A Study on the History and Species of Street Trees in Seoul (서울시 가로수 역사와 수목 고찰)
-
- Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
- /
- v.38 no.4
- /
- pp.58-67
- /
- 2020
The present study was conducted as part of basic research for selecting species of street trees with historical value in Seoul. It also made up a list of traditional landscape trees for a variety of alternatives. The following results are shown below. As to the history of street trees in Korea, records on to-be-estimated street trees are found in historical documents written in King Yangwon during the second year of Goguryeo Dynasty (546) and King Myeongjong during 27 year of Goryeo (1197). However, it is assumed that lack of clarity is found in historical records. During the 23 year of King Sejong in the early Joseon Dynasty (1441), the record showed that the state planted street trees as guideposts on the postal road. The records revealed that Ulmus spp. and Salix spp. were planted as guidance trees. The street tree system was performed in the early Joseon Dynasty as recorded in the first year of King Danjong document. Pinus densiflora, Pinus koraiensis, Pyrus pyrifolia var. culta, Castanea crenata, Styphnolobium japonicum and Salix spp. were planted along the avenue at both left and right sides. Morus alba were planted on streets during the five year of King Sejo (1459). As illustrated in pieces Apgujeong by painter Jeongseon and Jinheonmajeongsaekdo in the reign of King Yeongjo, street trees were planted. This arrangement is associated with a number of elements such as king procession, major entrance roads in Seoul, place for horse markets, prevention of roads from flood and indication. In the reign of King Jeongjo, there are many cases related to planting Pinus densiflora, Abies holophylla and Salix spp. for king procession. Turning king roads and related areas into sanctuaries is considered as technique for planting street trees. During the 32 year of King Gojong after opening ports (1985), the state promoted planting trees along both sides of roads. At the time, many Populus davidiana called white poplars were planted as rapidly growing street trees. There are 17 taxa in the Era of Three Kingdoms records, 31 taxa in Goryeo Dynasty records and 55 taxa in Joseon Dynasty records, respectively, described in historical documents to be available for being planted as street trees in Seoul. 16 taxa are recorded in three periods, which are Era of Three Kingdoms, Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon Dynasty. These taxa can be seen as relatively excellent ones in terms of historical value. The introduction of alien plants and legal improvement in the Japanese colonial period resulted in modernization of street tree planting system. Under the six-year street tree planting plan (1934-1940) implemented as part of expanding metropolitan areas outside the capital launched in 1936, four major street trees of top 10 taxa were a Populus deltoides, Populus nigra var. italica, Populus davidiana, Populus alba. The remaining six trees were Salix babylonica, Robinia pseudoacacia, platanus orientalis, Platanus occidentalis, Ginkgo biloba, and Acer negundo. Beginning in the mid- and late 1930s, platanus orientalis, Platanus occidentalis were introduced into Korea as new taxa of street trees and planted in many regions. Beginning on 1942, Ailanthus altissima was recommended as street trees for the purpose of producing silks. In 1957 after liberation, major street tree taxa included Platanus occidentalis, Ginkgo biloba, Populus nigra var. italica, Ailanthus altissima, Populus deltoides and Salix babylonica. The rank of major street tree species planted in the Japanese colonial period had changed. Tree planting trend around that period primarily representing Platanus occidentalis and Ginkgo biloba still holds true until now.
The aim of this study is to examine various life conditions of actors of Joseon periods in unofficial historical stories. Yadam Literature(Korean unofficial historical stories) had been collected Sadaebu(the past Korean nobility and Confucian intelligentsia) among the people that stories had been handed down orally. and they had been wrote them. So Yadam Literature was heterozygous between the folk culture and the ruling class. And it was mixed and adapted legends and folktales, adding literary imagination. had a decisive role to cultivating novel that owed much to prosaic inspiration during A. D. 18~19. Besides, set a high value on excellent novel itself. Yadam Literature had a verisimilitude because it described a contemporary reality as it was founded on freely prosaic inspiration. In those days, so called Suchok and Seunggwangdae had performed Uhee(a comic theatrical performance) in Joseon periods. Suchok was the lowest class of people and Seunggwangdae was performing Buddhist monk in that time. Uhee had performed three kinds of comedies. One satirized and insinuated kings. Other satirized corrupt officials, too. Another had mimic everything. It is famous at that time as a king knew repertoire. Confucian scholars very were fond of Uhee in those ages. Because they favored a criticism of Uhee's satire. They thought that it gave people good lesson or instruction. Heri Bergson said that comic and Humor included lesson. At that time, those thought were universal in the world whether east or west. At any rate, I classify six kinds of types Uhee in Yadam Literature. First, satirizing and accusing corrupt officials. Second, an actor who use a satire in order to appeal secure a government position of his lord to a king. Third, shamans and actors who use a satire in order to appeal sufferings themselves to a king. Forth, actors and performing Buddhist monks that skillfully mimic anything. Fifth, describing actor's extremely miserable life. Sixth, wit and humor of actors. The contents of Uhee were various. Korean traditional actors adeptly dealt with aspects comic of wit, satire, humor, etc. Sometimes they used changeable transition them. By doing that, a great number of people enjoyed fully the sense of freedom. Korean traditional actors were the lowest class of people. They had lived extremely miserable life. But they had been exist as actions, interactions, and relationship in society those days. they were not only open to people, but also might foster community to peoples.
As described above, the location of Jagiso eunchon in Goheung-hyeon and the nature of Undae-ri kiln site were examined. Goheung-hyeon's administrative agency was moved to Joyang-hyeon, which is now Joseong-myeon, Boseong-gun in 1395. Therefore, Goheung-hyeon Jagiso Eunchon in Sejongsillok Jiriji corresponding to 1424~1432 should be found in the west of Joseong-myeon, Boseong, where the administrative agency was moved in 1395. Among the four boundaries of Goheung-hyeon recorded in the 『Sejongsillok』 Jiriji, it is recorded as 2-ri by the sea in the south and 8-ri by Nakan in the east. If the current Goheung-hyeon is Goheung-hyeon's administrative agency in the Sejongsillok Jiriji Records Compilation Period, it cannot be the boundary the south and east mentioned above. This is because it cannot be 2-ri from the current Goheung-eup to the sea in the south, and Nakan is close to the north, not the east, as recorded. However, it has already been suggested that Joyanghyeonseong(朝陽縣城), located in Gonae Village, Ucheon-ri, Josung-myeon, Boseonggun is an Goheunghyeon's administrative agency. And if the four-way boundary of Goheung-hyeon was converted into the current distance unit based on this place(Joyanghyeonseong, 朝陽縣城), an approximate result could be obtained even if it did not exactly match. Therefore, it is highly likely that Goheung-hyeon's administrative agency, which was moved to Joyang-hyeon, Boseong in 1395, is Gonae Village, Ucheon-ri, JoSeong-myeon, Boseong. Jagiso eunchon(犾村) in Goheung-hyeon can be interpreted as a "dog-shouting village." It is thought to be a meaning structure of "animal + sound". A place name thought to have the same structure was identified in Jeongheung-ri, west of Ucheon-ri, Joseongmyeon, Boseong. It is the name of a village called Hoeum-dong(虎吟洞), and it is interpreted as the sound of a tiger or the bark of a tiger, which is the same as the meaning structure of Eunchon. However, there is Gaesan Village in the south of Hoeum-dong, and a Buncheong ware kiln site was identified around it. At this kiln site, a fragment of carved Buncheong ware engraved with the character "Eon", which corresponds to the right stroke of the character "Seom (贍)" in the name "Naeseom (內贍)" was identified. A small amount of Buncheong ware and Joseon celadon pieces were also identified. It can be seen that the Buncheong ware paid to the government was made by checking the Buncheong ware with the government name engraved on it. On the west side of Joyanghyeonseong Fortress in Ucheon-ri, joseong-myeon, Boseong, which was the administrative agency of Goheung-hyeon and the area around the Gaesan Buncheong ware kiln site in Jeongheung-ri, where the Buncheong ware paid to the government was, is thought to be Jagiso Eunchon, Goheung-hyeon. Jagiso and Dogiso are located in the four directions based on the administrative agency. Naturally, the location of Jagiso and Dogiso is also determined on where the administrative agency of Hyeon is. Since the Goheung-hyeon's administrative agency in the early Joseon Dynasty was moved to Ucheon-ri, joseong-myeon, Boseong-myeon, it is necessary to naturally find Jagiso and Dogiso in Boseong. In addition, regarding the nature of the kiln site in Undae-ri, the aspects of the excavated relics were considered. As a result, it is believed that the Undae-ri kiln site functioned as a jagiso in Heungyang-hyeon from February 1441 to the 1470s. If so, the "Ye" Buncheong ware, which was collected around Undae-ri kiln No. 7, could be naturally understood.
The Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains comprises sixty real scenery landscape paintings depicting Geumgangsan Mountain, the Haegeumgang River, and the eight scenic views of Gwandong regions, as well as fifty-one pieces of writing. It is a rare example in terms of its size and painting style. The paintings in this album, which are densely packed with natural features, follow the painting style of the Southern School yet employ crude and unconventional elements. In them, stones on the mountains are depicted both geometrically and three-dimensionally. Since 1973, parts of this album have been published in some exhibition catalogues. The entire album was opened to the public at the special exhibition "Through the Eyes of Joseon Painters: Real Scenery Landscapes of Korea" held at the National Museum of Korea in 2019. The Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains was attributed to Kim Eung-hwan (1742-1789) due to the signature on the final leaf of the album and the seal reading "Bokheon(painter's penname)" on the currently missing album leaf of Chilbodae Peaks. However, there is a strong possibility that this signature and seal may have been added later. This paper intends to reexamine the creator of this album based on a variety of related factors. In order to understand the production background of Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains, I investigated the eighteenth-century tradition of drawing scenic spots while travelling in which scenery of was depicted during private travels or official excursions. Jeong Seon(1676-1759), Sim Sa-jeong(1707-1769), Kim Yun-gyeom(1711-1775), Choe Buk(1712-after 1786), and Kang Se-hwang(1713-1791) all went on a journey to Geumgangsan Mountain, the most famous travel destination in the late Joseon period, and created paintings of the mountain, including Album of Pungak Mountain in the Sinmyo Year(1711) by Jeong Seon. These painters presented their versions of the traditional scenic spots of Inner Geumgangsan and newly depicted vistas they discovered for themselves. To commemorate their private visits, they produced paintings for their fellow travelers or sponsors in an album format that could include several scenes. While the production of paintings of private travels to Geumgangsan Mountain increased, King Jeongjo(r. 1776-1800) ordered Kim Eung-hwan and Kim Hong-do, court painters at the Dohwaseo(Royal Bureau of Painting), to paint scenic spots in the nine counties of the Yeongdong region and around Geumgangsan Mountain. King Jeongjo selected these two as the painters for the official excursion taking into account their relationship, their administrative experience as regional officials, and their distinct painting styles. Starting in the reign of King Yeongjo(r. 1724-1776), Kim Eung-hwan and Kim Hong-do served as court painters at the Dohwaseo, maintained a close relationship as a senior and a junior and as colleagues, and served as chalbang(chief in large of post stations) in the Yeongnam region. While Kim Hong-do was proficient at applying soft and delicate brushstrokes, Kim Eung-hwan was skilled at depicting the beauty of robust and luxuriant landscapes. Both painters produced about 100 scenes of original drawings over fifty days of the official excursion. Based on these original drawings, they created around seventy album leaves or handscrolls. Their paintings enriched the tradition of depicting scenic spots, particularly Outer Inner Geumgang and the eight scenic views of Gwandong around Geumgangsan Mountain during private journeys in the eighteenth century. Moreover, they newly discovered places of scenic beauty in the Outer Geungang and Yeongdong regions, establishing them as new painting themes. The Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains consists of four volumes. The volumes I, II include twenty-nine paintings of Inner Geumgangsan; the volume III, seventeen scenes of Outer Geumgangsan; and the volume IV, fourteen images of Maritime Geumgangsan and the eight scenic views of Gwandong. These paintings produced on silk show crowded compositions, geometrical depictions of the stones and the mountains, and distinct presentation of the rocky peaks of Geumgangsan Mountain using white and grayish-blue pigments. This album reflects the Joseon painting style of the mid- and late eighteenth century, integrating influences from Jeong Seon, Kang Se-hwang, Sim Sa-jeong, Jeong Chung-yeop(1725-after 1800), and Kim Hong-do. In particular, some paintings in the album show similarities to Kim Hong-do's Album of Famous Mountains in Korea in terms of its compositions and painterly motifs. However, "Yeongrangho Lake," "Haesanjeong Pavilion," and "Wolsongjeong Pavilion" in Kim Eung-hwan's album differ from in the version by Kim Hong-do. Thus, Kim Eung-hwan was influenced by Kim Hong-do, but produced his own distinctive album. The Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains includes scenery of "Jaundam Pool," "Baegundae Peak," "Viewing Birobong Peak at Anmunjeom groove," and "Baekjeongbong Peak," all of which are not depicted in other albums. In his version, Kim Eung-hwan portrayed the characteristics of the natural features in each scenic spot in a detailed and refreshing manner. Moreover, he illustrated stones on the mountains using geometric shapes and added a sense of three-dimensionality using lines and planes. Based on the painting traditions of the Southern School, he established his own characteristics. He also turned natural features into triangular or rectangular chunks. All sixty paintings in this album appear rough and unconventional, but maintain their internal consistency. Each of the fifty-one writings included in the Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains is followed by a painting of a scenic spot. It explains the depicted landscape, thus helping viewers to understand and appreciate the painting. Intimately linked to each painting, the related text notes information on traveling from one scenic spot to the next, the origins of the place names, geographic features, and other related information. Such encyclopedic documentation began in the early nineteenth century and was common in painting albums of Geumgangsan Mountain in the mid- nineteenth century. The text following the painting of Baekhwaam Hermitage in the Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains documents the reconstruction of the Baekhwaam Hermitage in 1845, which provides crucial evidence for dating the text. Therefore, the owner of the Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains might have written the texts or asked someone else to transcribe them in the mid- or late nineteenth century. In this paper, I have inferred the producer of the Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains to be Kim Eung-hwan based on the painting style and the tradition of drawing scenic spots during official trips. Moreover, its affinity with the Handscroll of Pungak Mountain created by Kim Ha-jong(1793-after 1878) after 1865 is another decisive factor in attributing the album to Kim Eung-hwan. In contrast to the Album of Famous Mountains in Korea by Kim Hong-do, the Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains exerted only a minor influence on other painters. The Handscroll of Pungak Mountain by Kim Ha-jong is the sole example that employs the subject matter from the Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains and follows its painting style. In the Handscroll of Pungak Mountain, Kim Ha-jong demonstrated a painting style completely different from that in the Album of Seas and Mountains that he produced fifty years prior in 1816 for Yi Gwang-mun, the magistrate of Chuncheon. He emphasized the idea of "scholar thoughts" by following the compositions, painterly elements, and depictions of figures in the painting manual style from Kim Eung-hwan's Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains. Kim Ha-jong, a member of the Gaeseong Kim clan and the eldest grandson of Kim Eung-hwan, is presumed to have appreciated the paintings depicted in the nature of Album of Complete Views of Seas and Mountains, which had been passed down within the family, and newly transformed them. Furthermore, the contents and narrative styles of Yi Yu-won's writings attached to the paintings in the Handscroll of Pungak Mountain are similar to those of the fifty-one writings in Kim Eunghwan's album. This suggests a possible influence of the inscriptions in Kim Eung-hwan's album or the original texts from which these inscriptions were quoted upon the writings in Kim Ha-jong's handscroll. However, a closer examination will be needed to determine the order of the transcription of the writings. The Album of Complete View of Seas and Mountains differs from Kim Hong-do's paintings of his official trips and other painting albums he influenced. This album is a siginificant artwork in that it broadens the understanding of the art world of Kim Eung-hwan and illustrates another layer of real scenery landscape paintings in the late eighteenth century.
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.
Land was originally communized by a community in the primitive society of Korea, and in the age of the ancient society SAM KUK-SILLA, KOKURYOE and PAEK JE-it was distributed under the principle of land-nationalization. But by the occupation of the lands which were permitted to transmit from generation to generation as Royal Grant Lands and newly cleared lands, the private occupation had already begun to be formed. Thus the private ownership of land originated by chiefs of the tribes had a trend to be gradually pervaded to the communal members. After the, SILLA Kingdom unified SAM KUK in 668 A.D., JEONG JEON System and KWAN RYO JEON System, which were the distribution systems of farmlands originated from the TANG Dynasty in China, were enforced to established the basis of an absolute monarchy. Even in this age the forest area was jointly controlled and commonly used by village communities because of the abundance of area and stocked volume, and the private ownership of the forest land was prohibited by law under the influence of the TANG Dynasty system. Toward the end of the SILLA Dynasty, however, as its centralism become weak, the tendency of the private occupancy of farmland by influential persons was expanded, and at the same time the occupancy of the forest land by the aristocrats and Buddhist temples began to come out. In the ensuing KORYO Dynasty (519 to 1391 A.D.) JEON SI KWA System under the principle of land-nationalization was strengthened and the privilege of tax collection was transferred to the bureaucrats and the aristocrats as a means of material compensation for them. Taking this opportunity the influential persons began to expand their lands for the tax collection on a large scale. Therefore, about in the middle of 11th century the farmlands and the forest lands were annexed not only around the vicinity of the capital but also in the border area by influential persons. Toward the end of the KORYO Dynasty the royal families, the bureaucrats and the local lords all possessed manors and occupied the forest lands on a large scale as a part of their farmlands. In the KORYO Dynasty, where national economic foundation was based upon the lands, the disorder of the land system threatened the fall of the Dynasty and so the land reform carried out by General YI SEONG-GYE had led to the creation of ensuing YI Dynasty. All systems of the YI Dynasty were substantially adopted from those of the KORYO Dynasty and thereby KWA JEON System was enforced under the principle of land-nationalization, while the occupancy or the forest land was strictly prohibited, except the national or royal uses, by the forbidden item in KYEONG JE YUK JEON SOK JEON, one of codes provided by the successive kings in the YI Dynasty. Thus the basis of the forest land system through the YI Dynasty had been established, while the private forest area possessed by influential persons since the previous KORYO Dynasty was preserved continuously under the influence of their authorities. Therefore, this principle of the prohibition was nothing but a legal fiction for the security of sovereign powers. Consequently the private occupancy of the forest area was gradually enlarged and finally toward the end of YI Dynasty the privately possessed forest lands were to be officially authorized. The forest administration systems in the YI Dynasty are summarized as follows: a) KEUM SAN and BONG SAN. Under the principle of land-nationalization by a powerful centralism KWA JEON System was established at the beginning of the YI Dynasty and its government expropriated all the forests and prohibited strictly the private occupation. In order to maintain the dignity of the royal capital, the forests surounding capital areas were instituted as KEUM SAN (the reserved forests) and the well-stocked natural forest lands were chosen throughout the nation by the government as BONG SAN(national forests for timber production), where the government nominated SAN JIK(forest rangers) and gave them duties to protect and afforest the forests. This forest reservation system exacted statute labors from the people of mountainious districts and yet their commons of the forest were restricted rigidly. This consequently aroused their strong aversion against such forest reservation, therefore those forest lands were radically spoiled by them. To settle this difficult problem successive kings emphasized the preservation of the forests repeatedly, and in KYEONG KUK DAI JOEN, the written constitution of the YI Dynasty, a regulation for the forest preservation was provided but the desired results could not be obtained. Subsequently the split of bureaucrats with incessant feuds among politicians and scholars weakened the centralism and moreover, the foreign invasions since 1592 made the national land devasted and the rural communities impoverished. It happned that many wandering peasants from rural areas moved into the deep forest lands, where they cultivated burnt fields recklessly in the reserved forest resulting in the severe damage of the national forests. And it was inevitable for the government to increase the number of BONG SAN in order to solve the problem of the timber shortage. The increase of its number accelerated illegal and reckless cutting inevitably by the people living mountainuos districts and so the government issued excessive laws and ordinances to reserve the forests. In the middle of the 18th century the severe feuds among the politicians being brought under control, the excessive laws and ordinances were put in good order and the political situation became temporarily stabilized. But in spite of those endeavors evil habitudes of forest devastation, which had been inveterate since the KORYO Dynasty, continued to become greater in degree. After the conclusion of "the Treaty of KANG WHA with Japan" in 1876 western administration system began to be adopted, and thereafter through the promulgation of the Forest Law in 1908 the Imperial Forests were separated from the National Forests and the modern forest ownership system was fixed. b) KANG MU JANG. After the reorganization of the military system, attaching importance to the Royal Guard Corps, the founder of the YI Dynasty, TAI JO (1392 to 1398 A.D.) instituted the royal preserves-KANG MU JANG-to attain the purposes for military training and royal hunting, prohibiting strictly private hunting, felling and clearing by the rural inhabitants. Moreover, the tyrant, YEON SAN (1495 to 1506 A.D.), expanded widely the preserves at random and strengthened its prohibition, so KANG MU JANG had become the focus of the public antipathy. Since the invasion of Japanese in 1592, however, the innovation of military training methods had to be made because of the changes of arms and tactics, and the royal preserves were laid aside consequently and finally they had become the private forests of influential persons since 17th century. c) Forests for official use. All the forests for official use occupied by government officies since the KORYO Dynasty were expropriated by the YI Dynasty in 1392, and afterwards the forests were allotted on a fixed standard area to the government officies in need of firewoods, and as the forest resources became exhausted due to the depredated forest yield, each office gradually enlarged the allotted area. In the 17th century the national land had been almost devastated by the Japanese invasion and therefore each office was in the difficulty with severe deficit in revenue, thereafter waste lands and forest lands were allotted to government offices inorder to promote the land clearing and the increase in the collections of taxes. And an abuse of wide occupation of the forests by them was derived and there appeared a cause of disorder in the forest land system. So a provision prohibiting to allot the forests newly official use was enacted in 1672, nevertheless the government offices were trying to enlarge their occupied area by encroaching the boundary and this abuse continued up to the end of the YI Dynasty. d) Private forests. The government, at the bigninning of the YI Dynasty, expropriated the forests all over the country under the principle of prohibition of private occupancy of forest lands except for the national uses, while it could not expropriate completely all of the forest lands privately occupied and inherited successively by bureaucrats, and even local governors could not control them because of their strong influences. Accordingly the King, TAI JONG (1401 to 1418 A.D.), legislated the prohibition of private forest occupancy in his code, KYEONG JE YUK JEON (1413), and furthermore he repeatedly emphasized to observe the law. But The private occupancy of forest lands was not yet ceased up at the age of the King, SE JO (1455 to 1468 A.D.), so he prescribed the provision in KYEONG KUK DAI JEON (1474), an immutable law as a written constitution in the YI Dynasty: "Anyone who privately occupy the forest land shall be inflicted 80 floggings" and he prohibited the private possession of forest area even by princes and princesses. But, it seemed to be almost impossible for only one provsion in a code to obstruct the historical growing tendecy of private forest occupancy, for example, the King, SEONG JONG (1470 to 1494 A.D.), himself granted the forests to his royal families in defiance of the prohibition and thereafter such precedents were successively expanded, and besides, taking advantage of these facts, the influential persons openly acquired their private forest lands. After tyrannical rule of the King, YEON SAN (1945 to 1506 A.D.), the political disorder due to the splits to bureaucrats with successional feuds and the usurpations of thrones accelerated the private forest occupancy in all parts of the country, thus the forbidden clause on the private forest occupancy in the law had become merely a legal fiction since the establishment of the Dynasty. As above mentioned, after the invasion of Japanese in 1592, the courts of princes (KUNG BANGG) fell into the financial difficulties, and successive kings transferred the right of tax collection from fisherys and saltfarms to each KUNG BANG and at the same time they allotted the forest areas in attempt to promote the clearing. Availing themselves of this opportunity, royal families and bureaucrats intended to occupy the forests on large scale. Besides a privilege of free selection of grave yard, which had been conventionalized from the era of the KORYO Dynasty, created an abuse of occuping too wide area for grave yards in any forest at their random, so the King, TAI JONG, restricted the area of grave yard and homestead of each family. Under the policy of suppresion of Buddhism in the YI Dynasty a privilege of taxexemption for Buddhist temples was deprived and temple forests had to follow the same course as private forests did. In the middle of 18th century the King, YEONG JO (1725 to 1776 A.D.), took an impartial policy for political parties and promoted the spirit of observing laws by putting royal orders and regulations in good order excessively issued before, thus the confused political situation was saved, meanwhile the government officially permittd the private forest ownership which substantially had already been permitted tacitly and at the same time the private afforestation areas around the grave yards was authorized as private forests at least within YONG HO (a boundary of grave yard). Consequently by the enforcement of above mentioned policies the forbidden clause of private forest ownership which had been a basic principle of forest system in the YI Dynasty entireely remained as only a historical document. Under the rule of the King, SUN JO (1801 to 1834 A.D.), the political situation again got into confusion and as the result of the exploitation from farmers by bureaucrats, the extremely impoverished rural communities created successively wandering peasants who cleared burnt fields and deforested recklessly. In this way the devastation of forests come to the peak regardless of being private forests or national forests, moreover, the influential persons extorted private forests or reserved forests and their expansion of grave yards became also excessive. In 1894 a regulation was issued that the extorted private forests shall be returned to the initial propriators and besides taking wide area of the grave yards was prohibited. And after a reform of the administrative structure following western style, a modern forest possession system was prepared in 1908 by the forest law including a regulation of the return system of forest land ownership. At this point a forbidden clause of private occupancy of forest land got abolished which had been kept even in fictitious state since the foundation of the YI Dynasty. e) Common forests. As above mentioned, the forest system in the YI Dynasty was on the ground of public ownership principle but there was a high restriction to the forest profits of farmers according to the progressive private possession of forest area. And the farmers realized the necessity of possessing common forest. They organized village associations, SONGE or KEUM SONGE, to take the ownerless forests remained around the village as the common forest in opposition to influential persons and on the other hand, they prepared the self-punishment system for the common management of their forests. They made a contribution to the forest protection by preserving the common forests in the late YI Dynasty. It is generally known that the absolute monarchy expr opriates the widespread common forests all over the country in the process of chainging from thefeudal society to the capitalistic one. At this turning point in Korea, Japanese colonialists made public that the ratio of national and private forest lands was 8 to 2 in the late YI Dynasty, but this was merely a distorted statistics with the intention of rationalizing of their dispossession of forests from Korean owners, and they took advantage of dead forbidden clause on the private occupancy of forests for their colonization. They were pretending as if all forests had been in ownerless state, but, in truth, almost all the forest lands in the late YI Dynasty except national forests were in the state of private ownership or private occupancy regardless of their lawfulness.