• Sijohaknonchong
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• v.21
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• pp.77-110
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• 2004

This study is an exploration of a Korean-American writer, Hong-Eun's Mong-yu siga. Hong-Eun immigrated to the United States during the colonial rule of the Japanese government. He was a publisher of The New Korea Times, and contributed various literary works to it. The purpose of this study is to analyze his two Mong-yu sigas published in 1935 and 1947 and elucidate their meanings. Using dream as a primary motif, the intention of Mong-yu mode is to achieve desire which is impossible to reach in reality. While his staying in the United States, Hong-Eun could not return his home country for two reasons, that is, political and financial ones. To return Korea desperately, he wrote sigas by adopting Mong-yu mode. His first attempt was reflected as eight pieces of consecutive poetries titled This Mountain In My Dream, I am Home. This Mountain was published on the 25th of April, 1935 and In My Dream, I am Home was contributed from May the 9th of 1935 to July the fourth of the same year. These works were published in the The New Korea Times' poetry column under the pen name of Donghae-soboo , Representing gasa of the enlightenment era, this poetry depicts historical identity of Chosun dynasty, especially focusing on before and after the 1900s. As a result of it, the poetry sketches the ideology of the Middle Ages. His second attempt was A Country and Hometown written as a form of prelude on the 25th of September, 1947. In addition, A Country in My Dream was published as a form of six pieces of consecutive poetry from October the second to November the sixth of 1947. He chose sijo as a major form of poetry, and the image of the poetry seemed to be the continuation of his first attempt. Confronting the reality of the his own country which is divided, the writer expresses his antagonism toward America and Russia. Although he could eventually return his country later, he rationalized himself by saying that his it is not the ideal place to go. Mong-yu mode is a traditional poetic technique which the intellectuals of the Middle Age used to use as one pattern of allegory. In addition to this, in the period of the enlightenment of Korea, Mong-yu was used to avoid the Japanese censorship and experiment on the diverse ways of writing. In terms of literary history, the significance of Hong-Eun's creation of Mong-yu sigas is that Hong-Eun shares the same intention with Korean intellectuals of the enlightenment period.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.98
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• pp.54-77
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• 2020

Produced during the Goryeo period (718-1392), the statue of the monk Huirang Daesa at Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon is almost life-size, with a height of 82.4 cm, a width of 66.6 cm at the knees, and a maximum width of 44 cm at the torso (front and back). Notably, it is the only known example of an East Asian Buddhist sculpture made from wood and dry lacquer that was formed by joining the front and back halves. However, a similar technique was used on a dry lacquer statue of the Medicine Buddha at Cheongnyangsa Temple in Bonghwa, which is estimated to date from the late Goryeo or early Joseon period. As such, this technique is thought to represent this particular time period. In an eighteenth-century travelogue about a trip to Mt. Gayasan, the author describes a sculpture that is believed to be the statue of Huirang Daesa at Haeinsa Temple, based on various unique features that closely correspond to the sculpture's current appearance. For example, the sculpture is said to have a hole in the chest and rough, knobby tendons and bones, two features that can still be seen today. Another sculpture of a Buddhist monk who was active in the western regions during the third and fourth century also has a hole in the chest, which is said to be a symbol of spiritual strength. The travelogue also states that the statue was lacquered black at the time, which means that it must have been painted with its present colors some time in the nineteenth century. Over time, the sculpture has been enshrined in various halls of Haeinsa Temple, including Haehaengdang, Jinsangjeon, and later Josajeon (Hall of the Patriarchs), and Bojangjeon. Records show that images of Buddhist monks, or "seungsang," were produced in Korea as early as the Three Kingdoms period (18 BCE-660 CE), but few of these works have survived. At present, only four such sculptures are extant, including the images of Huirang Daesa from the Goryeo period, and those of Monk Naong and Uisang Daesa from the Joseon period. Of these, the sculpture of Huirang Daesa has special significance for its early production date (i.e., CE. tenth century), outstanding production techniques, and superb artistic quality, realistically capturing both the external appearance and internal character of the subject. The tradition of producing, sanctifying, and worshipping statues of monks was prevalent not only in Korea, but also in China and Japan. However, each country developed its own preferred materials and techniques for producing these unique images. For example, while China has a large number of mummified Buddhist images (yuksinbul), Japan produced diverse images with various materials (e.g., dry lacquer, wood, clay) according to period. But despite the differences in materials and techniques, the three nations shared the same fundamental purpose of expressing and honoring the inherent spirituality of the monks.