• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.199-208
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• 2012

This study was conducted in order to analyze weather characteristics during the reign of King Sejo in the Chosun Dynasty based on The Annals of the Chosun Dynasty. For this purpose, first of all, we need to determine whether The Annals of the Chosun Dynasty is a reliable material for research on weather characteristics. Thus, we compared weather phenomena during the reign of King Sejo with those in China and Japan in the same period. From the results, it was found that The Annals of the Chosun Dynasty is a useful material at least to grasp macroscopic trends in weather phenomena. Based on this assumption, we analyzed weather characteristics during the reign of King Sejo using data from The Annals of the Chosun Dynasty. During the days of King Sejo, the climate was not changed violently and there were not many disasters caused by abnormal climate such as bad harvests. This suggests that the climate was relatively stable during the period of King Sejo. As a consequence of stable weather, famine decreased markedly. However, this was not only because of stable climate but also because of the government's active efforts to reduce disasters. As droughts and floods were not frequent, social costs for recovery from disasters also decreased considerably and the saved money could be invested in the construction of social safety nets for the prevention of disasters. One of factors supporting the enthronement of King Sejo was a series of heavily damaging bad harvests during the reign of Kings Munjong and Danjong. The prevention of bad harvests was a historical mission given to the regime of King Sejo. During his reign, King Sejo promoted various policies in order to stop bad harvests. Such efforts included the government's active construction of embankments, introduction of seeds suitable for reclaimed lands, and inspiration of the consciousness of forceful farming enduring natural disasters such as floods. As a result, abnormal weathers such as floods and droughts did not lead directly to bad harvests.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.71-79
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to inquire into the significance of Euibangyoochui, Sejo Edition. One cannot study Euibangyoochui, Sejo Edition firsthand since it does not exist today. Instead, this writer looked into the process by which the Sejo Edition had been proofread and the historic figures who led the proofreading process. The quantities of the Sejong Edition and Sejo Edition have been compared, of which the meaning has also been studied. 1. The compilation of Sejo Edition began in 1459(5th year of Sejo), the year King Sejo entrusted the work of proofreading of Euibangyoochui to Yang Seong Ji. This was not a continuance from the work of King Sejong, but a whole new business ignited by the will and necessity conveyed by King Sejo himself. 2. King Sejo regarded medicine important and emphasized its practicality. The fact that the 365 volumes of the Sejong Edition was reduced to 266 volumes reflects the emphasis put on practicality. 3. Yang Seong Ji, who led the proofreading process, played an important role in managing state documents from the time of King Sejo. His compilation, Euibangyoochui, Sejo Edition, is a work that can be discriminated from its Chinese counterpart in that it had been proofread.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.29
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• pp.45-62
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• 1995

'Vow by Five Meritorious Subjects' was drawn up in November 14 of the second year of King Sejo's reign. The document was a pledge taken by King Sejo's son, Prince Chang, and the King's five meritorious officers in charge of national foundation (개국공신), affairs(정사공신), national defense(좌명공신), national security(정난공신), national building(좌익공신), and their offsprings in an attempt to consolidate their political power and to eliminate the opposition after having forged their coup as if King Tanjong abdicated his throne in favor of King Sejo. The signatories to this document numbered 137 persons whereas non-signatories were 83. It appears that those 83 non-signitorious were unabled to sign the vow for they were not present at the signing ceremony which followed the drafting of the document because all of them had, later on, been promoted to advice King Sejo.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.1-16
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to analyze how medical texts in Joseon Dynasty have changed in time and to understand their characteristics. Medical texts that reflect the medical standards of the time were enable us to look into how medical bureaucrats were trained and education policies related to the training. Chinese medicine influenced Joseon Dynasty's medicine in different ways at different times. Before the Imjin War, Joseon dynasty's medicine was largely under the influence of the Song dynasty's medicine. After the war, the four noted physicians of Jin-Yuan era had increasingly more significant influence, along with the introduction of Ming dynasty's medicine. The facts found through this study include : 1) the basic courses were composed of Chandomac (纂圖脈), Dongingyeong (銅人經), and Boncho (本草); 2) Josenization of medical division system was established for the first time during the reign of King Sejo (世祖), and updated throughout the time of the King Seongjong (成宗) and King Sun Jo (宣祖); 3) Hyangyak (鄕藥) education with medical texts was limited to some periods like King Seongjong (成宗) and King Sejo (世祖); 4) the high proportion of Bangseo (方書) in the early era gradually decreased, and more of specialized and comprehensive medical books came to find their way into the standard curriculum.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.101
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• pp.12-46
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• 2022

Completed in 1467, the Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda of Wongaksa Temple is the last Buddhist pagoda erected at the center of the capital (present-day Seoul) of the Joseon Dynasty. It was commissioned by King Sejo, the final Korean king to favor Buddhism. In this paper, I aim to examine King Sejo's intentions behind celebrating the tenth anniversary of his enthronement with the construction of the thirteen-story stone pagoda in the central area of the capital and the enshrinement of sarira from Shakyamuni Buddha and the Newly Translated Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (圓覺經). This paper provides a summary of this examination and suggests future research directions. The second chapter of the paper discusses the scriptural background for thirteen-story stone pagodas from multiple perspectives. I was the first to specify the Latter Part of the Nirvana Sutra (大般涅槃經後分) as the most direct and fundamental scripture for the erection of a thirteen-story stone pagoda. I also found that this sutra was translated in Central Java in the latter half of the seventh century and was then circulated in East Asia. Moreover, I focused on the so-called Kanishka-style stupa as the origin of thirteen-story stone pagodas and provided an overview of thirteen-story stone pagodas built around East Asia, including in Korea. In addition, by consulting Buddhist references, I prove that the thirteen stories symbolize the stages of the practice of asceticism towards enlightenment. In this regard, the number thirteen can be viewed as a special and sacred number to Buddhist devotees. The third chapter explores the Buddhist background of King Sejo's establishment of the Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda of Wongaksa Temple. I studied both the Dictionary of Sanskrit-Chinese Translation of Buddhist Terms (翻譯名義集) (which King Sejo personally purchased in China and published for the first time in Korea) and the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment. King Sejo involved himself in the first translation of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment into Korean. The Dictionary of Sanskrit-Chinese Translation of Buddhist Terms was published in the fourteenth century as a type of Buddhist glossary. King Sejo is presumed to have been introduced to the Latter Part of the Nirvana Sutra, the fundamental scripture regarding thirteen-story pagodas, through the Dictionary of Sanskrit-Chinese Translation of Buddhist Terms, when he was set to erect a pagoda at Wongaksa Temple. King Sejo also enshrined the Newly Translated Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment inside the Wongaksa pagoda as a scripture representing the entire Tripitaka. This enshrined sutra appears to be the vernacular version for which King Sejo participated in the first Korean translation. Furthermore, I assert that the original text of the vernacular version is the Abridged Commentary on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (圓覺經略疏) by Zongmi (宗密, 780-841), different from what has been previously believed. The final chapter of the paper elucidates the political semantics of the establishment of the Wongaksa pagoda by comparing and examining stone pagodas erected at neungsa (陵寺) or jinjeonsawon (眞殿寺院), which were types of temples built to protect the tombs of royal family members near their tombs during the early Joseon period. These stone pagodas include the Thirteen-story Pagoda of Gyeongcheonsa Temple, the Stone Pagoda of Gaegyeongsa Temple, the Stone Pagoda of Yeongyeongsa Temple, and the Multi-story Stone Pagoda of Silleuksa Temple. The comparative analysis of these stone pagodas reveals that King Sejo established the Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda at Wongaksa Temple as a political emblem to legitimize his succession to the throne. In this paper, I attempt to better understand the scriptural and political semantics of the Wongaksa pagoda as a thirteen-story pagoda. By providing a Korean case study, this attempt will contribute to the understanding of Buddhist pagoda culture that reached its peak during the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods. It also contributes to the research on thirteen-story pagodas in East Asia that originated with Kanishka stupa and were based on the Latter Part of the Nirvana Sutra.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.403-415
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• 2019

According to oral tradition, the King Sejo's palanquin is indeed the palanquin of King Sejo, the 7^th monarch of the Joseon dynasty who reigned from 1455 to 1468, which was left behind after visiting the Magoksa temple. The palanquin is painted in five colors, mainly black, white, yellow, red and green. The chromaticity measurement of the yellow pigment showed that orpiment and gold are a noticeable distinction between the lightness and b^⁎ values. In the case of the red pigment, a^⁎ values of areas painted with cinnabar tend to measure at high values. As a result of the optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses, it was determined that Chinese ink was used for the black pigment, lead white and white clay were used for the white, and orpiment and gold for the yellow. The red pigment was found to be the result of minium, cinnabar and red ocher, atacamite was used as green pigment. Though the analysis results of the cross sections on very small exfoliation fragments of pigments, it was confirmed that white clay and lead white were used for the preparation layer. In addition, several coloration techniques were considered based on these analyses.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.81-100
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• 2009

The study on Buddhism architecture in early Joseon dynasty was inactive. The period of King Sejo is important for studying the trend of Buddhism architecture in early Joseon, that was transmitted from the end of Goryeo dynasty, but it was difficult to know its exact situation due to lack of related records. The records were all written by Kim Su-ohn, which are Wongaksabi' 'Sangwonsajungchanggi' 'Bongseonsagi 'Geonginsajungchanggi'. The main hall was mainly second floor and there were necessarily annexed buildings at the right and left of the main hall. So the plane figure of $\Box\Box\Box$ was shown. It was a main stream for main hall. This layout may be referred to search for the origin of the layout in courtyard based structure(中庭形) in the late Joseon dynasty. Most of temples had 3 gates. Some part of horizontal corridor was used as 2 gates and the outer gate, far from main hall, was without corridor. The gate leading to front yard of main hall was called front gate, the next middle gate and the outer gate was Oisamun(外沙門) or Samun(沙門). Im most of the temples, people could enter into the front yard through pavilion which had the function of bell tower. The pavilions were located between front gate and first corridor. It is thought that this layout of the place for making bean curd outside the temple area will contribute to different studies on temples making bean cure in the future. The records about temples's foundation studied above are a little different between temples, but have more similarities. There common denominators represent the architecture tendency of Buddhist temples in the related period. It is thought that such a tendency was also shown on architecture of other temples during the reign of King Sejo as well as Buddhist temples.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.145-157
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• 2014

The "Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (朝鮮王朝實錄)" is the precious historical material which contains royal culture of Joseon dynasty as an official document. It kept a record of the diseases and treatments relating to the 27 Kings for a period of 518 years, who had a variety of different symptoms. Among them the most frequent disease was a skin disorder such as a boil of a painful infected swelling. Dermatosis became the direct cause of death of several Kings. In this article we tried to conduct research using the "Annals of the Joseon Dynasty" into the skin diseases of the Kings during the first period of Joseon dynasty from the first King Taejo (太祖) to the 12th King Injong (仁宗). Among the 12 Kings, the 5th King Munjong (文宗), the 7th King Sejo (世祖), the 9th King Seongjong(成宗), the 10th King Yeonsangun (燕山君), and the 11th King Jungjong suffered from dermatosis. The King Munjong died at the age of 38 and suffered from severe boils before his death. The cause of death is thought to be septicaemia. The King Sejo does not have any specific record of skin disease, however, the recently discovered relics showed the indications of serious skin trouble of boils. The King Seongjong suffered from skin diseases at the age of 20, 27, 28 and 38. Nevertheless, the direct cause of death was not dermatosis. The King Yeonsangun had skin trouble of boils on his face when he was 20. He lost the throne and died of an infectious disease at 31. The King Jungjong had a record of suffering from dermatosis at the beginning of twenties, at the middle of forties, and at the age of 57 when he died. The skin trouble affected the whole of the body. He was treated with acupuncture therapy and medication for both internal and external uses among which folk remedies were included.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.116-139
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• 2017

Naksansa Temple was famous for a miracle temple where Lee Haeng-ri(李行里), King Ikjo(翼祖), had prayed for offspring and soon begat King Dojo(度祖). According to the First King's Annals("太祖實錄"), King Dojo was the person who directly received prophecy of founding a Joseon. For these reasons, Naksansa Temple received attention concerning the foundation of Joseon. The birth story of King Dojo and his father's prayer at the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva cave(觀音窟), Naksansa Temple, was well known among the noblemen and royal families until the Late Joseon period. Lee Seoung gye(李成桂) paid particular attention to the Naksansa Temple, and King Sejo(世祖) also made people rebuild the temple when he went for a royal tour in Gangwon-do. Naksansa Temple was built during the time when King Sejo made many temples in order to strengthen the royal authority. King Sejo made people extensively rebuild the temple, praying for health and longevity of King Yejong(his son). King Sejo's will of rebuilding the Naksansa Temple was very strong. The residents of the area had to pay a huge cost because the rebuilding of the Naksansa Temple was a big construction. Hak-yeol(學悅), who had a responsibility of rebuilding the Naksansa Temple, forcedly obtained supplies as he received protection from the royal family. Naksansa Temple thrived with the protection of the royal family after rebuilding. King Yejong and Seongjong gave Naksansa Temple slaves and fields(田地). He also bestowed upon the temple the salts which was the tribute paid by Gangwon-do. In order to protect the precincts of the Naksansa Temple, the government closed the Yang Yang Main Street near Naksansa Temple and built a new road. And the signs of preventing fishing(捕漁) was built along the coast of Naksan in four kilometers in order to keep people out. Although the Naksansa Temple declined in the late Joseon period, it still received support under the protection policy and maintained its reputation as an original Buddhist shrine.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.102-131
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• 1974

The author's thesis is that the types used for the large-sized characters seen in the two metal type-printed books "Kyosik chubopop karyong"(交食推步法假令) and "Yok-hak kemong yohae"(易學啓蒙要解) both printed in 1458 belong to a new metal font hitherto unnamed. The former book was compiled by Yi Sun-ji(李純之) and Kim Sok-je(金石梯) in January of 1458 in accordance to King Sejo's order. A new font was created to be used for the large-sized characters of the book. Several. months after completion of the compilation, the book was printed with mixed use of the new font and the Kabin-ja(甲寅字) for medium- and small-sized characters. The latter book had been written by King Sejo before his accession to the throne. Ascending the throne the king had his scholar-subjects examine the writing to correct it where necessary. The examination was completed in July of 1458 and printing was immediately done with the two fonts the above-mentioned, new font for the large-sized letters and the Kabin-ja for the medium- and small-sized ones. The books were granted to the scholar-subjects and the students of the Sung Kyun Kwan Academy as a royal gift. The matrix seems to have been modeled after the calligraphy of King Sejo. Because the new font was created to print the large-sized letters of the two books in 1458, it may be proper to name it "Muin-ja" using the "kanji"(干支) of the year. The author is happy to identify and include another font in the list of Korean movable types as a result of the present study.