• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.91-105
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• 1985

Though the tradition of Korean mathematics since the ancient time up to the "Enlightenment Period" in the late 19th century had been under the influence of the Chinese mathematics, it strove to develop its own independent of Chinese. However, the fact that it couldn't succeed to form the independent Korean mathematics in spite of many chances under the reign of Kings Sejong, Youngjo, and Joungjo was mainly due to the use of Chinese characters by Koreans. Han-gul (Korean characters) invented by King Sejong had not been used widely as it was called and despised Un-mun and Koreans still used Chinese characters as the only "true letters" (Jin-suh). The correlation between characters and culture was such that , if Koreans used Han-gul as their official letters, we may have different picture of Korean mathematics. It is quite interesting to note that the mathematics in the "Enlightenment Period" changed rather smoothly into the Western mathematics at the time when Han-gul was used officially with Chinese characters. In Koryo, the mathematics existed only as a part of the Confucian refinement, not as the object of sincere study. The mathematics in Koryo inherited that of the Unified Shilla without any remarkable development of its own, and the mathematicians were the Inner Officials isolated from the outside world who maintained their positions as specialists amid the turbulence of political changes. They formed a kind of Guild, their posts becoming patrimony. The mathematics in Koryo is significant in that they paved the way for that of Chosun through a few books of mathematics such as "Sanhak-Kyemong, "Yanghwi - Sanpup" and "Sangmyung-Sanpup." King Sejong was quite phenomenal in his policy of promotion of mathematics. King himself was deeply interested in the study, createing an atmosphere in which all the high ranking officials and scholars highly valued mathematics. The sudden development of mathematic culture was mainly due to the personality and capacity of King who took any one with the mathematic talent onto government service regardless of his birth and against the strong opposition of the conservative officials. However, King's view of mathematics never resulted in the true development of mathematics per se and he used it only as an official technique in the tradition way. Korean mathematics in King Sejong's reign was based upon both the natural philosophy in China and the unique geo-political reality of Korean peninsula. The reason why the mathematic culture failed to develop continually against those social background was that the mathematicians were not allowed to play the vital role in that culture, they being only the instrument for the personality or politics of the King. While the learned scholar class sometimes played the important role for the development of the mathematic culture, they often as not became an adamant barrier to it. As the society in Chosun needed the function of mathematics acutely, the mathematicians formed the settled class called Jung-in (Middle-Man). Jung-in was a unique class in Chosun and we can't find its equivalent in China of Japan. These Jung-in mathematician officials lacked tendency to publish their study, since their society was strictly exclusive and their knowledge was very limited. Though they were relatively low class, these mathematicians played very important role in Chosun society. In "Sil-Hak (the Practical Learning) period" which began in the late 16th century, especially in the reigns of King Youngjo and Jungjo, which was called the Renaissance of Chosun, the ambitious policy for the development of science and technology called for the rapid increase of the number of such technocrats as mathematicians inevitably became quite ambitious and proud. They tried to explore deeply into mathematics per se beyond the narrow limit of knowledge required for their office. Thus, in this period the mathematics developed rapidly, undergoing very important changes. The characteristic features of the mathematics in this period were: Jung-in mathematicians' active study an publication, the mathematic studies by the renowned scholars of Sil-Hak, joint works by these two classes, their approach to the Western mathematics and their effort to develop Korean mathematics. Toward the "Enlightenment Period" in the late 19th century, the Western mathematics experienced great difficulty to take its roots in the Peninsula which had been under the strong influence of Confucian ideology and traditional Korean mathematic system. However, with King Kojong's ordinance in 1895, the traditonal Korean mathematics influenced by Chinese disappeared from the history of Korean mathematics, as the school system was changed into the Western style and the Western matehmatics was adopted as the only mathematics to be taught at the schools of various levels. Thus the "Enlightenment Period" is the period in which Korean mathematics sifted from Chinese into European.od" is the period in which Korean mathematics sifted from Chinese into European.pean.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.141
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• pp.43-62
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• 2017

The main purpose of this paper is to survey the debates between Searle and Smith over the problem of "freestanding Y terms" in Searle's conception of social reality, and offer a viable solution, drawing on the experientialist conception of symbolic experience. Smith raises the problem of "freestanding Y term" against Searle's formula "X counts as Y in C" that there may be some cases where we cannot identify an X term to which an Y term refers. In case of an abstract concept such as equity, we may not find exactly what it stands for. That is, we cannot identify exactly what(X term) counts as equity. If there is nothing like an X for Y term, we can regard anything as equity, which may disrupt Searle's formula. Understandably, Smith does not say that the problem dismantles Searle's whole conception of social reality. Instead, Smith intends to show that Searle's formula is neither complete nor specific enough. Apparently, Searle admits that there may be freestanding Y terms and tries to articulate it within his formula, which does not seem to work. I suggest that the experientialist account of symbolic experience may serve to dissolve Smith's challenge, without modifying Searle's original formula. According to the experientialist conception of symbolization, we symbolically map some portion of our experience onto a physical object, which serves as a signifier, and we then understand and experience the signifier "in terms of" the mapped portion of experience. Thus, we experience certain buildings and some relevant people, say students, staffs, and professors in terms of "university." The status functions of university have been created by means of symbolic mappings, which change the way we understand and experience the buildings and people. In this picture, there need not be any notions such as "one-to-one correspondence" between X terms and Y terms. In this way, Searle may maintain his original formula, while dissolving, not answering, Smith's challenge. What Searle needs is a more appropriate theory of symbolization, part of which has been articulated by the experientialist account of symbolic experience.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.96
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• pp.123-154
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• 2019

Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain is a ten-panel folding screen with images and postscripts. Commissioned by Bak Gyeong-bin (dates unknown), this screen was painted by Jo Jung-muk (1820-after 1894) in 1868. The postscripts were written by Hong Seon-ju (dates unknown). The National Museum of Korea restored this painting, which had been housed in the museum on separate sheets, to its original folding screen format. The museum also opened the screen to the public for the first time at the special exhibition Through the Eyes of Joseon Painters: Real Scenery Landscapes of Korea held from July 23 to September 22, 2019. Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain depicts real scenery on the western slopes of Inwangsan Mountain spanning present-day Hongje-dong and Hongeun-dong in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. In the distance, the Bukhansan Mountain ridges are illustrated. The painting also bears place names, including Inwangsan Mountain, Chumohyeon Hill, Hongjewon Inn, Samgaksan Mountain, Daenammun Gate, and Mireukdang Hall. The names and depictions of these places show similarities to those found on late Joseon maps. Jo Jung-muk is thought to have studied the geographical information marked on maps so as to illustrate a broad landscape in this painting. Field trips to the real scenery depicted in the painting have revealed that Jo exaggerated or omitted natural features and blended and arranged them into a row for the purposes of the horizontal picture plane. Jo Jung-muk was a painter proficient at drawing conventional landscapes in the style of the Southern School of Chinese painting. Details in Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain reflect the painting style of the School of Four Wangs. Jo also applied a more decorative style to some areas. The nineteenth-century court painters of the Dohwaseo(Royal Bureau of Painting), including Jo, employed such decorative painting styles by drawing houses based on painting manuals, applying dots formed like sprinkled black pepper to depict mounds of earth and illustrating flowers by dotted thick pigment. Moreover, Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain shows the individualistic style of Jeong Seon(1676~1759) in the rocks drawn with sweeping brushstrokes in dark ink, the massiveness of the mountain terrain, and the pine trees simply depicted using horizontal brushstrokes. Jo Jung-muk is presumed to have borrowed the authority and styles of Jeong Seon, who was well-known for his real scenery landscapes of Inwangsan Mountain. Nonetheless, the painting lacks an spontaneous sense of space and fails in conveying an impression of actual sites. Additionally, the excessively grand screen does not allow Jo Jung-muk to fully express his own style. In Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, the texts of the postscripts nicely correspond to the images depicted. Their contents can be divided into six parts: (1) the occupant of the tomb and the reason for its relocation; (2) the location and geomancy of the tomb; (3) memorial services held at the tomb and mysterious responses received during the memorial services; (4) cooperation among villagers to manage the tomb; (5) the filial piety of Bak Gyeong-bin, who commissioned the painting and guarded the tomb; and (6) significance of the postscripts. The second part in particular is faithfully depicted in the painting since it can easily be visualized. According to the fifth part revealing the motive for the production of the painting, the commissioner Bak Gyeongbin was satisfied with the painting, stating that "it appears impeccable and is just as if the tomb were newly built." The composition of the natural features in a row as if explaining each one lacks painterly beauty, but it does succeed in providing information on the geomantic topography of the gravesite. A fair number of the existing depictions of gravesites are woodblock prints of family gravesites produced after the eighteenth century. Most of these are included in genealogical records and anthologies. According to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century historical records, hanging scrolls of family gravesites served as objects of worship. Bowing in front of these paintings was considered a substitute ritual when descendants could not physically be present to maintain their parents' or other ancestors' tombs. Han Hyo-won (1468-1534) and Jo Sil-gul (1591-1658) commissioned the production of family burial ground paintings and asked distinguished figures of the time to write a preface for the paintings, thus showing off their filial piety. Such examples are considered precedents for Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain. Hermitage of the Recluse Seokjeong in a private collection and Old Villa in Hwagae County at the National Museum of Korea are not paintings of family gravesites. However, they serve as references for seventeenth-century paintings depicting family gravesites in that they are hanging scrolls in the style of the paintings of literary gatherings and they illustrate geomancy. As an object of worship, Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain recalls a portrait. As indicated in the postscripts, the painting made Bak Gyeong-bin "feel like hearing his father's cough and seeing his attitudes and behaviors with my eyes." The fable of Xu Xiaosu, who gazed at the portrait of his father day and night, is reflected in this gravesite painting evoking a deceased parent. It is still unclear why Bak Gyeong-bin commissioned Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain to be produced as a real scenery landscape in the folding screen format rather than a hanging scroll or woodblock print, the conventional formats for a family gravesite paintings. In the nineteenth century, commoners came to produce numerous folding screens for use during the four rites of coming of age, marriage, burial, and ancestral rituals. However, they did not always use the screens in accordance with the nature of these rites. In the Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, the real scenery landscape appears to have been emphasized more than the image of the gravesite in order to allow the screen to be applied during different rituals or for use to decorate space. The burial mound, which should be the essence of Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, might have been obscured in order to hide its violation of the prohibition on the construction of tombs on the four mountains around the capital. At the western foot of Inwangsan Mountain, which was illustrated in this painting, the construction of tombs was forbidden. In 1832, a tomb discovered illegally built on the forbidden area was immediately dug up and the related people were severely punished. This indicates that the prohibition was effective until the mid-nineteenth century. The postscripts on the Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain document in detail Bak Gyeong-bin's efforts to obtain the land as a burial site. The help and connivance of villagers were necessary to use the burial site, probably because constructing tombs within the prohibited area was a burden on the family and villagers. Seokpajeong Pavilion by Yi Han-cheol (1808~1880), currently housed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is another real scenery landscape in the format of a folding screen that is contemporaneous and comparable with Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain. In 1861 when Seokpajeong Pavilion was created, both Yi Han-cheol and Jo Jung-muk participated in the production of a portrait of King Cheoljong. Thus, it is highly probable that Jo Jung-muk may have observed the painting process of Yi's Seokpajeong Pavilion. A few years later, when Jo Jungmuk was commissioned to produce Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain, his experience with the impressive real scenery landscape of the Seokpajeong Pavilion screen could have been reflected in his work. The difference in the painting style between these two paintings is presumed to be a result of the tastes and purposes of the commissioners. Since Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain contains the multilayered structure of a real scenery landscape and family gravesite, it seems to have been perceived in myriad different ways depending on the viewer's level of knowledge, closeness to the commissioner, or viewing time. In the postscripts to the painting, the name and nickname of the tomb occupant as well as the place of his surname are not recorded. He is simply referred to as "Mister Bak." Biographical information about the commissioner Bak Gyeong-bin is also unavailable. However, given that his family did not enter government service, he is thought to have been a person of low standing who could not become a member of the ruling elite despite financial wherewithal. Moreover, it is hard to perceive Hong Seon-ju, who wrote the postscripts, as a member of the nobility. He might have been a low-level administrative official who belonged to the Gyeongajeon, as documented in the Seungjeongwon ilgi (Daily Records of Royal Secretariat of the Joseon Dynasty). Bak Gyeong-bin is presumed to have moved the tomb of his father to a propitious site and commissioned Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain to stress his filial piety, a conservative value, out of his desire to enter the upper class. However, Ancestral Burial Ground on the Inwangsan Mountain failed to live up to its original purpose and ended up as a contradictory image due to its multiple applications and the concern over the exposure of the violation of the prohibition on the construction of tombs on the prohibited area. Forty-seven years after its production, this screen became a part of the collection at the Royal Yi Household Museum with each panel being separated. This suggests that Bak Gyeong-bin's dream of bringing fortune and raising his family's social status by selecting a propitious gravesite did not come true.