• Journal of architectural history
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.101-112
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• 2020

This study focuses on the construction of Gyeongbokgung Palace in the second year of King Gojong's reign, which has been spotlighted for political and economic history. The author analyzed the contents of wood procurement with the Yeonggeon Diary, which records each day of construction site. The results are as follows: First, the 2nd year of King Gojong's reign, Yeonggeon of Gyeongbokgung Palace, was a new building that reflected the old system and 270 years of changed environment on the existing site. Despite the poor economic conditions, it began with years of effort and voluntary volunteer work and dedication. Second, the priority of timber transport was recruiting people in the whole process and the supply and demand of transportation tools. Carrying lumber from the mountains to the riverside and floating it at the right time were all a matter of manpower. Soldiers and carts were used to carry timber that arrived in Hangang River to the construction site. The cart was a consumable product, so it was necessary to continuously use the wood to make cart at the site. Third, fire and flood were the biggest obstacles to the Yeonggeon schedule of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Especially the fire was fatal. It was difficult to extinguish the fire in temporary structure, where was the storage for wood to construct. These disasters greatly affected the construction cost and construction period. Wood procurements of Gyeongbokgung Palace were based on public offerings. At the same time, recycled materials from other palace wood and nearby houses, nationwide buying of private mountain wood, the logging of royal tombs and some of the buildings of Gyeonghui Palace and Changgyeong Palace were relocated.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.49-61
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• 2020

Objectives : The purpose of this paper is to collect basic data about Seo, Byung-Hyo and lay the groundwork for future analysis of his medical ideas. Methods : The life of Seo in regards to family and relationships was reconstructed through his genealogy and newspaper articles. His medical ideas were analyzed through the treatment records in books and historical material. Results : 1. Seo was primarily a clinician rather than a social worker throughout the Korean Empire and Japanese colonial era. 2. 『Summary of Experienced Old Prescriptions (經驗古方要抄)』 was a concise book that mainly took after the 『New Edition on Universal Relief (濟衆新編)』, supplemented by contents from the 『DongUiBogam(Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine)』. 3. It is meaningful that Seo's book restored and developed the single-ingredient prescription tradition of the 『DongUiBogam(Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine)』. 4. Seo faithfully followed the tradition of royal court medicine and utilized new prescriptions that were proven effective. Analysis of the prescription contents of 『A royal palace's diary(內殿日記)』 displays such characteristic. Conclusions : Seo, Byung-Hyo could be regarded as a clinician who faithfully inherited and developed 『DongUiBogam(Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine)』 and 『New Edition on Universal Relief (濟衆新編)』.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.66-81
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• 2014

Burnt down during the Imjin War(壬辰倭亂) of 1592, Gyeongbokgung Palace(景福宮) remained in ruins until 1865, when in the second year of King Gojong's(高宗) reign, reconstruction work began. At the time, a royal protocol(uigwe, 儀軌) for the reconstruction was not produced. Instead, the Gyeongbokgung Palace Construction Diary(Gyeongbokgung yeonggeon ilgi, 景福宮營建日記) records the reconstruction process from June to September of 1865. The contents of this diary reveal that the stone used in the construction was obtained from Ganghwa(江華), the Yeongpung field(映楓亭) just beyond Dongdaemun, and Samcheongdong(三淸洞), among other sites. In addition, selected stone remaining from the original Gyeongbokgung Palace site - such as that from the palace astronomical observatory(ganuidae, 簡儀臺) - as reused, while a number of buildings and stonework from Gyeonghuigung Palace(慶熙宮) were moved to Gyeongbokgung Palace. As a result, a number of $17^{th}$ and $18^{th}$ century stonework are currently located at Gyeongbokgung Palace. The Gyeongbokgung Palace Construction Diary contains a record indicating that the bronze dragon(靑銅龍) excavated from the lotus pond at the palace's Gyeonghoeru Pavilion(慶會樓) was created by special technician byeolganyeok(別看役) Kim Jae-su(金在洙) in 1865 for the symbolic purpose of protecting the palace from fire. The diary also reveals that among Kim Jae-su and the other special technicians(byeolganyeok) tasked with the installation and oversight of the palace stonework was Lee Se-ok(李世玉) - aid to have created the haechi statue at Gwanghwamun Gate. This indicates that there were men of court painter(hwawon, 畵員) background among the construction special technicians(byeolganyeok). Moreover, the diary records the names of the stoneworkers(seokjang, 石匠) who worked under these special technicians to actually carve the stonework. These included Jang Seong-bok(張聖福), who participated in the creation of the Geunjeongjeon Hall(勤政殿); and Kim Jin-myeong(金振明), who took part in the construction of Gwanghwamun Gate(光化門). Based on these results, it is possible to identify a number of special iconographic features of the scale-covered animal form(insuhyeong, 鱗獸形) auspicious animal statues at Gyeongbokgung Palace. These include a protruding mouth and large nose, formalized ears, and a mane along the back. Comparing these iconographic features with those found in the stonework of Joseon tombs makes it clear that these palace statues were created in the latter half of the $19^{th}$ century - the period corresponding to Gojong's palace reconstruction. This study was able to confirm that this iconography was taken up by the Gyeongbokgung Palace construction special technicians(byeolganyeok) and stoneworkers(seokjang) as they worked on tomb stonework earlier in their careers.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.213-239
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• 2022

This study attempted to organize the transition process of Royal Library (Gyujanggak) in chronological order, analyze the flow and find diachronic meaning during Gojong period, the most confused time at home and abroad prior to modernization. For this, first, the total status quo of King Gojong's library and book storage which played role of Royal Library and a personal library in Gojong period was investigated. Second, based on the current status of the investigation, the transition process from the Royal library in the early days of King Gojong to the Imperial library during the Korean Empire and its meaning were considered with the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Seungjeongwon diary, various catalogs and historical records. Third, the changes of space-time and aspect of Royal library through the palace of Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, and Gyeongungung were examined to draw a sociopolitical meaning by schematizing each palace. As a result, first, King Gojong conjugated Kyujanggak as a device to strengthen the royal authority and accommodate Western culture in the process of modernization. Second, the crucial spaces containing the political orientation of King Gojong, such as the present king's portrait storage place, library(book storage), and office, formed a separate hall across Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Gyeongungung, and gradually changed into a Western architectural style.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.98
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• pp.176-199
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• 2020

In 2018, the National Museum of Korea purchased a pair of Japanese folding screens, respectively entitled Gathering on the Year's First "Day of the Rat" and Boating on the Oi River. Both of these two screens (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "NMK edition") have a gold background that bears the seal and ink inscription of Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1700-1772), who served as edokoro azukari, a painter in the court of Kyoto. According to the seller in New York, the screens were brought from Japan to the United States in the early twentieth century, but no other details are known. Each folding screen has six panels. The screen on the right (i.e., Gathering…) depicts "nenohi no asobi," an annual event conducted on the first "day of the rat" (according to the Asian zodiacal calendar), wherein the Kyoto imperial court ventured to the woods to gather pine seedlings. The left screen (i.e., Boating…) shows three boats traveling down the Oi River in Kyoto, representing the ritual known as "mifune" (literally, "three boats"), which involves three boats representing Chinese classical poetry (kansi), Japanese classical poetry (waka), and Japanese imperial music and dance (gagaku). Notably, these two screens are identical in theme and iconography to two screens with the same respective titles that were commissioned by Emperor Komei (1831-1867) and painted by Ukita Ikkei (1795-1859), an artist of the Yamato-e Revivalist School (fukko yamato-e), now in the collection of Sennyu-ji Temple in Kyoto (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Sennyu edition"). While both of these themes have been painted independently numerous times, the NMK edition and Sennyu edition are the only known cases of the themes being painted as a single set. According to Diary of Official Business Between the Court and Shogunate (the journal of a court official named Hirohashi Kanetane, 1715-1781), Tosa Mitsuyoshi was commissioned in 1760 to replace the fusuma (rectangular sliding panels) of Tsunegoten, one of the buildings of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, which had been built in 1709. Notably, records show that Tsunegoten once contained a series of fusuma painted by an artist of the Kano school on the themes "Outdoor Procession on a Spring Day" and "Three Boats Cruising on the Oi River." Hence, it seems probable that Tosa Mitsuyoshi was influenced by the theme and iconography of the existing fusuma in producing his own folding screens depicting the court's visit to the forest and a cruise on the Oi River. While the practice of collecting pine seedlings on the first "rat day" of the year was an auspicious event to pray for longevity, the mifune ritual was intended to honor the greatest talents of the three aforementioned arts, which were of crucial importance to the court of Kyoto. Folding screens with such auspicious themes were commonly featured at the ceremony to enthrone the emperor or empress. Significantly, the Diary of Official Business Between the Court and Shogunate also records that Tosa Mitsuyoshi, while working as a court artist, produced two pairs of folding screens for the coronation of Empress Go Sakuramachi (1762-1771), which was held in 1763. Hence, research suggests that the NMK edition is one of the pairs of royal folding screens produced at that time.