• Title/Summary/Keyword: 종교상징

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The Concept of Tao and Ideological Characteristics in Daesoon Thought (대순사상에서의 도(道) 개념과 사상적 특징에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Jee-young;Lee, Gyung-won
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.33
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    • pp.219-255
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    • 2019
  • 'Dao' is an important research subject as it is the main term for 'ultimate reality' in East Asian religious thought. Understanding the concept of 'Dao' is essential to reach the state of 'Perfected Unification with Dao,' the ultimate aspiration in Daesoon Thought. The meaning of 'Dao' can vary such as 'Dao' meaning 'way', which was first introduced in Jinwen. There is also the 'Dao' of yin and yang, and Dao used to mean human obligation, or Dao meaning the way of Heaven. These can also be classified into five categories: Constant Dao, Heavenly Dao, Divine Dao, Human Dao, and the Dao of Sangsaeng. Every natural phenomenon of birth, growth, and death in the universe operates under the patterns of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, Constant Dao in Daesoon Thought is the ultimate pattern underlying human action and the operations of Heaven and Earth. These apply not only to the natural and the divine world but also to the human world. It can be said that 'Rather than natural law or moral symbol of the world, 'Heavenly Dao' means the great Dao that saves the world through the Daesoon Truth of Sangje, Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven. Divine Dao can be said to be 'the Dao by which man must complete his work according to the law and the will of God,' that is, 'the Dao by which God and man are united together by Sangje's heavenly order and teaching, which aims for humanity, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.' When the world is in a state of calamity and crisis, the request for the saint's Dao can symbolized by the kings, Yao and Shun, in The Canonical Scripture (Jeon-gyeong). The saint's Dao saves the dying world and people's lives and is called 'saving lives by curing the world (濟生醫世)'. It can be regarded as a characteristic of Human Dao in Daesoon Thought, which is the human obligation to follow Sangje's order, the great Dao to save the world. The Dao of Sangsaeng is the true dharma that rectifies the world full of mutual conflict through the ethics of the Later World, which is to promote the betterment of others and to practice the human Dao that saves the world and rebuilds the Constant Dao. Thus, The concept of Dao in Daesoon Thought is Daesoon Truth which applies to and operates throughout all realms of Heaven, Earth, Humanity, and the Divine world. Dao in Daesoon Thought was influenced by the historical background in which it emerged and this can be seen in its ideological features. It embraces the traditional concept of Dao, which refers to the Chinese classics and represents the main schools of thought in East Asia: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. And it is unique in that it implies the will of Sangje as a religious object, a supreme being. It can be seen that Daesoon Thought has developed through the process of defining the concept of Dao by harmonizing both the universality and specificity of modern Korean religious thought.

Actual Experience of the Oracle of the I Ching-Death, God and Love: In Front of My Father's Spirit (주역 점(占)의 실제 체험-죽음, 신 그리고 사랑: 아버지의 영전(靈前)에서)

  • Ju Hyun Lee;Bou-Yong Rhi
    • Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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    • v.37 no.2
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    • pp.149-183
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    • 2022
  • The oracle of the I Ching, divination can be understood as 'synchronicity phenomenon' in analytic psychology. In order to experience divination actually, it requires a religious attitude that asks questions with a serious mind when a person is in trouble that consciousness reaches its limit. It is not just a passive attitude, but a modest, active attitude to ask what I can do now. The experience of the oracle of the I Ching connected to supra-consciousness is similar to 'active imagination'-talking with the archetype of collective unconsciousness-and is 'the process of finding the rhythm of Self-archetype, the absolute wisdom of unconsciousness.' One month before my father's death, I took care of him who couldn't communicate verbally and I divination with a question 'What can I do for my father and me now?' The I Ching's answer was hexagram 19 Lin 臨, nine at the beginning. It's message was '咸臨貞吉 joint approach. perseverance brings good fortune.' 志行正也 we must adhere perseveringly to what is right.' Through this phrase, I learned the attitude of waiting for life after death as if 'joyful obedient' to the providence of nature that spring comes after winter. And I found that keeping the touching emotion of meeting infinity (in analytical psychological terms, 'Self') with perseveration is to do the true meaning of life beyond popular money-mindedness. And six months before my father's death, I had a dream about the afterlife. In the process of interpreting that dream, I learned not only from the shock of the direct message that 'it is a truth that there is something after death,' but also the regeneration of the mind through introversion from the similarity between the closed ward and '黃泉'-chinese underworld through amplification. And I learned the importance of an open attitude to accept new things through the 'window to eternity' symbolized by the white iron gate. In my father's catholic funeral ritual, I had hope that the catholic doctrine 'Communio Sanctorum'-A spiral cycle in which the living and the dead help each other may be real as well as a symbol of the individuation process in which consciousness and unconsciousness interact in our minds. Through the consolation received through the funeral visit of many people I met in my life, I found the answer that the path to contact with infinity begins with loving the beings in front of me. I tried to understand this continuous experience by the perspective of analytical psychology.

The Royal and Sajik Tree of Joseon Dynasty, the Culturo-social Forestry, and Cultural Sustainability (근세조선의 왕목-사직수, 문화사회적 임업, 그리고 문화적 지속가능성)

  • Yi, Cheong-Ho;Chun, Young Woo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.98 no.1
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    • pp.66-81
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    • 2009
  • From a new perspective of "humans and the culture of forming and conserving the environment", the sustainable forest management can be reformulated under the concept of "cultural sustainability". Cultural sustainability is based on the emphasis of the high contribution to sustainability of the culture of forming and conserving the environment. This study extracts the implications to cultural sustainability for the modern world by investigating a historical case of the culturo-social pine forestry in the Joseon period of Korea. In the legendary and recorded acts by the first king Taejo, Seonggye Yi, Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora) was the "Royal tree" of Joseon and also the "Sajik tree" related intimately with the Great Sajik Ritual valued as the top rank within the national ritual regime that sustained the Royal Virtue Politics in Confucian political ideology. Into the Neo-Confucian faith and royal rituals of Joseon, elements of geomancy (Feng shui), folk religion, and Buddhism had been amalgamated. The deities worshipped or revered at the Sajik shrine were Earth-god (Sa) and crop-god (Jik). And it is the Earth god and the concrete entity, Sajik tree, that contains the legacy of sylvan religion descended from the ancient times and had been incorporated into the Confucian faith and ritual regime. Korean red pine as the Royal-Sajik tree played a critical role of sustaining the religio-political justification for the rule of the Joseon's Royalty. The religio-political symbolism of Korean red pine was represented in diverse ways. The same pine was used as the timber material of shrine buildings established for the national rituals under Neo-Confucian faith by the royal court of Joseon kingdom before the modern Korea. The symbolic role of pine had also been expressed in the forms of royal tomb forests, the Imposition Forest (Bongsan) for royal coffin timber (Whangjangmok), and the creation, protection, conservation and bureaucratic management of the pine forests in the Inner-four and Outer-four mountains for the capital fortress at Seoul, where the king and his family inhabit. The religio-political management system of pine forests parallels well with the kingdom's economic forest management system, called "Pine Policy", with an array of pine cultivation forests and Prohibition Forests (Geumsan) in the earlier period, and that of Imposition Forests in the later period. The royal pine culture with the economic forest management system had influenced on the public consciousness and the common people seem to have coined Malrimgat, a pure Korean word that is interchangeable with the Chinesecharacter words of prohibition-cultivation land or forest (禁養地, 禁養林) practiced in the royal tomb forests, and Prohibition and Imposition Forests, which contained prohibition landmarks (Geumpyo) made of stone and rock on the boundaries. A culturo-social forestry, in which Sajik altar, royal tomb forests, Whangjang pine Prohibition and Imposition forests and the capital Inner-four and Outer-four mountain forests consist, was being put into practice in Joseon. In Joseon dynastry, the Neo-Confucian faith and royal rituals with geomancy, folk religion, and Buddhism incorporated has also played a critical humanistic role for the culturo-social pine forestry, the one higher in values than that of the economic pine forestry. The implications have been extracted from the historical case study on the Royal-Sajik tree and culturo-social forestry of Joseon : Cultural sustainability, in which the interaction between humans and environment maintains a long-term culturo-natural equilibrium or balance for many generations, emphasizes the importance that the modern humans who form and conserve environment need to rediscover and transform their culturo-natural legacy into conservation for many generations and produce knowledge of sustainability science, the transdisciplinary knowledge for the interaction between environment and humans, which fulfills the cultural, social and spiritual needs.

A Study on the Emotional Reaction to the Interior Design - Focusing on the Worship Space in the Church Buildings - (실내공간 구성요소에 의한 감성반응 연구 - 기독교 예배공간 강단부를 중심으로 -)

  • Lee, Hyun-Jeong;Lee, Gyoo-Baek
    • Archives of design research
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    • v.18 no.4 s.62
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    • pp.257-266
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    • 2005
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological reaction to the image of the worship space in the church buildings and to quantify its contribution of the stimulation elements causing such reaction, and finally to suggest basic data for realizing emotional worship space of the church architecture. For this, 143 christians were surveyed to analyze the relationship between 23 emotional expressions extracted from the worship space and 32 images of the worship space. The combined data was described with the two dimensional dispersion using the quantification theory III. The analysis found out that 'simplicity-complexity' of the image consisted of the horizontal axis (the x-axis) and 'creativity' of the image the vertical axis(the y-axis). In addition, to extract the causal relationship between the value of emotional reaction and its stimulation elements quantitatively, the author indicated 4 emotional word groups such as simple, sublime for x-axis and typical creative for y-axis based on its similarity by the cluster analysis, The quantification theory I was also used with total value of equivalent emotional words as the standard variance and the emotional stimulation elements of the worship space as the independent variance. 9 specific examples of the emotional stimulation elements were selected including colors and shapes of the wall and the ceiling, shapes and finish of the floor materials, window shapes, and the use of the symbolic elements. Furthermore, 31 subcategories were also chosen to analyse their contribution on the emotional reaction. As a result, the color and finish of the wall found to be the most effective element on the subjects' emotional reaction, while the symbolic elements and the color of the wall found to be the least effective. It is estimated that the present study would be helpful to increase the emotional satisfaction of the users and to approach a spatial design through satisfying the types and purposes of the space.

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The Context and Significance of Songs of the Dao of Great Gods (대화신도가사의 내용과 의의)

  • Kim Tak
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.43
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    • pp.139-177
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    • 2022
  • The only text that aids in the understanding of Songs of the Dao of Great Gods (大化神道歌詞), which was established by Yun Jin in 1984, is Mok-wun daegyeong (木運大經, The Great Scripture of Wood-Destiny) published by Oh Yeol-gyun in 1976. This scripture includes five songs: Wun-hoe dongbang-ga (運回東方歌, Songs of Destiny-Returning to the East), Gung-eul-ga (弓乙歌, Songs of Gung-eul), Dodeok-sa (道德詞, Morality Poems), Palguae-gugung byeon-yeok-ga (八卦九宮變易歌, Songs on the Changes of the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces), and Nakdang-ga (樂堂歌, Songs of the Paradisiacal Lands). Songs of the Dao of Great Gods, which is prone to embracing Daoist characteristics, is meant to be sung upon the realization of the Later World, the ideal earth. This is expressed as spring. In addition, we can easily find key terms such as Sampung-ga (三豊歌), Yangbaek-segye (兩白世界), Gung-eul-ga (弓乙歌), Gunggung-euleul (弓弓乙乙), Yanggung (兩弓), Euleul (乙乙), Gung-eul seonin (弓乙仙人), Samin-ilseok (三人一夕), Yijae-jeonjeon (利在田田), Gung-eul jiri (弓乙之理), Naenggeum-bugeum (冷金浮金), Seokjeong-gon (石井昆), Yangbaek (兩白), Sampung (三豊), and Sodumujok (小頭無足), all of which appear frequently in traditional prophecies and the faiths they have inspired. The precise meaning of these terms has yet to be revealed. Furthermore, Songs of the Dao of Great Gods contains lyrics prophesying that the return of the wood-destiny of the East and emphasizing the destiny of 3-8 wood as based on the Yellow River Chart (河圖). Songs of the Dao of Great Gods, originated the term, the World of Paradisiacal Lands (樂堂世界), and prophesyed that the wood-destiny of the East would return to create a new world that took Korea as its center. The text emphasized wood-destiny, symbolized by spring, and argued that the Dao of Great Gods could be ascetained from the principle of water-producing wood (水生木) found in the Eastern study of changes (易學) as approached by Choi Su-Wun (水雲), the founder of Donghak (東學).

Jo Jeongsan's Religious Activity in the Context of the Social Role of Religion: Focusing on Propagatory Works and Soteriological Aims ('구세제민(救世濟民)'을 통해 본 조정산(趙鼎山)의 포교공부 일고찰 - 강증산 성사(聖師)와의 양산도(兩山道)의 원리와 관련하여 -)

  • Ko Nam-sik
    • Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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    • v.47
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    • pp.203-239
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    • 2023
  • Jo Jeongsan's religious activity undertaken to benefit society can be organized into two categories. First, attention can be paid to Jo Jeongsan's religious activity of establishing religious order by enshrining Kang Jeungsan as the God of Ninth Heaven and making the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth the basic idea inspiring the social activity of his order. This was completed through the 50 years of propagation work carried out by Jo Joengsan in accordance with Kang Jeungsa's purpose of saving the world and its inhabitants. Second, his practice of social work in the field of people's lives based on the idea of the Dao can also be observed. This religious activity of Jo Jeongsan which began in 1909 was the sacred manifestation of his will to realize Kang Jeungsan's purpose of saving the world and people, and it was also a practice of spreading virtue throughout the world. In addition, Park Wudang carried out Sihak and Sibeop Gongbu (two varieties of holy work) for the cultivation of Dao trainees, and those methods came from the systematic cultivation practice established by Jo Jeongsan. Regarding this, we can refer to Kang Jeungsan's saying, "As the Dao shall dwell in the 12,000 peaks of Geumgang Mountain, the same number of sages who were enlightened to the Dao will be born into the world." The perfected state of human maturity or the emergence of people who are enlightened to the Dao would be the completion of the idea of saving the world and its inhabitants. Therefore, the holy works of Sihak and Sibeop that are now being carried out can be seen as the continuance of the pursuit of saving the world and humankind, as it was continually upheld by Park Wudang's predecessors, Jo Jeongsan and Kang Jeungsan.

Study on Korean Ancient Dietary Culture through Japanese Sacrificial Offering Kasugadaisha Wakamiyasai (I) (일본신찬(日本神饌)을 통(通)한 한국고대식(韓國古代食)의 추정연구(推定硏究) -일본춘일신사약궁제(日本春日神社若宮祭)-)

  • Kim, Chon-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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    • v.6 no.3
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    • pp.281-291
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    • 1991
  • Kasugadaisha was built in the 9th century at Nara, Japan and it was the powerful Fujiwara's Shrine at that time. And also Wakamiyasai which has transmitted from generation to generation about for 1200 years at Kasugadaisha is typical sacrificial service of Nara Ages and it was built up with the historical background from Korean peninsula, especially Bekje. So it could be presumed to be important data to survey the sacrificial service in order to study on the ancient dietary culture of Korean and Japanese. 1) They used a live flower or paper flower in every sacrificial services. But in Korea, it has been used not only in the sacrificial services but also in happy events. And also it has been changed to use silk or developed rice cake instead of paper. 2) Steamed rice cake in Siru has been taken after boiled rice and unpolished rice. 3) Fried rice cake like doughnut was beginning of fried cake like Yak-kwa. 4) Four colors of red, yellow, green and white are symbolic at the high offering. There are a lot of cake, candy and some kind of biskuit four colors used in every events even now in Korea.

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A Study on the Presence of Post-Miesianism and Its Future (Post-Miesianism의 실체와 미래에 대한 연구)

  • Lee, Sang-Jin
    • Journal of architectural history
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    • v.10 no.4 s.28
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    • pp.77-92
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    • 2001
  • 현대의 건축시기는 다원성의 시기 또는 복합성의 시기라고 불리운다. 모더니즘과 포스트모더니즘의 시기를 거치며 다양한 형태적 실험의 과정을 겪었고 수많은 이데올로기와 이론들로 무장된 논쟁의 역사도 갖게 되었다. 이러한 현대건축의 다양성은 건축디자인이라는 전문직의 사회에 기여하는 역할을 반추(反芻)함과 동시에 다변하는 인간사고의 역동성을 반영하고 있다. 건축관련 책자나 저널 등에서 흔히 발견할 수 있는 Neo-Classicism, Deconstructivism, Minimalism, High-Tech, New Moderns 등등의 건축양식들은 스타일을 지칭하는 언어라기보다는 건축적 사고를 지칭하는 언어라고 할 수 있다. 결국 건축디자인이라는 작업은 인간을 둘러 싼 건조환경의 생성에서 출발하는 것이므로 건축적 사고방식은 그 시기의 사회현상과 밀접한 관계를 맺게 된다. 20세기 말부터 불어닥친 디지털 문화의 사회변혁은 전 세계를 하나의 채널로 엮게 되었고, 이러한 영향들은 지역과 민족, 그리고 종교적인 요소들까지도 혼합하여 국경을 초월한 미래의 새로운 이상들을 꿈꾸게 되었다. 19세기 산업혁명과 함께 급속히 벨라진 인류문명의 진보는 필수적으로 세계화를 동반하는 것이고, 세계화와 지역성사이의 괴리를 통해 나타나는 문화적 비판과 충돌은 아직도 진행상태인 것이다. 세계화라는 통염은 문명의 보편성을 기반으로 하며 전통문화의 파괴가 뒤따를 수밖에 없는데, 현재와 같이 IT혁명을 통해 급속도로 빨라진 세계문화의 교류는 한 국가가 뿌리를 내리고 있는 문화적 유산이라는 토양을 포기하여야 할 단계에 와 있다고 논평할 정도이다. 여기서 건축은 문화적 상징으로 작용하게 되는데, 그것이 심미적이든 관습적이든 또는, 경제적이든 건축가는 해답의 제시라는 임무에 직면하게 된다. 20세기에 진행된 모더니즘의 건축은 구조와 공간에 대한 고전건축의 숙원을 고덕건축이 이룬 것처럼 15세기 르네상스 시대로부터 진행된 형태와 공간, 기능, 그리고 아름다움과 기술(technology) 또는 경제성 등에 대한 건축적 의문과 탐구를 일단락지었다고 할 수 있다. 이러한 모더니즘의 한복판에 Mies van der Rohe라는 거장이 깊은 발자국을 남기며 한 시대를 이루었고 그가 남긴 시대정신의 이념과 가치를 Miesianism이라고 부른다. 실용성과 도덕성을 근본으로 하는 Miesianism은 대중에 호소하는 미적 표현주의를 부정하고 지역정서를 중시하는 문맥적 접근방식을 경시함으로써 보편화라는 현상을 불러일으킨 국제주의 양식의 한 부류로 비판을 받아왔다. 즉, Miesianism의 단순하고 강렬한 외형적 요소는 그것이 내포하는 기술적 합리성이나 공간적 완결성을 무시한 채 전 세계에 영향을 미쳤고 동시에 지역적 저항을 받게 되었다. 시카고 및 전 세계의 Miesian들, 즉 Mies van der Rohe의 제자들이나 그로부터 영향을 받은 수많은 건축가들은 이러한 저항과 비판에 직면하게 되며 새로운 사고의 시대적 요구 앞에 고뇌하게 된다. 한국에서는 1978년 Mies van der Rohe의 제자인 김종성이 미국에서 서울로 돌아와 '서울건축컨설탄트'를 설립하며 본격적으로 Miesianism의 규범적 건축론을 설파하기 시작하였다. 이른바 시카고 국제주의학파의 건축전수라고 할 수 있는데 '서울건축컨설탄트'를 통하여 배출된 김종성의 제자들은 명쾌하고도 간결한 건축해법의 경험을 토대름대로의 정체성을 갖고자 노력하였으나 결국 다원적 가치를 요구하는 시대적 흐름 속에 혼란을 겪고 있는 것 또한 사실이다. 본 연구는 Miesianism의 기원을 밝히고 그것의 실수와 오류를 밝힘과 동시에 현대의 여러 가지 건축유형들과 비교하여 봄으로써 Post-Miesianism의 실체와 그 미래에 대하여 고찰하여 보고자 한다. 미스의 유산이라고 할 수 있는 Miesianism의 요체는 첫째, Schinkel로부터 이어받은 시대정신의 사명감, 둘째, Berlage가 전해준 전문가로서의 도덕성을 바탕으로 하여 이루어진 기술적 합리성의 실현, 그리고 마지막으로 그 당시의 추상예술에 대한 이해로써 받아들인 nee-Suprematism의 아방 가르데적인 자세라고 할 수 있다. 그러나 이것들을 전파하고 수용하는 과정에서 미스적인 단순하고 명쾌한 외관이 더욱 강한 인상을 남기게 되었고 또한 미스가 현대성의 본질이라고 믿는 기술의 전수는 모든 외관을 동일하게 만드는 International Style로서의 보편적 획일성을 초래하였다. Mies van der Rohe의 강력하고 규범적인 dogma는 그의 제자들에게는 강렬한 카리스마로 각인되었고, Mies가 원한 것이 아닐지라도 그들을 하나의 틀 속에 가두는 영향력을 행사하였다. 2세대이든 3세대이든 기술적 합리성과 추상적 단순미라는 믿음을 맹목적으로 추종할 때 그들은 Miesian으로 남아있게 되며, 거기서 벗어났을 때 non-Miesian, 또는 배신자로 취급하기까지 하였다. 이것은 미스의 제자들에게 강한 족쇄가 되어 형태적 또는 개념적 변화의 시도를 어렵게 하였고 시대적 요구에 부응하지 못한다는 평가에 이르게 되었다. 문화의 다양성과 역동성을 인정함과 동시에 Miesianism에 대한 새롭고 시대에 적합한 해석을 기대하게 되는데, 이러한 기대 속에서 우리는 Post-Miesianism이라는 새로운 유형을 엿볼 수 있게 된다. Post-Miesianism의 징후를 현대의 다양한 건축유형에서 발견할 수 있는데, High-Tech의 구축적이고 정밀한 건축 기술적 해법과 Minimalism의 반복성을 통한 추상미의 표현 등에서 뿐만이 아니라 Post-Modernism의 인간성의 추구나 문맥적 고려, 또는 해체주의의 형이상학적이고 아방가르데적인 실험주의 정신까지조차 Post-Miesianism이 공유할 수 있는 부분이 있다고 보여진다. 또한, 미스의 영향이 2세대, 3세대의 건축가들에게 미치면서 여러 방향으로 변질되어 가는 것을 우리는 발견할 수 있으며 그러한 시대성에 적응하는 시도들이야말로 새로운 미래를 향한 Post-Miesianism의 실체인 것이다. Mies가 말하였듯이 한 시대의 끝은 그 시대가 완전히 이해되었을 때이며, 모더니즘의 숙제는 아직 해결되지 않았으므로 Miesianism의 탐구는 Post-Miesianism이라는 새로운 주제로 계속될 것이다. 이를 통하여 21세기 디지털 문명의 시대 속에서 현대건축이 안을 수밖에 없는 보편성과 지역성의 충돌이라는 문제의 해결에 한 발걸음 다가갈 수 있기를 기대하여 본다.

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The Joseon Confucian Ruling Class's Records and Visual Media of Suryukjae (Water and Land Ceremony) during the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (조선 15~17세기 수륙재(水陸齋)에 대한 유신(儒臣)의 기록과 시각 매체)

  • Jeong, Myounghee
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.53 no.1
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    • pp.184-203
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    • 2020
  • The Confucian ruling class of the Joseon Dynasty regarded Buddhist rituals as "dangerous festivals." However, these Buddhist ceremonies facilitated transitions between phases of life from birth till death and strengthened communal unity through their joint practice of the rites. Ritual spaces were decorated with various utensils and objects that transformed them into wondrous arenas. Of these ornaments, Buddhist paintings served as the most effective visual medium for educating the common people. As an example, a painting of the Ten Kings of the Underworld (siwangdo) could be hung as a means to illustrate the Buddhist view of the afterlife, embedded in images not only inside a Buddhist temple hall, but in any space where a Buddhist ritual was being held. Demand for Buddhist paintings rose considerably with their use in ritual spaces. Nectar ritual paintings (gamnodo), including scenes of appeasement rites for the souls of the deceased, emphasized depictions of royal family members and their royal relatives. In Chinese paintings of the water and land ceremony (suryukjae), these figures referred to one of several sacred groups who invited deities to a ritual. However, in Korean paintings of a nectar ritual, the iconography symbolized the patronage of the royal court and underlined the historicity and tradition of nationally conducted water and land ceremonies. This royal patronage implied the social and governmental sanction of Buddhist rituals. By including depictions of royal family members and their royal relatives, Joseon Buddhist paintings highlighted this approval. The Joseon ruling class outwardly feared that Buddhist rituals might undermine observance of Confucian proprieties and lead to a corruption of public morals, since monks and laymen, men and women, and people of all ranks mingled within the ritual spaces. The concern of the ruling class was also closely related to the nature of festivals, which involved deviation from the routines of daily life and violation of taboos. Since visual media such as paintings were considered to hold a special power, some members of the ruling class attempted to exploit this power, while others were apprehensive of the risks they entailed. According to Joseon wangjo sillok (The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), the Joseon royal court burned Buddhist paintings and ordered the arrest of those who created them, while emphasizing their dangers. It further announced that so many citizens were gathering in Buddhist ritual spaces that the capital city was being left vacant. However, this record also paradoxically suggests that Buddhist rituals were widely considered festivals that people should participate in. Buddhist rituals could not be easily suppressed since they performed important religious functions reflecting the phases of the human life cycle, and had no available Confucian replacements. Their festive nature, unifying communities, expanded significantly at the time. The nectar ritual paintings of the late Joseon period realistically delineated nectar rituals and depicted the troops of traveling actors and performers that began to emerge during the seventeenth century. Such Buddhist rituals for consoling souls who encountered an unfortunate death were held annually and evolved into festivals during which the Joseon people relieved their everyday fatigue and refreshed themselves. The process of adopting Buddhist rituals-regarded as "dangerous festivals" due to political suppression of Buddhism in the Confucian nation-as seasonal customs and communal feasts is well reflected in the changes made in Buddhist paintings.

Vietnamese Immigrants and Buddhism in Southern Louisiana: Ingredients for 'Melting Pot' or for Cultural Diversity? (남부루이지애나의 베트남 移民集團과 佛敎: 鎔鑛爐 속의 成分? 혹은 文化的 多樣性의 成分?)

  • Lee, Young-Min
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.685-698
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    • 1996
  • Southern Louisiana has one of the largest Vitnamese refrgee neighborhoods after the mid-1970s. It is impressive that one of their adaptive strategies comes from their religious lives which are centered on either Catholicism or Buddhism. The Buddhism community, especially, exhibits an exotic symbolic system of value and attitude, and thus contributes to cultural diversity in the adopted country. The landscape of the Buddhist temple is a visible symbol to them that the host socirty accepts their maintenance of their own cultural identity and that they are also an integral part of American society. Their making-place and being-in-place procedures, although their culture is being transformed in the original shape, put an emphasis on interaction with the host xociety. These procedures have been facilitated by consolidating their identity as a minority group as well as by interacting with the host society. The on-going influx of foreign immigrant groups seems not to drive them to assimilate into the melting-pot society, but to contribute to contribute to the increase in the cultural diversity of the United States.

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