• Title/Summary/Keyword: Supernatural Beings

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A Study on the Visual Characteristics and The Principal of Formation of ChangSayng-Do in the Late Chosun Dynasty (조선 후기 장생도(長生圖)의 구성원리와 조형적 특성)

  • Kim Jun-Keun
    • Journal of Science of Art and Design
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    • v.8
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    • pp.63-94
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    • 2005
  • ChangSayng-Do in the late Chosun dynasty was a kind of traditional painting which sublimated the philosophy and emotion of everyday life into an aesthetic consciousness through a long history of Korean people . It would represent a human wish and desire to live a long and healthy life, which was implicated by way of Taoism. The major themes of ChangSayng-Do - mountains, the sun, cloud, water, rock, deer, tortoises, cranes, pine trees, bamboos, peaches, and herbs of eternal youth - were all symbols used. to wish for a long-life and immortality in real world. All or some of these items were represented in paintings, which resulted in the various kinds of ChangSayng-Do. The main concern of this thesis will be centered around the naturalistic subjects shown in ChangSayng-Do. This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter describes the purpose of and need for the research, and its method and scope. The second chapter deals with the origin and style of ChangSayng-Do, and the background of its formation. It is found out that the formative characteristic of ChangSayng-Do lies in the archetype, the unity of man and nature following the traditional view of nature. It is also found out that ChangSayng-Do implied the notions of Supernatural Being, Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Taoism, and Confucianism as well as Korean shamanism. Third chapter is largely about an analytic investigation into symbolic visualization of ChangSayng-Do. Firstly, the subject matters shown in ChangSayng-Do consist of items of wishful omen for long-life and good luck, and any motif in a picture implies a symbolism of eternal youth and long-life. Secondly, the view of colors shown in ChangSayng-Do is closely connected to Five Elements and Five Direction, a traditional oriental philosophy of universe, and these symbolic colors are based on shamanism and Yin/Yang-Five Elements. According to an iconological analysis, it is confirmed that these viewpoints are consistent with formative principles and expressive methods of ChangSayng-Do to some extent. The fourth chapter is one of the most important elements for visualization of ChangSayng-Do. The symbolic meaning of long life and good luck is the major source of its popularity inside the palace as well as among the people in general. The fact that ChangSayng-Do was used to ornament the palace was documented in $\lceil$UiGuey(documents about Chosun dynasty$\rfloor$. Also during the late period of Chosun dynasty, the appreciators of arts had begun to spread from high level class to lower level class, and many pictures represented in $\lceil$Hanyang-Ga$\rfloor$ were the ones produced and circulated for those increased consumers. As for the folk-artistic characteristics, the anonymity and arbitrary naturalness of ChangSayng-Do demonstrates that the folk-artistic elements were fully soaked into the life styles of people in general. ChangSayng-Do further shows that a human being is located in the center of the universe, and that all the natural phenomena and ecology are observed to happen around human beings, and that the results of those happenings are connected to man's course of life. It is discovered that the subject matters of ChangSayng-Do in the late Chosun dynasty imply another idea inside metaphors and symbols. With regard to the arrangement of time and space, the unity or oneness of oneself with the world is more highly regarded than one's individual subjectivity: there exist multiple times and spaces in a single picture This reveals a wholistic view of oneness which does not permit the division between phenomenon and substance. To conclude, this thesis inquired into ChangSayng-Do in the late Chosun dynasty focusing on the expression of archetype-symbols. And through the analysis and demonstration, this thesis re-established constructional principles and formative characteristics of ChangSayng-Do and then settled a new phase of ChangSayng-Do, with a deep under-standing of fundamental thoughts of Korean people underlying ChangSayng-Do.

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The Zhouyi and Artificial Intelligence (『주역』과 인공지능)

  • Bang, In
    • Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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    • v.145
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    • pp.91-117
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    • 2018
  • This paper aims to clarify the similarities and differences between the Zhouyi and artificial intelligence. The divination of the Zhouyi is rooted in the oldest system of human knowledge, while artificial intelligence stands at the cutting edge of modern scientific revolution. At first sight, there does not appear to be any association that links the one to the another. However, they share the same ground as seen from a semiotic standpoint because both of them depend on the semiotic system as a means of obtaining knowledge. At least four aspects can be pointed out in terms of similarities. First, artificial intelligence and the Zhouyi use artificial language that consists of semiotic signs. Secondly, the principle that enables divination and artificial intelligence lies in imitation and representation. Thirdly, artificial intelligence and the Zhouyi carry out inferences based on mathematical algorithms that adopt the binary system. Fourth, artificial intelligence and the Zhouyi use analogy as a means of obtaining knowledge. However, those similarities do not guarantee that the Zhouyi could arrive at the scientific certainty. Nevertheless, it can give us important insight into the essence of our civilization. The Zhouyi uses intellect in order to get new information about the unknown world. However, it is hard to know what kind of intellect is involved in the process of divination. Likewise, we do not know the fundamental character of artificial intelligence. The intellect hidden in the unknown subject is a mystic and fearful existence to us. Just as the divination of the Zhouyi inspires the sense of reverence toward the supernatural subject, we could not but have fear in front of the invisible subject hidden in artificial intelligence. In the past, traditional philosophy acknowledged the existence of intellect only in conscious beings. Nonetheless, it becomes evident that human civilization ushers into a new epoch. As Ray Kurzweil mentioned, the moment of singularity comes when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. In my viewpoint, the term of singularity can be used for denoting the critical point in which the human species enters into the new phase of civilization. To borrow the term of Shao Yong(邵雍) in the Northern Song Dynasty, the past civilization belongs to the Earlier Heaven(先天), the future civilization belongs to the Later Heaven(後天). Once our civilization passes over the critical point, it is impossible to go back into the past. The opening of the Later Heaven foretold by the religious thinkers in the late period of Joseon Dynasty was a prophecy in its own age, but it is becoming a reality in the present.