112 Traditional Painting
Paintings of Magpies and Tigers: Jakhodo Jakhodo are composed of a tiger under a large pine tree in which a magpie sits squawking. The anthrophomorphized tiger wears a prosperous and comic expression. The reason for depicting the fierce tiger in such a friendly manner lies in the long held Korean belief that the tiger is the messenger for the mountain deities as well as a clever animal that assists human beings. The magpie is believed to be the harbinger of good news and, at the same time, the messenger of the shrine deities who oversee human fortune and Jakhodo (Gahoe Museum) misfortune. The shrine deities are said to send the magpie to the four corners of the earth to relay their prophecies to the tiger.
Paintings of Tiger Hides: Hopido These paintings realistically depicting patterns of the tiger hide were used as decorations in place of expensive tiger hides. Customarily, a cloth bearing a tiger hide pattern was draped on a bride’s palanquin on the trip to her in-laws’ house for the wedding. The underlying belief was that, with the help of the tiger deity, the bride would be protected from harmful spirits and lead a peaceful life.
Paintings of Fish and Crabs: Eohaedo These paintings originated in the drawings of Zhao Kexiong and Liu Cai of Northern Song China, but in Korean folk paintings