• Title/Summary/Keyword: the twentieth century

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Tosa Mitsuyoshi's Screen Paintings Gathering on the Year's First "Day of the Rat" and Boating on the Oi River from the National Museum of Korea (국립중앙박물관 소장 도사 미쓰요시(土佐光芳) 필(筆) <무라사키노 자일 놀이(紫野子日遊圖)·오이강 유람도 병풍(大井川遊覽圖屛風)> 시론)

  • Jung, Miyeon
    • 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.

A Study on ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn (조선통폐지인(朝鮮通幣之印) 연구)

  • Moon, Sangleun
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.52 no.2
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    • pp.220-239
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    • 2019
  • According to the National Currency (國幣) article in GyeongGukDaeJeon (經國大典), the ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn (朝鮮通幣之印) was a seal that was imprinted on both ends of a piece of hemp fabric (布). It was used for the circulation of hemp fabric as a fabric currency (布幣). The issued fabric currency was used as a currency for trade or as pecuniary means to have one's crime exempted or replace one's labor duty. The ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn would be imprinted on a piece of hemp fabric (布) to collect one-twentieth of tax. The ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn (朝鮮通幣之印) was one of the historical currencies and seal materials used during the early Chosun dynasty. Its imprint was a means of collecting taxes; hence, it was one of the taxation research materials. Despite its value, however, there has been no active research undertaken on it. Thus, the investigator conducted comprehensive research on it based on related content found in JeonRokTongGo (典錄通考), Dae'JeonHu-Sok'Rok (大典後續錄), JeongHeonSwaeRok (貞軒?錄) and other geography books (地理志) as well as the materials mentioned by researchers in previous studies. The investigator demonstrated that the ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn was established based on the concept of circulating Choson fabric notes (朝鮮布貨) with a seal on ChongOseungp'o (正五升布) in entreaty documents submitted in 1401 and that the fabric currency (布幣) with the imprint of the ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn was used as a currency for trade, pecuniary or taxation means of having one's crime exempted, or replacing one's labor, and as a tool of revenue from ships. The use of ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn continued even after a ban on fabric currencies (布幣) in March 1516 due to a policy on the "use of Joehwa (paper notes)" in 1515. It was still used as an official seal on local official documents in 1598. During the reign of King Yeongjo (英祖), it was used to make a military service (軍布) hemp fabric. Some records of 1779 indicate that it was used as a means of taxation for international trade. It is estimated that approximately 330 ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn were in circulation based on records in JeongHeonSwaeRok (貞軒?錄). Although there was the imprint of ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn in An Inquiry on Choson Currency (朝鮮貨幣考) published in 1940, there had been no fabric currencies (布幣) with its imprint on them or genuine cases of the seal. It was recently found among the artifacts of Wongaksa Temple. The seal imprint was also found on historical manuscripts produced at the Jikjisa Temple in 1775. The investigator compared the seal imprints found on the historical manuscripts of the Jikjisa Temple, attached to TapJwaJongJeonGji (塔左從政志), and published in An Inquiry on Choson Currency with the ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn housed at the Wongaksa Temple. It was found that these seal imprints were the same shape as the one at Wongaksa Temple. In addition, their overall form was the same as the one depicted in Daerokji (大麓誌) and LiJaeNanGo (?齋亂藁). These findings demonstrate that the ChoSonT'ongPaeJiIn at Wongaksa Temple was a seal made in the 15th century and is, therefore, an important artifact in the study of Choson's currency history, taxation, and seals. There is a need for future research examining its various aspects.