishment of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda evidently shows that Sekino's ten-story premise is flawed. Sekino himself wrote that "as [the pagoda] consists of a three-story stereobate and a ten-story body, people call it a thirteen-story pagoda," although he viewed the number of stories of the pagoda body as that of the entire pagoda. The inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele also clearly indicate that the king ordered the construction of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda as a thirteen-story pagoda. Although unprecedented, this thirteen-story pagoda comprised a ten-story pagoda body over a three-story stereobate. Why would King Sejo have built a thirteen-story pagoda in an unusual form consisting of a ten-story body on top of a three-story stereobate? In order to fully understand King Sejo's intention in building a thirteen-story pagoda, analyzing the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda is necessary. This begins with the restoration of its original name. I disprove Sekino's ten-story theory built upon flawed premises and an eclectic over-thirteen-story theory and urge applying the thirteen-story theory, as the inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele stated that the pagoda was originally built as a thirteen-story pagoda.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.186-205
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• 2013

${\ll}$Three Purities Album${\gg}$ in the Kansong Art Museum is an album of poems and pictures of apricot tree, orchids and bamboos drawn by Lee Jeong. Given that the poems and pictures in the album were drawn by Lee Jeong who has been recognized as a person who established the standards of ink bamboo drawings in the Joseon Dynasty, the album is highly valuable. Nevertheless, there are more values and meanings that Three Purities Album has. The production circumstances and transmission processes of Three Purities Album include the historical characteristics and meanings of the time so that it is also worthwhile as a historical material. During the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, Lee Jeong was stabbed with a sword by Japanese invaders and got injured. After he suffered, he tried to make his masterpiece in his lifework and finally created Three Purities Album. For the work, Lee Jeong received memorial writings from Choi Rip, Cha Cheon-ro and Han Ho, and asked them writings. They were the best literary men in the poem and calligraphy fields at that time. Yu Geun, Lee An-nul, and Yu Mong-in made writings and poems to praise his work. Likewise, ${\ll}$Three Purities Album${\gg}$ is the 'treasure of the time' created through the participation of the best literary men at that time. Given the aspects, it is fair to say that ${\ll}$Three Purities Album${\gg}$ is not simply a personal artwork of Lee Jeong, but is a comprehensive artwork and also a cultural monument created through the skills and capabilities of the literary artists in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty. After the death of Lee Jeong, Three Purities Album was handed over to Hong Ju-won. But, during the second Manchu Invasion into Korea in 1636, the album was in danger of disappearance by fire. As of now, there are still signs of fire in it, which vividly shows the urgent situation at that time. After the second Manchu Invasion into Korea in 1636, Hong Ju-won recovered some damaged writings with the help of Yoon Shin-ji. Since then, the album had been handed down as a family treasure over the next 7 generations. It can be found in the writings by Song Si-yeol and Uh Yu-bong. Unlike the literary men who praised Three Purities Album in terms of its work when Lee Joeng was alive, they focused on the transmission courses of the album and involved persons. That seems to be because the stories and characters appearing in Three Purities Album impressed the later literary men and were meaningful to them rather than the album itself. It strongly reflected the positions of Hong Jung-gi and Hung Sang-han who asked for writings as the descendants of Hong Ju-won. That is because the traces of the persons involved in Three Purities Album are the causes for admiring their ancestors and enhancing their political legitimacy and family dignity. Therefore, in this aspect, it is possible to witness the fundamental causes of the unique artistic awareness by East Asian people who consider their historical meanings as well as the aesthetic value of artworks significant. Unfortunately, during the Japanese invasion at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, Three Purities Album was handed over to Japanese Tzuboikouso. But, fortunately, Jeon Hyeong-pil who made an effort to regain our cultural assets by investing his entire property during the Japanese Imperialism regained the album, which is now preserved in the Kansong Art Museum. ${\ll}$Three Purities Album${\gg}$ truly includes the whole processes to overcome national crises that Korean people experienced during the Japanese Invasion in 1592, the second Manchu Invasion of Korea in 1636, and the Japanese Imperialism, and it shows the sufferings of our cultural assets and the history of preservation. Also, the album shows that one artwork is able to accumulate its historical meanings in the process of transmission and thus enhances its meanings and values. ${\ll}$Three Purities Album${\gg}$ features accumulative and constant historical meanings and it is a typical case showing that an artwork is plenty of aesthetic and historical values. It is expected that this work will contribute to promoting more studies on finding historical meanings and hysteresis of artworks.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.96
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• pp.18-53
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• 2019

The paintings Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion were recently donated to the National Museum of Korea and unveiled to the public for the first time at the 2019 special exhibition "Through the Eyes of Joseon Painters: Real Scenery Landscapes of Korea." These two paintings carry significant implications for understanding Joseon art history. Because the fact that they were components of a folding screen produced after a sightseeing tour of the Gwandong regions in 1557 has led to a broadening of our understanding of sixteenth-century landscape painting. This paper explores the art historical meanings of Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion by examining the contents in the two paintings, dating them, analyzing their stylistic characteristics, and comparing them with other works. The production background of Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion can be found in the colophon of Chongseokjeong Pavilion. According to this writing, Sangsanilro, who is presumed to be Park Chung-gan (?-1601) in this paper, and Hong Yeon(?~?) went sightseeing around Geumgangsan Mountain (or Pungaksan Mountain) and the Gwandong region in the spring of 1557, wrote a travelogue, and after some time produced a folding screen depicting several famous scenic spots that they visited. Hong Yeon, whose courtesy name was Deokwon, passed the special civil examination in 1551 and has a record of being active until 1584. Park Chung-gan, whose pen name was Namae, reported the treason of Jeong Yeo-rip in 1589. In recognition of this meritorious deed, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, rewarded with the title of first-grade pyeongnan gongsin(meritorious subject who resolved difficulties), and raised to Lord of Sangsan. Based on the colophon to Chongseokjeong Pavilion, I suggest that the two paintings Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion were painted in the late sixteenth century, more specifically after 1557 when Park Chung-gan and Hong Yeon went on their sightseeing trip and after 1571 when Park, who wrote the colophon, was in his 50s or over. The painting style used in depicting the landscapes corresponds to that of the late sixteenth century. The colophon further states that Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion were two paintings of a folding screen. Chongseokjeong Pavilion with its colophon is thought to have been the final panel of this screen. The composition of Gyeongpodae Pavilion recalls the onesided three-layered composition often used in early Joseon landscape paintings in the style of An Gyeon. However, unlike such landscape paintings in the An Gyeon style, Gyeongpodae Pavilion positions and depicts the scenery in a realistic manner. Moreover, diverse perspectives, including a diagonal bird's-eye perspective and frontal perspective, are employed in Gyeongpodae Pavilion to effectively depict the relations among several natural features and the characteristics of the real scenery around Gyeongpodae Pavilion. The shapes of the mountains and the use of moss dots can be also found in Welcoming an Imperial Edict from China and Chinese Envoys at Uisungwan Lodge painted in 1557 and currently housed in the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University. Furthermore, the application of "cloud-head" texture strokes as well as the texture strokes with short lines and dots used in paintings in the An Gyeon style are transformed into a sense of realism. Compared to the composition of Gyeongpodae Pavilion, which recalls that of traditional Joseon early landscape painting, the composition of Chongseokjeong Pavilion is remarkably unconventional. Stone pillars lined up in layers with the tallest in the center form a triangle. A sense of space is created by dividing the painting into three planes(foreground, middle-ground, and background) and placing the stone pillars in the foreground, Saseonbong Peaks in the middle-ground, and Saseonjeong Pavilion on the cliff in the background. The Saseonbong Peaks in the center occupy an overwhelming proportion of the picture plane. However, the vertical stone pillars fail to form an organic relation and are segmented and flat. The painter of Chongseokjeong Pavilion had not yet developed a three-dimensional or natural spatial perception. The white lower and dark upper portions of the stone pillars emphasize their loftiness. The textures and cracks of the dense stone pillars were rendered by first applying light ink to the surfaces and then adding fine lines in dark ink. Here, the tip of the brush is pressed at an oblique angle and pulled down vertically, which shows an early stage of the development of axe-cut texture strokes. The contrast of black and white and use of vertical texture strokes signal the forthcoming trend toward the Zhe School painting style. Each and every contour and crack on the stone pillars is unique, which indicates an effort to accentuate their actual characteristics. The birds sitting above the stone pillars, waves, and the foam of breaking waves are all vividly described, not simply in repeated brushstrokes. The configuration of natural features shown in the above-mentioned Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion changes in other later paintings of the two scenic spots. In the Gyeongpodae Pavilion, Jukdo Island is depicted in the foreground, Gyeongpoho Lake in the middle-ground, and Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Odaesan Mountain in the background. This composition differs from the typical configuration of other Gyeongpodae Pavilion paintings from the eighteenth century that place Gyeongpodae Pavilion in the foreground and the sea in the upper section. In Chongseokjeong Pavilion, stone pillars are illustrated using a perspective viewing them from the sea, while other paintings depict them while facing upward toward the sea. These changes resulted from the established patterns of compositions used in Jeong Seon(1676~1759) and Kim Hong-do(1745~ after 1806)'s paintings of Gwandong regions. However, the configuration of the sixteenth-century Gyeongpodae Pavilion, which seemed to have no longer been used, was employed again in late Joseon folk paintings such as Gyeongpodae Pavilion in Gangneung. Famous scenic spots in the Gwandong region were painted from early on. According to historical records, they were created by several painters, including Kim Saeng(711~?) from the Goryeo Dynasty and An Gyeon(act. 15th C.) from the early Joseon period, either on a single scroll or over several panels of a folding screen or several leaves of an album. Although many records mention the production of paintings depicting sites around the Gwandong region, there are no other extant examples from this era beyond the paintings of Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion discussed in this paper. These two paintings are thought to be the earliest works depicting the Gwandong regions thus far. Moreover, they hold art historical significance in that they present information on the tradition of producing folding screens on the Gwandong region. In particular, based on the contents of the colophon written for Chongseokjeong Pavilion, the original folding screen is presumed to have consisted of eight panels. This proves that the convention of painting eight views of Gwangdong had been established by the late sixteenth century. All of the existing works mentioned as examples of sixteenth-century real scenery landscape painting show only partial elements of real scenery landscape painting since they were created as depictions of notable social gatherings or as a documentary painting for practical and/or official purposes. However, a primary objective of the paintings of Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion was to portray the ever-changing and striking nature of this real scenery. Moreover, Park Chung-gan wrote a colophon and added a poem on his admiration of the scenery he witnessed during his trip and ruminated over the true character of nature. Thus, unlike other previously known real-scenery landscape paintings, these two are of great significance as examples of real-scenery landscape paintings produced for the simple appreciation of nature. Gyeongpodae Pavilion and Chongseokjeong Pavilion are noteworthy in that they are the earliest remaining examples of the historical tradition of reflecting a sightseeing trip in painting accompanied by poetry. Furthermore, and most importantly, they broaden the understanding of Korean real-scenery landscape painting by presenting varied forms, compositions, and perspectives from sixteenth-century real-scenery landscape paintings that had formerly been unfound.