Goryeo: The Glory of Korea

By Jeong Myeonghee, Curator of the Fine Arts Division, National Museum of Korea

Exhibition Info. December 4, 2018 - March 3, 2019, National Museum of Korea

The Goryeo Dynasty was a nation that existed in Korea’s Medieval period, lasting 500 years from its foundation in 918 till its fall in 1392. The special exhibition Goryeo: The Glory of Korea is the first large-scale exhibition since the country’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule to give a comprehensive overview of Goryeo art. Organized to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the foundation of the Goryeo Dynasty, it brings together 450 items gathered from a total of 45 organizations, 11 in four countries overseas and 34 in Korea. The largest gathering of Goryeo art in one place, the exhibition is an opportunity to see Goryeo artworks from all over the world.

When telling stories about the faraway past,Koreans very often start with the words“yennal yennal goritjeok-e.” Here, “goritjeok”refers to Goryeo period. The same Chinesecharacters can be pronounced several different ways. For example, the “ryeo 麗 ” character in the ancient kingdom name Goguryeo can also be pronounced ri, making goguri. In the same way, the name of Goryeo, the nation that succeeded the spirit of Goguryeo, can also be pronounced as gori. So perhaps Goryeo was considered to be far away in the distant past, which would explain why goritjeok was used to talk about something that happened a long, long time ago.

Most Koreans find it hard to accurately recall the names of people, places, and sites related to the Goryeo Dynasty. This is related to the modern history of Korea, marked by the tragedy of Japanese occupation and division of the nation into South and North. The vagueness of most people’s image of the Goryeo Dynasty is due to the fact that the old capital of Gaegyeong and the political, religious, cultural, and historical centers of Goryeo are now all located in North Korea, and no official excavation and research has been carried out. The Goryeo Dynasty is now inaccessible and has disappeared from the collective memory, which may be why it is perceived to be a nation far away in the past, as in a fairytale.

We do not know much about the Goryeo Dynasty, which occupies the medieval period of Korean history. But the Goryeo Dynasty is not a forgotten foreign name. It is the origin of the modern name of the country, Korea, and we are still living in the land of the Goryeo people. However, we have no concrete memory of the Goryeo Dynasty, which is the medieval part of Korean national DNA. Rather than the cultural achievements of Goryeo for 475years, perhaps we tend to first remember its history of war and suffering. But in a time of turbulence throughout East Asia, the Goryeo Dynasty managed to usher in the golden age of Korean culture.

A photograph taken in 1918 shows Manwoldae, the royal palace of the Goryeo Dynasty located in Kaesong, in ruins. From the time Wang Geon, King Taejo, built the palace around the south of Songaksan Mountain in 919 to its destruction during the Red Turban invasions in 1361, Manwoldae served as the official residence of Goryeo kings. The year that the photograph was taken was the millennial of the foundation of the Goryeo Dynasty, but as Korea was suffering under Japanese occupation at the time, the occasion was not celebrated by anyone. For this reason, the 1,100th anniversary comes across as a particularly precious and momentous event.

In 918, Wang Geon established a unified nation on the Korean Peninsula, putting an end to the time of division and disintegration of nations. The Goryeo Dynasty had its own unique view of the world and called itself an empire. This sense of its own identity as Daegoryeo, meaning “Great Goryeo,” is clearly revealed in historic records, extant inscriptions, the systems and the style of documents used at the Goryeo royal court, and government organization. This era was a time when various nations and peoples of East Asia were in upheaval. Through active exchange with its neighbors, the Goryeo Dynastyadopted new cultural elements. It was an open country with a marked spirit of tolerance and unity, as evidenced by the fact that a foreigner was appointed prime minister. From the beginning, the Goryeo Dynasty was a society where diversity was respected.

The story of the Goryeo Dynasty begins with the international city of Gaegyeong. For the first time in Korean history, the capital was located in the center of the peninsula. According to the History of Goryeo 高麗史 , in the first half of the thirteenth century there were 100,000 homes in Gaegyeong. If five people lived in each home, the population of Gaegyeong would have reached 500,000. Considering that Florence, Italy had a population of around 100,000 at the time, we can imagine how big and bustling the city of Gaegyeong must have been.

Gaegyeong was not simply a big city but an international city frequented by foreigners. Official trade based on diplomatic relations with the Song Dynasty, Khitans, and Jin Dynasty brought all sorts of products to Gaegyeong, while the Jurchens and Tamna Kingdom (now Jejudo Island) dispatched diplomatic missions. These foreigners took part in Festival of Eight Vows, called palgwanhoe 八關會 in Korean, one of the biggest state events of the Goryeo Dynasty, and presented gifts to the king as they prayed for his longevity.

The nearby port of Byeongnando by the Yeseonggang River saw heavy traffic of ships, including cargo ships and merchant ships, and its taverns and pawn shops attracted many Song merchant ships as well. Based on written records, over the 260 years between the reigns of King Hyeonjong r. 1009– 1031 and King Chungnyeol r. 1274–1298, 1299–1308 in the late thirteenth century, about five thousand merchants visited Byeongnando on 120 different occasions. Song merchants brought with them silk, porcelain, medicine, books, musical instruments, paintings and calligraphy, gold leaf, tea, and other luxury goods for daily life as well as handicraft products and their materials. They also introduced new knowledge and products from their trading partners in Southeast Asia, Western Asia, and India.

The exhibition, Goryeo: The Glory of Korea, is divided into three main parts according to different themes. Part 1,“Gaegyeong and the Art of the Goryeo Royal Court,” explores various goods that entered Goryeo over the sea. Gaegyeong was an international city frequented by many foreigners. In the sixth month of 1123, when King Injong r. 1122–1146 ascended the throne, a diplomatic mission from the Song Dynasty arrived in the city. Among them was Xu Jing 1091–1153 , the envoy leading a delegation of 200 people sent by Emperor Huizong r. 1100–1125 of the Song Dynasty. XuJing wrote a book about his month-long stay in Goryeo titled Illustrated Account of the Xuanhe Embassy to Goryeo 宣和奉使高麗圖經 . He recorded in close detail all things he saw in words and pictures and presented the book to the emperor. But four years later the Northern Song Dynasty fell to the Jin Dynasty and the illustrations from the book were lost, leaving only the text. How did the Goryeo Dynasty appear in the eyes of a foreigner? Part 1 of the exhibition shows the artworks from Gaegyeong, the center of Goryeo, which we cannot visit for now Fig.1.

Part 2 is titled “The Splendid Culture of the Goryeo Temples” Figs.2 and 3. Different faiths and systems of thought peacefully coexisted in the Goryeo Dynasty, among which Buddhism was adopted as the national religion and ideology. It was the center of life and the spirit; it was life itself. The culture of Goryeo reached a peak based on Buddhism. The state project to carve the Tripitaka Koreana, which was the entirety of Buddhist canon and the compilation of the wisdom of humanity, can be compared to the creation of a huge library. No nation either before or after the Goryeo Dynasty appear to have fully understood the spirit of Buddhism or developed it to such an extent. When you visit the exhibition, please take some time out at a place for tea, letting your spirit float on the wind. Before you know it, you will be turning your footsteps to Part 3, “Elegant Life and Art of Goryeo” Figs.4 and 5.

Based on its unique view of the world, the Goryeo Dynasty maintained relations with nations in mainland China for more than two hundred years: with the Song Dynasty 960–1279 , the Liao Dynasty 916–1125 when the Khitans defeated the Song Dynasty, and the Jin Dynasty 1115–1234 founded by the Jurchens. In the latter half of the Goryeo period, the Yuan Dynasty 1271– 1368 ruled over an unprecedentedly large empire in China. The games of diplomacy played on all sides back then were no less fierce than what we see today. The path of diplomacy, however, was also the path of cultural exchange. The exquisite craft works of the Goryeo Dynasty are the products of such exchange, adoption of technology, and convergence of disparate elements.

The art of the Goryeo Dynasty is the history of brave attempts. The diverse materials gathered from nature and the technology for processing them developed from the tenth to fourteenth century were the common cultural achievements of Northeast Asia. However, everything is decided by how technology is used. Deciding what to do with technology is what makes art.

In Northeast Asian history, the period that can be compared to be the Middle Age in the West was a time of great changes and upheavals when active exchange of people and goods took place. People aspired to a rational world ruled by reason and logic, but at the same time myths and legends and mysterious mantras also played a part in managing the world. Though history books are brief in their discussion of exchange at the time, the artworks handed down to this day provide ample evidence of Goryeo’s relationships with China, Japan, and other nations. This exhibition holds great meaning in that it sheds light on the cultural achievements of Northeast Asian nations brought about by international relations and exchange. A journey through the art of Goryeo touches on many of the issues that we face today. The Goryeo Dynasty did not ignore the cultural traditions of the preceding states but took a pluralistic attitude, actively carrying out exchange with its neighbors and developing a creative and cosmopolitan culture.

The Goryeo Dynasty was a powerful nation yet with fine-tuned sensibilities. King Taejo left a will for his successors, reminding that a good king should earn the trust of the people. The emotions and sensibilities of the people were captured and given shape in art through the means of color, materials, and techniques. In the exhibition hall, visitors will encounter an earnest written prayer for the longevity of a two-year-old daughter and a prayer of a woman who dreamed of being reborn as a skilled doctor to save people’s lives or a painter to move people’s hearts with the sublimity of art.

Of course, we do not know what everyday life in the Goryeo Dynasty was like. We have never climbed Songaksan Mountain in the capital, Gaegyeong, for it is as remote to us as other places in the North such as Baekdusan Mountain and the Kaema Plateau. Physically, the modern city of Kaesong is only 40 minutes away from Seoul by car, yet it too is inaccessible and far away.

As the result of taking on a challenge, the special exhibition is now under way in Seoul featuring the wisdom collected by humanity and the glory of richly developed art. Even a thousand years ago various different elements converged and led to variations. For anyone who is curious about values that remains unchanged over time or the source of creative thinking and inspiration, this exhibition is never to be missed.