Koreana Spring 1996 (English)

Ssangyong: Reliability in a variety of business circles.

A corporation's survival depends on its reputation for

Our capital and technical cooperation with

reliability.

Mercedes-Benz, the capital venture with Saudi Arabia's Aramco and the construction of over 7,000

Ssangyong has a 56-year history of reliability.

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Partners in more than 120 countries depend on Ssangyong and we're doing our best to meet their

few examples of our successful partnerships.

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BEAUTY OF KOREA

Kobi

In traditional Korean society, a gentleman's room was austere, containing few, if any, decorations. In most cases, the room's only adornment was a kobi, a hanging rack used to store letters, rolled-up paintings and calligraphy scrolls.

The kobi is a simple device, but it adds unusual re ~ finement to the clean white walls, golden rice paper floors and dark brown wooden furniture of a gentleman's room. Traditionally, Koreans have sat, dined and slept on the floor. As a result, furniture is generally quite low, making the walls appear especially wide. The kobi combines utility-a practical storage for papers that might otherwise clutter the room-and

decorative effect, breaking up the wide expanse of wall space between the furniture and ceiling.

A kobi always reflected the personal tastes of its owner, and today one can still find many varieties.

Some are made of paulownia wood etched with a hot iron. Others resemble beautiful paintings, decorated with intaglio engravings of the "Four Gentlemen" (plum blossoms, orchids, chrysanthemums and bamboo) or other flowers and birds, which are filled in with color. Still others take advantage of the smooth texture of bamboo, etched with a hot iron or carved in a way that exposes the colorful stationery within. +

COVER: Closely related

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with everyday life, furniture is an expres-

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sian of the people who use it. This issue

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of KOREANA thus looks at traditional

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Korean furniture.

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KOREAN FURNITURE Its Function 8 Beauty 4 The Beauty of Korean Wood Furniture

by Park Young-kyu

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Rooms and Furniture in Traditional Korean Houses

by Lim Young-ju

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20 Changs6k: Combining Function & Beauty

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by Hong}ung-sil

26 Lacquerware & Ox Horn Furniture

by Park Young-kyu

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Cabinetmaker Ch'on Sang-won

by Kim Young-uk Š Tbe Korea Foundation 1996 All rigbts reserved No part of tbis publication may be reproduced in any form witbout tbe prior permission of Tbe Korea Foundation.

The opi nions expressed by the authors do not necessarily represent those of the editors of KOREANA or The Korea Foundation.

KOREANA, registe red as a quarterly magazine with the Ministry of Information (Registration No. Ba-1033, dated Aug. 8, 1987), is also published in French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.

36

Naju Soban

by Kim Yoo-kyung

42 Contemporary Architecture Expressing the Quintessence of Korea

by Park Kil-ryong

50 INTERVIEW

Kim Chong-hak

by Kim Hyung-kook

56

Korean Treasures Added to UNESCO's World Heritage List

by Kang .Jae-soo

Korea Foundation

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Vol 10 , No. 1 Spring 1996

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64 ON THE ROAD

KOREAN A

{ian: Vestiges of th e Kogury6 Spirit y Kimjoo-young

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Published quarter! y by Th e Korea F 526 Namd oundation aemunno 5 Seoul 100-095 -gKa, Chung-gu, , orea

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KOREAN1AR TIFACTS ABROAD Cl eveandM

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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ARTISTS ABROAD

ART DIRECTOR

ang Sue]in

Park Seung-u

by Lee jong-ho

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

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80 DISCOVERING KOREA

Flowers De

by Lee Tchang-b~rte

Im Hyung-kook Kun Moon-hwan Lee Ku-yeol

Spring

84 CURRENTS

p .

The Art ofK ered

by Lee Won-bok un Hong-do Rememb

KimK . wang-on Kim Seong-wou Lim Young -b ang

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THE BEAUTY OF KOREAN Park Young-kyu Professor of Fine Arts, Yong-in University Specialist, Cultural Properties Committee

unctionalism and a simple beauty characterize Korean wood furniture. Unlike the large, ornate furniture of China and the West, Korean furniture is small and low. Korean furniture is the product of Korea's natural environment, climate, housing and customs, which all together led to the development of a style of furniture unique to Korea. In a traditional house, Koreans sat on the floor of

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simple, small ondol (hypocaust)rooms.

This resulted in furniture of a style and specification quite different from that of China and the West where chairs were used in homes.

Closely related with everyday life, furniture is an expression of the people who use it. Korean wood furniture, which emphasizes the natural grain of the wood rather than ornate sculpturing and colorful decoration, best expresses the Korean people's love

Documentchest,mun-gap, 19th century, 144x 22.5x36.8 em 4

for nature. The earthy yet thoughtful Korean character is especially well reflected in the furniture of the sarang, the men's quarters, which is marked by an unpretentious, restrained beauty and an absence of artificiality.

The furniture of the Chason period (1392-1910) is an outstanding example of a superb sense of proportion and precise division of surface. The spatial composition and the division of the surface of the furniture of the Chason

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WOOD FURNITURE literati's room in particular epitomize a painstakingly planned _harmony of function and beauty of form. The best example can be found in the simple, distinctive composition of the space and ideal utilization of the surface of the sabang t'akcha shelves and mungap document chests.

The formative beauty of Choson furniture resulted from the fastidious workmanship that went into the unseen structuring and jointing.

Traditional cabinetmakers used isinglass and when nailing was necessary, they used bamboo nails, but never metal ones. A number of precise, scientific techniques were employed for jointing to ensure durability and beauty.

Another notable characteristic of traditional Korean furniture is the variety of woods used according to the function and shape of the furniture.

Careful consideration was given to pre-

vent warping and to allow for the contraction and expansion of the wood resulting from seasonal changes in humidity and temperature. Cheap materials were not even used in the unseen parts of the panels or frames.

The Choson period furniture for both the literati's study and the women's quarters that has been preserved shows Ming Chinese influences in style and size up until the 17th century but the development of a distinc-

Scholar's desk, soan, 19th century, 60 x 25 x 26 em

tive Korean style seems to have emerged by the 18th century.

In short, Korean wood furniture is a product of a love of nature with decisive influences from the natural environment and the architecture and spatial arrangement of Korean houses.

Confucianism, which dictated every facet of Choson life, also encouraged the development of pragmatic, function-oriented furniture.

Influences of Architecture Chinese and Western furniture tends to be large, heavy and ornate, while rooms tend to be spacious with high ceilings; most rooms include chairs. In contrast, Korean furniture tends to be small, light and plain, while rooms tend to be small with low ceilings. Koreans also preferred to sit on the floor to take advantage of the ingenious system of underfloor ondol heating. Furniture for ondol rooms had to be simple, small and low so as not to be visually obstructive or to take up

much of the already limited living space.

The scholar's desk (soan), the inkstone box (y6nsang), and other pieces of furniture meant for the center of a room could be easily moved around for the effective use of space. The low, narrow mun-gap document chests and headside chests (m6ritchang) were designed so one could conveniently use them while sitting. Chests, cabinets and shelves were also made in a simple fashion to suit the limited space of the room. The harmony of the simple, low furniture and the walls which were bare except for a few well-placed vessels and utensils created an ambience that appealed to the Korean sensibility.

Because of the Confucian teachings which emphasized the segregation of males and females from a certain age, houses had separate quarters for men and women during the Choson period.

Men spent most of their time in the sarangch'ae, the building close to the

gate, or if the men's and women's quarters were in the same building, in the sarangbang, a room near the gate.

Women occupied the anch 'ae or anbang, the building or room far away from the gate. The furniture of the sarangch'ae and anch'ae were naturally as different in taste and function as the occupants of the two quarters.

The sarangbang or sarangch'ae was a masculine domain where the literatischolar indulged in meditation, pursued scholarly interests, composed poems, practiced calligraphy or painting, and received visitors. Furniture with simple lines and small dimensions suitable to the serious, unpretentious atmosphere of the place was preferred.

A keen interest in scholarly pursuits, another influence of Confucianism, resulted in the development of such furniture and stationery items as scholar's desks, document chests, Etageres, book chests, brush holders, water droppers and incense holders.

The mun-gap, a chest to keep

\. important documents and stationery items, was one of the most essential pieces of sarang furniture and was usu¡ally placed against the wall. Matching the low height of the soan, or scholar's desk, it created a sense of expansiveness by leaving a spacious area on the wall above it. Sometimes the effect was magnified by openwork designs cut in parts of the mun-gap. Furniture placed against the wall was usually narrow so that it took up little space.

The t'akcha, an etagere composed of several square shelves and a skeletal support structure, was one of the most eye-pleasing pieces of Korean furniture because of its division of space and openness. It had three, four or five levels of shelves, sometimes with the lowest level closed like a cabinet. Books and decorative objects were kept on the shelves.

Another essential piece of sarang furniture was the ch'aekchang, or book cabinet. Large houses usually had a separate storage area for books, but books for daily reading were kept in a small ch'aekchang in the room. Such cabinets had thick frames and sturdy jointing to withstand the weight.

Kobi, a holder for keeping letters and rolls of paper, was not only a handy piece of furniture but also a nice decoration for the wall left empty by the low furniture. Blending naturally with the rest of the furniture, kobi reflected the taste of the master of the room. Other sarang furniture included a floor lamp, a candle or oil-lamp holder, boxes and recreational objects such as a paduk, or go game, board and a k6m un-go, six -stringed zither.

Most sarang furniture was made with pine and paulownia wood of lusterless, subdued texture, but zelkova and persimmon were also favored for their naturally artistic grains. The most sophisticated, aristocratic chests were made with ginkgo wood, intricately carved with longevity symbols together with cloud and crane or dragon motifs. Famous verses or geometrically shaped characters were also carved on

Etagere, 19th century, 45.3 x 37.4 x 138 em

Stackable chest, nang, early 20th century, 74.5 x 37.5 x 105.6 em

Korean furniture tends to be small, light and plain, while rooms tend to be small with low ceilings. Koreans have preferred to sit on the

floor to take advantage of the ingenious system of underfloor ondol heating. Furniture for ondol rooms had to be simple, small and low so as not to be visually obstructive or to take up much of the already limited living space.

such furniture.

Women of the Choson period were confined most of their lives in the anch'ae, observing strict rules of conduct. Here, cut off from the outside world, women built their own world, making it a comfortable, pleasant place for them and their children. In contrast to the sober tone of the men's quarters, the women's quarters were warm, bright and colorful.

Dominating the anbang, the housewife's room, were two- and threestory chests for storing the great variety of clothing and bedding needed to weather Korea's four distinct seasons.

There were also smaller chests and boxes to store poson (cotton-padded socks), and various daily feminine incidentals.

There were two kinds of multi-level chests: a stackable chest calle.d nang and a tall chest with its interior space divided by two or three shelves called chang. The inseparable chang was understandably crafted with a sturdy frame and thick panels to support the weight, whereas the stackable nong had a slender frame and thin panels.

Nong were popular because they were convenient to move.

A great variety of materials was used to make chests for the anbang.

Zelkova, dark-grained persimmon, ash and maple were often used for boards and panels because of their beautiful grain. Gingko, wild walnut and linden were favored for sculptured chests.

Some imaginative chests were made with pieces of thick paper, brightened by paintings of flowers and plants, glued onto the wood frame, while others were fitted with elaborately embroidered silk panels. Also popular were lacquered chests inlaid with mother-of-pearl, hwagakchang, chests decorated with small brightly painted panels of ox horn, and hwach'ojang, chests decorated with glass panels painted with colorful flower and grass motifs. The most popular designs on women's furniture were landscapes, flowers and grass, illustrations repre-

senting Confucian morals and rules of behavior, longevity symbols and Chinese characters embodying wishes .for many sons, wealth, health and prosperity. ¡ The kitchen was set below the floor level of the rest of the house so that the heat from the cooking fire could travel in flues under the house for the ondol heating system. Kitchen furniture, designed accordingly, included shelves, cabinets, rice boxes and small, portable dining tables called soban.

The lightweight soban was made in a great variety of sizes and shapes because food had to be carried from the kitchen through the yard and past the taechong, the wooden-floored main hall to various rooms in the house.

Ch'ant'ak, multi-level kitchen shelves, were made very sturdy to support stacks of heavy brass and porcelain dinnerware. Made with thick frames and heavy boards sturdily jointed together, the hefty shelves of coarse wood looked strong and reliable. They were usually made with plain pine boards jointed together using the mortise-andtenon method, the same method used for making the wood floors of the taechong halls of traditional Korean houses, and had thick, tall feet or stands to elevate them above the moist, earthen kitchen floor.

Kitchen cabinets for storing vessels and foodstuffs were made with thick pine wood frames and beautifully grained zelkova panels fastened with sturdy iron hinges. They were usually in two or three levels and some had paper panels instead of wood ones to ensure good ventilation.

Twiju, durable boxes to store rice or other grains, was an important piece of kitchen furniture. Ranging in size from large ones for storing rice to small ones for storing beans or sesame seeds, twiju were built with zelkova or pine panels fitted into a thick pine frame designed to protect the contents from rodents, vermin and moisture.

As an added precaution against graineating vermin, some boxes were built

in two levels with grain stored on the top level and vessels and other kitchen utensils stored in the lower one, which had hinged doors on the side like a cabinet.

Environmental Influences Korea's mountainous terrain is home to a rich variety of trees.

Because of the four distinct seasons

and sharp differences of temperature from one season to the next, trees are marked with clear year-rings which in themselves provide beautiful patterns when the wood is cut lengthwise in panels, a feature which sits well with the Korean preference for natural beauty rather than artificial decoration, sculpturing or painting.

In terms of use, the beautifully

Kitchen shelf, ch 'an t'ak, late 19th century, 95.5 x 39.7 x 151.3 em

wide, thin boards that would not warp or crack could be cut from them.

Ginkgo is still highly valued for trays because it is light in weight and resistant to scratches and insects.

The hardy wood of wild walnut, pear and chinaberry trees was used for the skeletal structures of furniture while the elastic, evenly grained wood of ginkgo and birch were favored for sculpturing. The lightweight paulownia wood was the most popular for making chests for safekeeping clothes, books and documents because of its ability to control humidity. Paulownia panels were sometimes burnt with a hot iron and rubbed with straw to bring out the grain of the wood. Such panels, lusterless and somber, were widely used for making sarangbang chests.

Korean pine trees, ubiquitous throughout the country, were a popular source of wood for both panels and framing materials because of the fine grain and oily, neat texture.

Grain box, early 20th century,33.5 x 23.8 x 33.5 em

grained zelkova, persimmon, maple, kalopanax, paulownia and ash were used for panels and boards. Dark streaked persimmon wood was especially favored for panelling stacking chests, document chests and inkstone boxes for its grain resembles abstract paintings. Zelkova and ash were also popular for panels, especially the center panels of anbang chests, because wood from the roots and pieces with knars, called "dragon wood," have swirling patterns that resemble a writhing dragon.

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Natural grains were highlighted to their best on mun-gap document chests that have four or eight doors, all featuring identical patterns. Wood with good grains were sawed thin and attached to paulownia or pine panels resistant to contraction and expansion.

This technique not only secured a quantity of beautifully grained panels but also prevented their cracking and shrinking when made into furniture.

Ginkgo, wild walnut, walnut and linden were often used to make the soban trays and dining tables, because

Structuring and Jointing While Korea's climate with its wide range of temperatures between summer and winter helps to produce an abundance of beautifully grained wood, it also causes a great deal of contraction and expansion which leads to warping or cracking of wood panels.

As a measure to prevent warping and cracking, Chason cabinetmakers divided the front surface of a chest into many horizontal and vertical facets.

Each facet was made with a 2- or 3-millimeter-thin panel of grained wood, enforced with a contraction-expansion resistant pine or paulownia panel under it and fitted, but not glued, into the groove of the structural frame. This technique had a number of advantages: it prevented warping, promoted the use, not waste, of even small pieces of beautifully grained wood, and made the chest lightweight yet sturd y because the network of the structural frame supported the thin panels.

The technique required careful designing to ensure harmony and bal-

ance as well as an efficient distribution of drawers, hinged doors and storage spaces. A superb sense of line and division of surface thus developed in the making of Choson furnli:ure and resulted in designs that are harmonious with any setting or housing style.

A sturdy structuring and jointing was the prerequisite for making furniture marked by simplicity, the extreme example being the sabang t'akcha etagere which is composed of nothing but shelves and a frame to support them. A variety of sophisticated jointing techniques was developed to ensure stability without visible evidence of it. Indeed, Choson furniture is noted for its sturdy build and precise jointing down to the invisible details.

Regional Traits Korea, though small, is divided into many regions separated by mountains and rivers. A different style of furniture with a distinct regional flavor emerged in each region, varying according to the regional lifestyle and the wood available in the area. The most diverse in style were the portable soban trays and tables and pandaji, a "half closing" chest so named because the upper leaf of its two-panel front is hinged to the lower leaf so that it can be flipped open and closed.

Dining tables came to be called by the name of the region in which they originated. There were Haeju-ban, Najuban, T'ong-yong-ban and Kangwon-ban, each distinguished by the type of wood, the shape of the legs and top, and the kind of varnish.

Pandaji are even more varied. They are divided by province of origin into P'yong-an-do, Kyonggi-do , Ch'ungch'ong-clo, ChOlla-do, Kyongsang-do and Cheju-do pandaji, and subdivided into Pakch'on, P'yongyang, Kaesong, Kanghwa, Miryang, Kohling, Pyongyang and Naju pandaji. Each features a definite regional trait in the wood, metal ornaments, basic framework and jointing.

Wardrobe, late 19th century, 95 x 48 x 169 em 11

Dining table, Haeju-ban, 19th century, 42x33.6x30.4cm

Korea's mountainous terrain is home to a rich variety of trees.

Because of the four distinct seasons and great differences of temperature from one season to the next, trees are marked with clear year-rings which in themselves provide beautiful patterns when the wood is cut lengthwise in panels, a feature which sits well with the Korean preference for natural beauty rather than artificial decoration, sculpturing or painting

Blanket chest, pandaji, 19th century, 119.7 x 40.2 x 98 em 12

The Pakch'on pandaji, originating in Pakch6n, P'yong-an-do, was covered with iron plate ornaments cut or pierced into a Buddhist swastika and floral or geometric designs. Plain linden wood was used because the grain of the wood would be hidden by the many ornaments. This style of chest was a rare deviation from the norm of Choson furniture that shunned excessive decoration.

The P'yongyang pandaji uses light hued zelkova wood with a beautiful grain highlighted by tin ornaments.

Compared to the iron ornaments that are prevalent on pandaji chests, its tin ornaments are very decorative and appeal to feminine tastes. Similar in material and shape to the P'yongyang pandaji is the Kaesong pandaji, which is made even more feminine by the use of nickel instead of tin ornaments.

Pine is used for making the Kanghwa pandaji, which is taller than other chests in comparison to its width. This style of chest is highly decorative, featuring an abundance of metal ornaments.

The Miryang pandaji, which comes from the Miryang and Chinju areas of Kyongsangnam-do, is usually made with pine. It is lower than other pandaji and is characterized by metal hinges of a grass-leaf design and openwork ornaments. Decorative nails line the edge of the door flap and are sometimes inlaid with the Chinese ideographs for long life or a floral design in silver.

The Pyongyang pandaji, made in the Pyongyang area of Chollanam-do, is identifiable by the spool-shaped hinges and locks and dovetailed joints reinforced by slender iron pins. The Kohung pandaji from the Namwon, Koh ung and Yonggwang areas of Ch611anam-do is narrow and tall. It is peculiarly decorated with a lock of floral design and a diamond-shaped ornament at the center but no decoration on the rest of the surface. The Naju pandaji is very simple, made with grainless pine, linden or wild walnut

j. ¡

and using very slender horizontal or narrow spool-shaped hinges fixed with large-headed nails. Nippleshaped, decorative nails line t ~ e edges.

The Cheju-do pandaji gives a powerful impression. Its zelkova panels are covered with iron hinges of inverted spool design, decorative diamond nails, a bat-shaped plate under the grip and other metal ornaments.

Polishing furniture with oil not only increases the durability of the wood by making it resistant to scratches and moisture but also enhances its appearance. Choson furniture was sometimes greased on the raw surface for a natural look but was more often tinted before the greasing to bring out the grain. Clay, red ochre and gardenia seeds diluted in water were the most frequently used pigments. They were sometimes mixed with ink or fine, dark earth for a darker hue. The pigments were wiped off with a cloth before they dried completely, and vegetable oils such as castor, pinenut, walnut, bean and paulownia seed were rubbed in until the grain of the wood stood out Vegetable oils were widely used because they formed a thin protective film on the surface of the wood to prevent cracking and also provided a subdued gloss.

High-class furniture and dining tables were lacquered. Lacquer is very dark at first but lightens with time.

Although lacquer protects wood from blight and rot, it is still reserved for high-quality furniture because it is expensive. Furniture for use in royal palaces was coated with an opaque red or black color but such pigments, which hid the grain of the wood, were never used on common furniture.

Metal decorations, made of iron, tin and nickel, were chosen according to the function and shape of the furniture. They were simple and used sparingly during the early Choson era so as not to clutter the grainy appearance but became more sophisticated and widely used in the later period. +

Wardrobe, late 19th century,84.2x47.Sx 174cm 13

ROOMS AND FURNITURE IN TRADITIONAL KOREAN HOUSES Lim Young-ju Director, Korean Traditional Handicraft Museum

good part of the beauty of Korean traditional houses derives from the simple and pleasant room interiors and the placement of furniture.

Korean rooms convey an elegant and comfortable feeling created by sunlight filtering through the papered lattice windows, which gives the oil-papered floor a natural sheen. In the past, few artificial decorations cluttered the rooms, and the nobler the occupants, the more austere the decor they sought.

The traditional Korean way of life divided the house into two quarters: one for women and children, anch'ae; and one for men, sarangch'ae. The division was more clearly marked the higher the family's step on the social ladder. The furniture used in each quarter was also quite distinct.

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Furniture for Anbang The anbang, the innermost room, was the center of family life for women and children. In a house of the upper class, the inner room had to be cozy and elegant.

As the anbang was the center of the activities of a wife and children, a sewing box, a brazier for the smoothing iron, and an ironing board of sorts could be found in all traditional anbang. A folding screen with painted or embroidered flowers and birds or a landscape design usually stood below the window or just inside the door to block drafts. Various clothes chests, jewelry and miscellaneous boxes, and reading tables served the mistress's needs.

Clothes chests were of two kinds.

Nong was essentially a simple chest used individually or stacked in two or

Korean rooms convey an elegant and comfortable feeling created by sunlight filtering through the papered lattice windows, which gives the oil-papered floor a natural sheen.

The main family home of the Yogang Yi clan in Yangdong, Kyongsangbuk-do, a village preserved in its traditional state. The home typifies yangban homes of the Choson period.

14

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The sarangbang served as living room, study and reception room for the traditional gentleman. (Korean Folk Village, Yong-in)

three tiers. Chang was a tall chest with its interior space divided by two or three shelves. Originally, the nong used by women were of woven bushclover or willow twigs. Most nong were made with wooden boards, but there were some with wood-framed paper panels, made entirely of multiple layers of paper pasted together, and others made of rush. Upper-class women sometimes used lacquered nong inlaid with mother-of-pearl, hwagaknong paneled with painted ox horn, and embroidered nong. Chang were of various sizes and shapes and served a variety of needs. There were chang to store clothes, cotton-padded socks, bedding, thread, books and medicine.

Pandaji and kwye, wooden boxes of various shapes and sizes, also served the storage needs of women. Usually the upper half of the front panel of pandaji opened as a flap door, although some were made with doors in the lower 16

half. There were also "dog-hole" pandaji, which had tiny doors or lids. Some boxes were in fact combination box and wardrobe. The wooden furniture for women's quarters was elaborate with distinct compartments and wood combinations joined by diverse methods and embellished with decorations.

Furniture for Sarangbang In the Choson period, yangban, the literati or aristocracy, were members of the class privileged to hold civil or military posts in the bureaucracy. They usually returned to their ancestral hometowns after their retirement to read, meditate, enjoy nature and indulge in hobbies such as poetry composition, painting and playing music.

The center of a man's life in the home was the study cum drawing room called sarang. In principle, the sarangch'ae, the men's quarters, was a separate building from the anch'ae, but

in smaller houses the room nearest the gate served as the sarangbang. In the houses of wealthier nobility, there were three sarang: the big or main sarang for the master of the house, the smaller sarang for his sons, and an inner sarang for his parents, who had turned the household management over to the younger generation and lived in retirement. The inner sarang was usually connected to the inner quarters, and the outer or main sarang of the nobility usually had a library in a detached building, sometimes outside the wall surrounding the house. The sarang quarters were naturally bigger and more imposing the higher the master's position and prestige.

The main sarang consisted of the master's bedroom, the sarangbang itself where the master spent most of his daytime hours and received most of his guests, the wooden-floored verandah or antechamber and the numaru,

or raised terrace. The sarangbang and the raised terrace were connected to form the master's study. ¡ The furniture in the sarang was visible evidence of the master's financial situation and intellectual sophistication, so it was fastidiously selected.

There had to be a reading table, of course, and a table for calligraphy.

There was also a table for tobacco which accommodated smoking accessories and the paduk, or go, board.

The master usually sat on a padded silk mat and leaned on an armrest. A long pillow was placed at the other end of the mat. A stationery chest, a book chest, and a hanging wardrobe were also necessary.

Anything gaudy or overly decora-

tive was strictly banned, and elegance was the first consideration in the selection of furniture. The walls were hung with white paper, and the ceilings were papered with a somber blue or pastel green paper. The paper covering the ondol (hypocaust) floor was repeatedly varnished with boiled bean extract until it was translucent. Only one calligraphic work or painting was hung on the wall at a time, and folding screens were relegated to the bedroom.

Because the rooms were small, some stationery articles, such as brush racks and letter holders, were hung on the wall, to minimize clutter on the floor and tables. For lighting utensils, cast iron candleholders or wooden lamp hangers were used. Braziers, incense

holders and incense tables were also part of the basic furnishing for the sarang. According to the master's taste, odd-shaped stones, orchids, zithers and flutes may have also graced the room.

Most important of all, of course, were the "four friends (or treasures) of the scholar"-paper, brush, ink stone and ink stick.

From as early as the Kory6 period (918-1392), when it was called sojae or munbang, sarang was where men of the literati gathered to discuss life, politics and art. Therefore, a sarangbang culture developed, and furniture and accessories for the sarang became more sophisticated and elegant over time, befitting the function and importance of the room.

Even small homes had sarangbang if possible. Here a sleeping room with heated floor is fitted as a sarangbang_ 17

Furniture for Terrace The numaru, or raised terrace, was an elevated space, somewhat like a loft. The master of the house went up to the terrace to relax and meditate, enjoying the view of his garden afforded by the numaru's elevation. In summer it afforded a cool, pleasant place for taking naps. The master could also invite his friends up to the numaru to share drinks and enjoy poetry composition and calligraphy 18

The taech'ong, the woodenfloor'ed main hall of this house, is decorated somewhat like the sarangbang, reflecting the simple tastes and sensibilities of the gentleman-scholar who used it.

Here a wooden bed and "bamboo wife," for relieving the heat of a summer night, are seen along with an etagere. (Korean Folk Village, Yong-in)

writing.

Therefore, this terrace also needed a reading table, calligraphy table, book chest, tea table, low lamp, brazier and smoking accessories. A wooden bedstead was usually placed in the middle of the numaru for napping, along with a wooden pillow and a woven bamboo cylinder called "bamboo wife," which provided cool ventilation in the summer when held to the body while sleeping.

I

Furniture for Taech'ong Taech '6ng, the big hall, was the wooden-floored hall between the two main ondol rooms of the inner quarters which served as the living room for the family. Its wooden floor was made of long and short boards laid at right angles to each other.

It was usually furnished with a cupboard and a rice chest. Various seasoning jars were placed on top of the rice chest, and the fulling stone for pounding fabrics smooth was stored in one corner. The cupboard was made of solid wood, such as cedar, pine, chinaberry or Korean pine. Decorative accessories on cupboards tended to be of cast iron, and mitre or finger joints were used, adding to their solid look ~ m

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The simple decor of the taech'ong and the inner room, or an bang, to which it is attached. A cabinet to store food ~d a rice chest stand on the unheated wooden floor, while a large wardrobe and chest reflect the tastes of the woman of the house in the inner room (above).

The kitchens of the co~mn people usually had simple food lockers and small portable dining tables (below).

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Furniture for Kitchen Since women spent almost all their daylight hours in the kitchen, the furniture and utensils used in the kitchen tended to be designed not only for practical use but also to be aesthetically pleasing. Cupboards, china and brassware chests, food boxes, trays and ceremonial vessels were well:crafted.

Buffet chests had shelves and one or two cabinets. Most cabinets had hinged or sliding doors. Buffet chests were usually made of pine board, and varied in design from region to region.

The soban meal tray is a uniquely Korean piece of furniture made to suit the lifestyle of Koreans who sat and ate meals on the ondol floor. Used not only to carry food but to eat meals from, the meal trays came in various sizes, shapes and designs according to region and use. + 19

ChangsOk COMBINING FUNCTION &BEAUTY Hong}ung-sil Professor of Metalcrafts, Wonkwang University

he term changs6k refers to the entire range of metal decorations used to enhance the beauty and function of wood furniture. Traditionally, changs6k were made of a compound of copper and tin, together with other metals including gold, silver, iron and nickel When making wooden furniture Chos6n artisans were careful to prevent the shrinkage or expansion of the wood, to camouflage any flaws it might have, and to enhance its utility. They came up with the idea of using metal changsok to improve the function of the furniture and its joints.

Changs6k also played an important role in enhancing the overall aesthetic quality of woodcrafts. Different colors and grains of wood were chosen for each use. Traditional Koreans placed great importance on simple, natural beauty. The design and pattern of changs6k were devised to blend with the shape of the furniture and its use.

The changs6k used on Chos6n furniture are unique for their beauty as art objects, combining the expertise of traditional metal artisans and the ornamental skill of wood craftsmen. Chos6n artisans created woodcrafts adorned with a beauty of balance and stability by using taste-

T

fully designed changs6k that feature the principles of repetition and symmetry.

There are numerous kinds of changs6k, which vary according to the design and function. An introduction to some of the major ones follows.

Kyongch'op The ky6ngch'6p is a metal hinge that enables a door to open and close. In the past, it was sometimes called ky6pch'6p, referring to two metal plates overlapping to enable a door to open. It was generally used for bedroom furniture, such as wardrobes, trunks, chests, mirror stands and blanket chests with half of the upper front panel hinged as a flap door.

Hinges vary in design and often serve decorative purposes. Toltch6gwi hinges consist of two parts-male and female.

The female side is nailed to the side posts of a door and the male to the door itself, and they are joined together to form a hinge. The toltch6gwi serves the same function as the ky6ngch'6p, but is more easily dismantled and therefore makes the door easier to fix. Tolch6gwi were generally used on front gates, windows and other large doors. They are also found on wooden furniture on which heavy objects were placed, such as bookcases or dinner tables.

Chos6n artisans created wcxxlcrafts adorned with a beauty of balance and stability by using tastefully designed changs6k that feature the principles of repetition and symmetry Thechangs6k metal ornaments on this two-story chest add to its beauty by accenting the wood's grain and the shape of the chest. Shown here are simple "bobbin" hinges and a central lock plate decorated with an arabesque pattern_ 20

21

I.

i A lotus pip plate and a puller (above); A front plate decorated with the popular peony design (below)

tukkopdaji, or sliding locks. Other apbat'ang serve largely decorative purposes. Decorative ap-bat'ang are actually set into the furniture and come in many shapes, including the basic yakkwa (honey cookie) design and symbolic designs thought to bring prosperity', longevity and good luck, such as sparrows, carp, bats, deer, phoenixes and grapes.

Tiilsoe

Ttilsoe are handles attached to the front plate or side panels of large pieces of furniture, or on drawers and doors. These handles are used to lift the furniture, or to open the drawers and doors. The name probably came from the word tulda, meaning to lift.

As its practical function is more important than its decorative function, it was usually attached to the left and right side of an object to assure balance.

Kori are smaller versions of ti:ilsoe.

Aside from their practical functions, tulsoe were sometimes used to add structural variety to wooden furniture.

The tulsoe used on small objects and drawers come in various shapes and were, in many cases, highly decorative.

Ap-bat'ang Ap-bat'ang are frontal plates attached to the body of wooden furniture on which hooks or locks are fixed, complementing and reinforcing the 22

practical function of the lock or hook Most ap-bat'ang hold taerong, or dangling, locks. But some incorporate unh yol locks, in which the locking parts are hidden from sight, as well as

Kwangdujong Kwangdujong are nails that serve as decoration and a means of structural reinforcement. Decorative kwangdujong are generally attached to the front of cedar chests, visually enriching the plane and camouflaging nail holes and flaws in the wood. Kwangdujong are also used on the bottom of smaller pieces of furniture as feet. Sometimes they are used to attach tulsoe handles to the wood, thus prolonging their life and facilitating lifting. In such cases, they are called "belly button" dec01¡a-

' "'

tions and are generally designed to form a couple with the supporting tulsoe. Kwangdujong are usually simple in shape; moon, honey cookie, pear blossom, chrysanthemum anl narcissus are some of the most common designs.

Kamjabi Changsok attached to joints or corners of wooden furniture are called kamjabi. Kamjabi reinforce the furniture, holding it together. There are several different kinds of kamjabi: kaep'an, or "shingle" kamjabi, horittae, or "waist" kamjabi, chokt'ong, or "feet" kamjabi, and momt'ong, or "body" kamjabi. They are named for the part of the furniture to which they are applied. In many cases, they are found in the shapes of -, or L on the upper part and sides of the furniture, and often feature symmetrical designs depicting honey cookies, swallow tails or grasses at their tips.

Kwijangshik

Kwijangshik, also called kwijabi, are metal ornaments used to reinforce the corners of wooden furniture. While kamjabi complement the structure of the furniture in the form of -, or L , kwijabi lie flat on the surface. Most are attached at right angles to the junction of two wooden plates on a wardrobe or trunk. Kwijabi are sometimes called kokkal changsok because they encase a whole corner where three planes meet, resembling the peaked hats of Buddhist monks and nuns, or kokkal.

Chamulsoe

Chamulsoe are metal locks in various sizes and shapes for use on small chests, wardrobes, trunks, bookcases, wooden rice chests and storeroom doors. Locks can be categorized by function and form . Functional locks affixed to the furniture include unhyol locks, son or line locks (also known as "mouse-tail" locks), tukkopdaji locks, and turtle-shaped, or "cramp hook," locks. Their shape and size add to the weight and stability of the furniture to which they are attached.

Clockwise from top: A pomegranate-shaped corner cover decorated with openwork swastikas, a popular symbol derived from Buddhist iconography, a "turtle" lock which wraps around the opening of a chest, a vertical lock and various horizontal locks which open with a hairpin-like keys.

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Each changsok was designed according to the shape and use of the furniture to which it was to be applied.

Originally, craftsmen used only simple shapes but later designed complex shapes as decoration became more important. It is interesting to note that Korean tastes evolved over time from realistic to abstract and complex designs. Generally, dots and lines, the basic elements in design, came together to create straight lines and curves.

Simple circular designs and triangular, rectangular and hexagonal shapes account for the majority of changsok motifs. In most cases, repetitive harmony created visual symmetry to express stability in the design.

The most commonly used designs were circular. These included circles, ovals, semi-circles, arcs, hooks and semidimensional circles. These shapes symbolized the sun and the moon. Circular shapes were most frequently used in kyongch'op and "belly button" decora24

These hinges (above) and handles (facing page) decorated with auspicious symbols and ideo graphs are among the many artifacts found at Kim Ch'ang-mun's Changs6k Museum.

The emotions encountered in everyday life were revealed through the hands of the metal artisans who used open work, carving and iillaid techniques to create changs6k. These techniques added visual depth and induced changes which brought the furniture to life.

tions on locks. The round kyongch'op attached to a door became half moons when the door opened and full moons when the door closed.

Some designs were realistic depictions of animals and plants, but others were more abstract, suggesting that observations of natural objects gave birth to new shapes, which ultimately became stylized. In other words, ancient Koreans found auspicious symbols of longevity in natural phenomena, and propitious designs incorporating the "Five Blessings" (longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue and a peaceful death) in the shapes of animals and plants.

Plant designs were mostly simplified depictions of common flowers, such as chrysanthemums, white lotus blossoms, paper lotus flowers, grasses and mythical peaches said to grow in Heaven.

Other symbolic plants included simplified double-layered chrysanthemums, bellflowers, narcissus, pomegranates,

Japanese apricots, pear blossoms, lotus buds and sunflowers. Animals or animal motifs symbolizing good luck included bats, swallow tails, ~ uterflis and fish. Designs derived from images of carp, Chinese phoenixes, swallows, cranes, deer, crabs, lobsters, tigers, rabbits, turtles and shrimp were widely used as well.

A butterfly was sometimes called yaa, or "wild silkworm moth ," or p 'ungchop, meaning "wind butterfly."

As butterfly designs were thought to suit feminine tastes, they were often used on furniture for women's quarters.

It is interesting to note that traditionally Koreans viewed wooden furniture as a flower and attached a butterfly-shaped changsok at the hinges or frontal plate of a door-lock to imitate a butterfly

dancing whenever the door opened and closed.

The many shapes mentioned here incorporate a formative sense in and of themselves; however, in many cases, their beauty was further enhanced by more significant meaning or graceful ornamental patterns. In other words, most of the patterns used were in the shapes of natural objects, showing a close affinity to the living environment.

The emotions encountered in everyday life were revealed through the hands of the metal artisans who used openwork, carving and inlaid techniques to create changsok. These techniques added visual depth and induced changes which brought the furniture to life. The designs and patterns of changsok were important not only in themselves, but

also in creating a harmony with the rest of the furniture to enhance an aesthetic whole. Blending naturally with the soft beauty of pine, zelkova, paulownia or persimmon, changsok highlighted the elegance of traditional woodcrafts.

With the passage of time, wood grows darker, but changsok, made of tin, white brass, pig iron and inlaid silver, blackened copper and copper, shine even more brightly, accenting the furniture's silhouette, and at times magnifying its grace.

The artisans with their carefully trained eyes, knew which materials to use and where to place the changsok for the best use of space and unity. The beauty of changsok may well be said to be a reflection of the aesthetic and emotional sensibilities of all Koreans. +

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.Lacquerware 8 Ox Park Young-kyu Professor of Fine Arts, Yong-in University Specialist, Cultural Properties Committee

orean cabinetmakers have built wood furniture devoid of bright coloring and elaborate sculpting, whose beauty derived from its symmetry, simplicity and the innate loveliness of natural wood grain. However, they also built more decorative furniture made with natural materials such as lacquer, ox horn and bamboo which involved intricate techniques and detail.

K

Lacquerware Lacquerware, ch 'ilgi in Korean, is the term used for furniture and other objects made of wood, bisque-fired clay or bamboo to which multiple coats of lacquer are applied.

Lacquerware relics excavated from the prehistoric Taho-ri settlement site of the first century B.C., the Hwangnam Tomb (A.D. 5th-6th century), and

Anapji, a pond site of the Unified Shilla period (8th-9th century), indicate that the use of lacquerware was widespread in ancient Korea.

To make mother-of-pearl lacquerware, naj6nch'ilgi, hemp cloth is pasted on the surface of the frame of the object, coated with a mixture of lacquer paint, crushed and powdered shells or ox bones and clay, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and finally covered with many coats of natural lacquer.

Although it is a painstaking process, the beauty of the iridescent sheen of the mother-of-pearl on the pitch-black background is well worth the hard work Lacquerware relics from the Three Kingdoms period (57 B.C-A.D. 935) and lacquered scripture chests, prayer beads boxes and other containers from the Koryo period (918-1392) testify to the

Mother-of-pearl lacquer box, 16th century,31.3 x 31.3 x 9.8 em 26

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Painted ox horn chest, 19th century,525 x 41 x 95.5 c~

exceptional quality of lacquerware achieved by Korean artisans from very early times. In the Koryo period, mother-of-pearl inlaying was done in mosaic fashion with small chunks of motherof-pearl rather than thinly sliced pieces, probably due to a lack of tools for slicing thinly, but the arabesque patterns created in this way are nonetheless exquisite.

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In the 12th century, an envoy from Sung China wrote in his illustrated travelogue, Kaoli T'uching (Illustrated Account of Kory6): "Koryo's . lacquer coating skill is rough, but its motherof-pearl inlaying technique is quite refined." Given that Koryo's King Munjong (r. 1046-1083) made a gift of a mother-of-pearl object to the Chinese emperor, Koryo lacquerware

must have been of exceptionally fine quality. After the 13th-century Mongol invasions, a special bureau was created and run by the government to oversee the making of mother-of-pearl inlaid scripture chests.

Mother-of-pearl floral designs , often with copper wire inlaid to depict branches and stems, was the most prevalent pattern on Koryo lacquerware. Grass, birds, willows and other patterns of natural objects were also used, as they were on celadon.

Since inlaying was also done on celadon, it can be assumed that inlaid lacquerware and celadon developed contemporaneously.

In the Choson peri'od (1392-1910), instead of using wide, flattened pieces of mother-of-pearl, pieces cut along the natural curvature of the shell were placed onto the surfaye of the furniture or receptacle and tapped into place. As in the Koryo period, the stems and branches of floral patterns were made with twisted metal threads, and sometimes tortoise shells were used for special effects.

Stylized flowers, chrysanthemums and arabesque designs were the most common inlaid patterns on Choson lacquerware. As with Choson ceramics, Choson lacquerware was less elaborate than that of Koryo, and exuded a feeling of easy accessibility and comfortable familiarity.

In the latter part of the Choson period, the technique of cutting out mother-of-pearl strips of even width and cutting them in varying shapes and sizes to fit particular patterns was developed. This enabled inlaying of patterns as fine as brush painting.

The technique of engraving patterns on the mother-of-pearl was also developed to achieve realistic effects.

This technique was utilized to engrave longevity symbols, flowers and birds, the "Four Noble Gentlemen" (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo), dragon and Chinese characters with auspicious meanings.

Lacquerware intended for use by men included stationery accessories, tobacco containers, document chests and calligraphy tables. Lacquerware for women included mirror stands, pillow ends and clothes chests.

Painted Ox Horn Furniture In addition to embellishing furniture with mother-of-pearl inlay, Korean artisans developed a unique method of decoration using painted ox horn panels called h wagak.

The technique requires an ox horn to be soaked in warm water, flattened, separated into thin transparent layers, cut into regular-sized square or rectanglular panels and reverse painted with

mineral pigments. The painted panels are glued to the frame of the furniture with the painted side facing the wood so the designs show through the undecorated horn surface. Over time, the transparent ox horn panels yellow, making the colors painted on them more subdued and translucent.

Because of the limited size of ox horns, to make even a small box required dozens of horns. Ox horn furniture was thus very expensive and therefore considered a luxury.

It is not known when decorating furniture with painted ox horn began.

But it is generally believed that ox horn began to be used as a substitute for tortoise shell, which Koryo artisans

used along with mother-of-pearl for lacquerware. Some Choson ox horn boxes even have tortoise shell patterns engraved around the edges to give the impression that the panels are of tortoise shell.

The most frequently used motifs on ox horn furniture came from folk art themes and included longevity symbols, clouds and dragons, phoenixes, peony blossoms, fish, and magpies and tigers.

Being expensive luxury items, most of the ox horn products that date from ancient times are small items used mainly by women, such as sewing boxes, socks chests, mirror boxes and comb boxes. +

Painted ox horn box, 18th century,36.5 x 21.2 x 223 em

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Cabinetmaker

Ch'6n Sang-won Guardian of T'ongyong's Woodworking Tradition Kim Young-uk Associate Editor, KOREAN A

allyosudo, an extensive waterway stretching from Hansando, off the coast of T'ongyong City in Kyongsangnam-do province, to the city of Yosu in ChOllanam-do province, is one of the natural wonders of Korea's southern coast. Dotted with more than 100 islands, large and small, the waterway attracts visitors from around Korea and is perhaps most beautiful along the coast of T'ongyong and its surrounding area.

Just 50 minutes after taking off from Seoul's Kimp'o Airport, our plane descended through the clouds to reveal the sea and its tiny islands, scattered like jewels across a green felt table.

The sight, so tropical in its beauty, drove all thought of winter's cold from our minds.

While famous for its natural legacy, T'ongyong is also known for its many fine handicrafts, particularly its portable tables, or soban, horsehair hats, lacquerware and cabinets.

T'ongyong owes its reputation for fine artisanship to the 12 workshops scattered in the area. These workshops were relocated to a military supply base in T'ongyong, together with the command of the Choson Naval Forces of the Southern Three Provinces, at the time of the Japanese invasions of Korea in the late 16th century. While officially charged with the production of military supplies, the workshops also employed craftsmen who produced traditional handicrafts. With the abolition of the Naval Forces of the Southern Three Provinces at the end of

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the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910), the artisans affiliated with the government workshops were forced to open their own workshops. T'ongyong's modern artisans are descendants of this tradition.

T'ongyong's fine woodcrafts are not solely the result of good woodworking techniques; skills in lacquerware, the manufacture of metal ornaments and ironwork are also essential.

A Dedicated Craftsman Ch'on Sang-won, a fifth generation T'ongyong resident, has spent almost his entire life working with wood. His father, Ch'on Ch'ol-dong, was one of the most renowned carpenters in the final years of the Choson Dynasty. It was under his father's watchful eye that Ch'on Sang-won developed his woodworking skills.

According to Ch'on, the woodcrafts of southeastern Korea are unique for their use of zelkova wood and richly grained woods for decoration. Ch'on's creations vividly illustrate this point.

The chests for which he has been designated Intangible Cultural Asset No. 55 display the rich natural color of zelkova wood and the elegant pattern of the wood grain without any embellishment, not even lacquer or stain.

In an effort to promote and hand down T'ongyong's woodcraft tradition, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, together with local government authorities, has recently established a handicraft center where artisans skilled in woodworking and cabinetmaking, mother-of-pearl lacquerware, horsehair

hat production and other traditional crafts may hone their skills.

Ch'on has moved his workshop to a large space in the two-story structure.

His work has become much easier now that he has several apprentices; however, he is often frustrated by the younger generation's unwillingness to commit themselves to the time-consuming, complicated process. required for traditional cabinetmaking.

Ch'on is best known for his masterful application of fret designs on zelkova wood chests, using the dark -grained wood of the black persimmon tree.

Indeed, this is one of the skills for which he was designated an Intangible Cultural Asset. So popular was the beautiful effect that similar designs were once a fad among cabinetmakers in T'ongyong.

Ch'on's home sits in the middle of dowptown T'ongyong, right across the street from the city's main department store. Around the corner from a new building stands the gate of this old Korean-style home with a sign identifying it as the home of cabinetmaker Ch'on Sang-won, heir to T'ongyong's ¡distinguished woodworking tradition.

In the old days, Ch'on worked at home but in recent years he has pursued his craft at the handicraft center.

On this day we found him at home, though, waiting for our arrival. Despite his advanced age, Ch'on is remarkably fit, thanks to daily walks to a nearby mountain.

Ch'on spoke with us in the main room of his house, a room crowded with a hodgepodge of three-tier

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bureaus and pandaji chests, much like a secondhand furniture store. While the furniture's natural grain is beautiful, the ¡ metal ornaments and fasteners seem unworthy of Ch'on's work When I mentioned this, he agreed: "They don't make changs6k metal ornaments like they used to. When I was a child, you could find metalsmiths everywhere, but nowadays I have to go all the way to Chinju, and as you can see, the quality is not what it used to be. That's why I try to use changsok only where absolutely necessary."

The changsok used on T'ongyong chests are both functional and decorative. The paulownia wood used on the inside of the chest is not sturdy enough, and many changsok are used to reinforce the wood on the front back and sides of the chest, Ch'o~ explains. The ornaments, however, tend to detract from the beauty of the natural zelkova wood.

Learning the Craft ¡ Taemok, literally "big tree" or "big

wood," is the Korean word for carpenters who build large structures, such as palaces, temples or houses. Somok, literally "small tree" or "small wood" refers to carpenters specializing in fu;niture, such as bureaus, chest and tables.

According to historical records, somok have existed since the Three Kingdoms period. The Koryo government employed somok in the royal supply office, and the Choson Dynasty employed numerous carpenters specializing in making cabinets, combs and wooden beads at handicraft centers in the capital and the provinces.

Ch'on's father honed his skills as an unpaid apprentice under the master woodworker of the late Choson period, Kim Po-i!. Ch'on Sang-won's speciality-zelkova wood chests decorated with black persimmon wood-is believed to be the creation of Kim. The process of applying a hojangjul, or border edging, of black persimmon or lacquer tree wood and natural grain 32

A woddcraftsman's talent is revealed in his handling of the plane The silken threads of wood produced by the planeofCh'on Sang-won (above) demonstrate his skill and wisdom.

That skill is evident in his fretwork wardrobes, for which he has been designated Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 55.

The fine grain of the zelkova wood and fretwork (below) are the key elementsofthisexactinggenre. At the root of the wardrobe's beauty is the craftsman's ability to select just the right wood. Atright,Ch'onassembles the front panel of a wardrobe

I '

frets was not uncommon among traditional furnituremakers. Kim, however, expanded this technique over the entire surface of the chest, a process requiring unprecedented skill and effort.

Ch'on's father was originally known as a taemok, that is, a carpenter specializing in large structures. He did not take on cabinetmaking until he came to work under Kim Po-i!, a most inconsiderate and unsympathetic teacher.

The senior Ch'on longed to learn cabinetmaking but Kim was less than cooperative. Fortunately, Ch'on had natural talent and was able to learn by watching.

Ch'on Sang-won learned in the same manner, watching his father at work He was praised by many along the way. He also seemed to have been born with woodworking talent. After graduating from elementary school in T'ongyong, he began to work as a taemok under his father, building and repairing houses. During the Japanese colonial period, he was forced to work in a military factory in Chinhae, building desks and other furniture for the Japanese .. When liberation came in 1945, he was released, only to face bitter economic difficulties.

"There was nothing back then," he says. "Everyone was hungry. The eight members of our family were practically starving, so I begged my father for tools."

With only his tools to rely on, young Ch'on Sang-won headed for the nearby island of Kojedo. It was a rough, untamed area where people logged without permission. The island communities had been devastated by the war, and Ch'on kept busy building houses. No one paid in cash. He was lucky to get rice in exchange for his labor. After three years, he returned to T'ongyong where he took up cabinetmaking like his father.

Taming theW ood

The zelkova wood chests for which Ch'on Sang-won is so famous are 34

trimmed in a variety of richly grained woods, including pear and cherry.

Ch'on uses black persimmon for border edging and the yellow wood of the lacquer tree or white willow wood for contrast.

When selecting wood, Ch'on looks at the grain first, then the color. He prefers wave-like grains or "dragon grains," found around knots and roots.

"If you know how to select and handle the wood, you've mastered more than half of the cabinetmaker's task," Ch'on explains.

Korea's traditional furniture is made of a variety of woods: zelkova, pear, ginkgo, paulownia, black pine, white pine, Korean ash and persimmon.

According to Ch'on, woodworkers prefer wood from coastal areas because it has so many diverse grains. Lumber from the windswept island of Ullungdo is particularly valuable. And black persimmon wood from within the city walls of the old Shilla capital of Kyongju is more highly valued than that from outside the walls.

Ch'on gained his knowledge during the many years he has spent traveling Korea in search of fine wood.

Recently he has mostly used wood logged in the Hadong and Sanch'ong regions east of Mt. Chirisan. However, it is not easy finding good wood these days, he says.

When making a cabinet, the first order of step is drying the wood.

While the process varies for each type-some woods require sunlight, while others require an occasional sprinkling of rain-generally speaking, wood must be cured in a shaded, wellventilatea place for more than a year.

The longer the better. Only by this extended drying and curing process can the cabinetmaker be assured that the wood will not warp or crack When I expressed my amazement at the many different varieties of wood Ch'on had stored in a shed next to his house, he said, "I don 't have much money, but I'm rich when it comes to wood. This lumber is proba-

bly worth two hundred million won."

When the wood has dried for at least a year, Ch'on saws it into boards, carefully following the grain of each piece. He then dries the wood in a heated ondol room for a month or more. This helps the wood grow accustomed to life in a heated room.

After all, he says, furniture is meant to serve people.

"After sleeping with wood, you realize how powerful the human body temperature is. The body temperature tames the wood. By sleeping with the wood, I help it adjust to human life and cure it of warping and cracking," he says.

If it had come from anyone else, I would not have believed it, but Ch'on's magnificent chests bear witness to his wisdom.

Once the wood is accustomed to indoor temperatures, the planing begins. Careful planing is essential to maintaining the wood's natural color.

When planing is done properly, no special lacquer or stain is needed to maintain the wood's natural grain and color.

Ch'on is famous for his intricate fret designs but often creates a simple samhoejang pattern, consisting of thick and thin lines, and double and single designs for a corner. The fret design is particularly difficult, causing many of his students to abandon cabinetmaking in frustration.

The designs are applied to the zelkova chest in black persimmon, lacquer tree, zelkova or willow stripes approximately 1 millimeter wide. Several layers are applied to create the fret design, and on corners where several right angles converge, as many as 20 layers can be applied. A large chest sometimes has 160 or more such frets.

"The corner frets are definitely the most difficult," Ch'on explains. "When I teach the process to my students, most of them pack their bags and leave. I have completed only a few chests with corner frets and that 's including the ones I helped my father

make when he was alive."

When I crassly asked the price of the elegant chest with corner frets in Ch'on's sitting room, he said n:ore than 30 million won, but added that he would never be able to part with it.

An Exacting Process Cabinetmaking requires great effort and much time. Ch'on therefore owns far fewer pieces of his own work than other craftsmen I have interviewed.

The demand among collectors with an eye for beautiful furniture almost always exceeds the supply.

The chests are definitely the most unique pieces among T'ongyong's traditional wooden furniture. It is distinguished by its hidden frame. Indeed, it appears to have no frame at ~l-the frame is hidden by the columns and panels on the front of the chest. The chests are also unique for their willow

and black persimmon frets along the edges of the doors, drawers, and central and side panels.

A panel to which hojangjul border edging has been applied is called hanmot. Each hanmot is sawed into six equal parts. A piece of paulownia wood is applied to both sides of each piece. These pieces are then sawed in half. The pieces are glued together with fish glue, sawed again, then planed. It is a long and repetitive process. In this final process, only indigenous Korean tools are used.

Japanese saws and planes do not produce the same results. A Japanese plane is pulled backward, whereas a Korean plane is pushed forward.

According to Ch'on, if a student learns how to saw and plane well, he is well on his way to becoming a great cabinetmaker. From this, I realized how important the handling of wood is.

The silken threads of wood produced

by Ch'on's plane reflect the skill and experience of this dedicated craftsman.

From the wall of his workshop hang dozens of tools-a Korean-style saw given to him by his father decades ago, several large and small planes, a Western-style saw , and a dainty ttakkum plane used to apply finishing touches. The number and variety of his tools testify to the complicated processes involved in traditional cabinetmaking.

Ch'on has six children. His eldest son Mun-gap specializes in mother-ofpearl lacquerware, while his second son Mun-jong is following in his father's footsteps. Mun-jong is now in Seoul working on another project, but Chon firmly believes that his sec-ond son will carry on the family business, just as he did. â&#x20AC;˘

Ch'on Sang-won'sstoreroom is filled with wood drying. "I'm a rich man when it comes to wood," the craftsman jokes. The storeroom proves that. (left) Ch'on's fretwork wardrobes (above) are unique for their careful harmonization of the natural grain of the zelkova wood and the fine craftsmanship of the panels.

35

NAPJSOBAN Kim Yoo-kyung Editorial Board Member, Kyunghyang Shinmun

am always awed by the marvelous variety in shape and size of soban, the small dining tables of yonder years, whenever I see them at an exhibition or in a gallery. Ranging from tol-sang, a table laid with special food and symbolic objects to celebrate a child's first birthday, to p'yebaek-sang, a table with special food prepared by a bride to formally introduce herself to her in-laws, and chesa-sang, a table with food to offer ancestors in memorial rites, the traditional tables are so closely intertwined with Korean life that a unique culture developed around them.

As recently as a few decades ago when the traditional way of life still prevailed, the arrival of a guest always entailed a discussion in the kitchen over whether to serve him with an individual table or with a table for two so that he could dine with the master of the house. The way in which a meal was served and the kind of table on which it was served involved a great deal of protocol. There are still some families who adhere to the old ways of serving guests.

When I visited the home of a wellknown clan head in the countryside, I saw dozens of small square dining tables for serving guests hung on all of the kitchen walls even though the family fortune had long declined and not much remained of the family 's old glory. The late art critic Ch'oe Sun-u

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. 'â&#x20AC;˘ 36

was widely known for serving each of his New Year's Day visitors ttokkuk, a seasonal rice dumpling soup, and succulent nabak kimch'i on a kaedari (dog-legged) soban.

Photographs about life in the recent past often show scenes of the p'yebaek ceremony on a couple's wedding day.

A soban with food from the bride's family is in front of each member of the bridegroom's family. In another photograph, a traveller is dining alone from a kaedari soban in an inn.

Used in every household across the country during the Choson period (1392-1910), soban varied in shape and style according to the area in which they were made. From mother-ofpearl inlaid tables and sculptured and red lacquered tables to tables with legs embellished with various designs and humble dog-legged tables, a set of specifications for the design and dimensions came to be established based on the intended use of the table.

Of the various soban classified by area of origin such as Haeju-ban, Najuban, T'ongyong-ban and Ch'ungju-ban, I think those from Naju are the best in terms of function and structure.

The 58:year-old artisan Kim Ch'unshik of Naju is a provincial "living treasure" of Naju-ban craftsmanship, who has been designated as a ChOllanamdo intangible cultural property .

Having worked on some 15 varieties of Naju-ban during his life, he knows

Kim Ch'un-shik uses a knife to carve a table leg.

Naju tables require much fine handwork.

The charm of

everything there is to know about his trade from selecting the proper wood traditional soban is to the lacquering process. Kim uses ginkgo wood for the rectangular table the individual touch added for two, the table for ancestral food by the creative craftsmen. offerings and the dog-legged table. The Naju-ban is characterized by the groove and stub jointing method that is used in every part of the table from the top ~ down to the legs. The top has raised ยง edges and rounded corners. Each joint <0 " is reinforced with bamboo pegs; the entire table needing about 35 to 40 pegs. A completed table is given seven to eight coats of lacquer.

A typical Naju-ban is simply structured with no sculptured decorations on the apron below the edge, which makes it quite hygienic because it is easy to wipe clean and there are no grooves or niches in which food morsels can become lodged.

"Because all the pieces are fitted together precisely from the first piece to the last, Naju-ban never warp. The legs are splayed exactly at the same angle to evenly distribute the weight of the top. This is what makes Najuban so durable and valued," explains The decorations carved in cloud Kim. shapes, orun-gak, which attach a The major task in making a Najutable's legs to the main body, cover ban involves preparing the table top, the walls of Kim's workshop. The which should be carefully planed in un-gak are often decorated with the traditional fashion because even a arabesque designs and other simple tiny blemish or nick will stand out carvings. clearly when lacquered. Traditionally, the apron should be made of Korean willow wood, but nowadays gingko wood is used because suitable Korean willow is not readily available.

The rectangular table for two is not made very often because it is no longer in Clemand except by collectors who admire its streamlined form .

However, the 12-sided dog-legged table with a top about 35 centimeters in diameter is still quite popular today because, being lightweight and handsome, it has many uses and makes a decorative item. Whereas the height of the Naju-ban remains about 30 centimeters, the top has tended to become larger as the size of dishes and other ves38

The Naju table is carefully designed and requires meticulous workmanship at all stages. All the pieces are fitted together precisely from the first piece to the last.

39

sels became larger.

The Haeju-ban is characterized by the broad boards with decorative ¡openwork which serve as its legs. This table is rarely made these day s because it is too ornate and frail for practical use.

The top of the T'ongyong-ban is made of pine and enhanced with mother-of-pearl inlay. It is also distinguished from Naju-ban by the style of its apron.

In addition to these regional characteristics, Korean tables are very diverse in the style of their tops and legs. The top may be square, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, 12-sided and even halfmoon shaped. The size varies from palm size to the largest size a plank allows. Some tables have only a single, cylindrical leg and others have curved legs dubbed dog-legged, horse-legged or tiger-legged. Much appreciated for their curvature and decorative openwork, the craftsmanship of the legs is not the same when cut by a machine rather than carved by hand.

The charm of traditional soban is the individual touch added by the creative craftsmen. I remember a small table with the top in the shape of a lotus leaf rising from legs that were clusters of lotus buds and stems.

The image of a woman walking from the kitchen holding a food-laden table, thoughtfully designed to be no larger than the normal width of the shoulders to make it easier for carrying, is a fond memory for many adult Koreans. A person would sit up to receive such a table regardless of one's stature in the house. It was also a tacit rule that a father and a son would not dine face to face at the same table even though this was acceptable for a grandfather and a grandson. Perhaps because soban evoke memories of life of bygone days, many Koreans who now live a modern lifestyle in apartments and even some Korean emigrants abroad want to keep one or two soban as part of their home furnishings. + 40

Fine bamboo nails and pegs (below) are used to reinforce each joint in a Naju table (right). Metal nails are never used in making Korean wood furniture because they do not shrink and expand with the wood the way bamboo nails do.

Various types of planes hang on the wall of Kim Ch'unshik's workshop (bottom).

Naju tables are known for their durability and strength. Four- and 12-sided tables with "tiger" legs are often found, but the typical Naju table is four-sided (above).

Below counterclockwise from left: A one-legged table, a "tiger" table named for its legs and a closeup of it.

41

CON ~ ARCHITECTURE ING UINTESSENCE Park Kil-ryong Professor of Architecture, Kookmin University

or contemporary Korean architecture, Koreanness is not simply a question of expression; it is the central concern of the modernization process. Korea's modern architecture did not evolve naturally from its own tradition; it formed artificially amid a deluge of Western culture. The roots of Korean modernism can be traced to the Japanese influences which, as a matter of course, were not entirely healthy. Indeed, within that modernism lay the seeds of self-destruction. The value of Korea's native culture, already distorted by the Japan¡ese colonia l experience and decades of blind Westernization, further atrophied in the swirl of internationalism which followed liberation from Japanese rule in 1945.

It was not until the early 1960s, with

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the onset of technological advancement, that Korean architecture turned inward to reflect upon its own tradition. Prof. ChOng In-guk (1916-1975), an architect and one of the most progressive theoreticians of that time, cynically described the state of Korean architecture: As new movements in architecture sweep the world, what have we been doing? Buildings of an immature internationalist style vividly expose the backwardness of our industry and technology, their outer appearances so thinly disguising an imitation of standardized Western structures. Still, we are seeing a gradual movement among some Korean architects to attempt to focus on our native traditions and

local uniqueness.... At present, Korean architects are too busy recklessly following international trends and forgoing traditional architecture.. .. Man strives for a universal architecture. This means our goal is an ecumenic architecture, but it will take a long time to achieve that goal. ... Our present goal is an architecture of genuine value and originality. By originality, I mean a culture's intrinsic nature and capacity for independence. In any artistic creation, these are obtained only when grounded in ethnic, social and national traditions.

Expressions of Korean architectural quintessence can be achieved by various means, for architecture takes the sensory- form, space, ornamentation, material and color-as its object. That is to say, Koreanness can be expressed through traditional archetypes or considered as part of the intrinsic property of space. Of course, ornamental elements and traditionai colors also help to enhance a Korean image. At other times, direct appeals to national ethos can be more effective than physical or tangible elements.

Regrettably, however, in the field of architecture, the journey toward Koreanness started out along an easy path, simply copying the past, much like the making of artificial flowers.

Replication of History A nationalistic understanding of tradition is an effective tool for political propaganda. Since the 1960s, when President Park Chung-hee's administration made the reproduction of Korea's past possible with the introduction of concrete structural designs for han-ok (traditional Korean houses), "governmental culture" has been a latent force in architecture. Just a few examples of the government's "cultural achievements" are the restoration of Kwanghwamun Gate (Seou l, 1968) and the most recent renovations of the presi43

dential residence and offices at the Blue House.

The restoration of Hyonch'ungsa ¡ Shrine (Asan, Ch'ungch 'ongnam-do, 1969, Kang Pong-jin) and th~ construction of a new National Museum on the grounds of Kyongbokkung Palace (currently the National Folklore Museum, 1966, Kang Pong-jin) also illustrate the government's misinterpretation of history.

The plan for the latter was selected in a design competition sponsored by the then Ministry of Culture and Public Information. Controversy arose over the competition's initial guidelines which were aimed at encouraging the replication of historical buildings on the site. Kang Pong-jin's design most faithfully followed the guidelines and won the competition, but there was considerable debate over those very guidelines which many felt eliminated

any creative proposals. The government turned a deaf ear to all such protests, however, and to this day, the building, echoing the antique flavor of the palace, speaks for the distortion of tradition.

Construction on the Kwangju National Museum (Kwangju, Pak Ch'un-m yong) began in 1977, as part of a program intended to establish more national museums in the provinces.

The structure was built to display the relics from a shipwreck discovered off the coast of Shinan around that time.

The monumental shape of this building reveals roof and stylistic codes typical of traditional architecture, all at the cost of functional efficiency and spatial expression.

Yi Hi:ii-t'ae is an architect of outstanding formal rhetoric. With its linear roof and colonnade, his design for the National Theater (Seoul, 1972) is a

The National Folklore Museum, Seou1.1966, Kang T'ae-jin 44

fairly successful expression of Koreanness, despite its inattention to detail and obsession with monumentality. In Yi's design of the Memorial Cathedral for the Blessed (Seoul, 1967), the roof design, borrowed from traditional thatched roofs, is the dominant element once again. Making full use of concrete's plasticity, Yi's design shows to its best advantage against the background of the Han River.

The Sejong Cultural Center (Seoul, 1976), by another romantic modernist 6m Tok-mun, is familiar to many.

Although he is always thorough with functional aspects, Om's deft handling of formal details makes him a romantic. Here, the colonnade, which sets the tone for the front of the building, the roof, with its deep eaves, and the ornamental window and door lattice highlight the Korean flavor of the structure.

Kim Chung-op's Design

i

The formal world of Kim Chungop is dualistic in several ways. A primordial sensualism and a modern rationalism intersect in his work. His designs embody a broad range of attitudes and approaches, from an adaptation of historical archetypes to extreme abstraction. Just two examples of his range are the sensualism of his design of So's Obstetric and Gynecology Clinic (Seoul, 1965) and the cool intelligence of his Samil Building (Seoul, 1970).

Another example is the main gate to the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Pusan (1966), which adapts the front gate of a traditional han-ok, and translates it through a rich sensualism. On the other hand, his Army Museum

g

(Seoul, 1981), Ch'unghon Memorial

TheKwangjuNationa1Museum,Kwangju,1977,PakCh'un-myong ~

Choltusan Catholic Church, a shrine to Catholic martyrs, Seou.I.l%7, Yi Hiii-t'ae

The Sejong Cultural Center, Seou.J.l976, Om Tok-m un

Tower (Pusan, 1983) and Gate of Peace (Seoul, 1988) reveal a more abstract Korean sensibility. However, he seems to have returned to the earlier style of the U. N. Memorial Cemetery in the Kyongnam Cultural Center (Chinju, 1981).

Kim 's design for the French Embassy in Seoul (1961) has been praised as a superb example of the effective embodiment of uniquely Korean formal attributes. From the entrance, two buildings-the ambassador's,.residence and chancellery-are seen on the sloping site. The threepart anatomy-ground, body and head-is clear enough, but more striking is the harmony between the two buildings, each maintaining a separate formal beauty. ¡The office building, in front of the residence, is the smaller of the tab and has a curved roof. Although the structure has undergone major renovation since its original construction, it can still be called the female building, whereas the residence on the lower part of the site is its male counterpart, larger but more subdued.

The office building is quite simple, but the residence has a relatively larger space in front and a sedate and digni45

The Gate of Peace, Seoul, 1988, Kim Ch ung-op

The French Embassy, Seoul, 1961, Kim Ch ung-op

fied roof. Its tall front columns and cantilever roof emanate a certain dynamism. The soaring lines and curved surface of the cantilever make the massive roof seem weightless, and the roof itself appears to change with the viewer's changing perspective. The significance of the layout of the two buildings is revealed in the relationship 46

The Kyongnam Cultural Center, Chinju, 1981, Kim Chung-op

of their dynamic compositions. The buildings and their roofs stand at different angles, and therefore offer different perspectives of the sky.

In Kim's design for the Italian Embassy in Seoul (1967), similar spatial aesthetics are once again brilliantly realized, suggesting Korean architecture's potential in the years ahead.

Kim Swoo-geun's Space In the course of the modernization of Korean architecture, Kim Swoo-geun was certainly the most enthusiastic about featuring Korean quintessence in his work. His path was not easy, however.

Kim won the commission to design the National Museum in Puyo,

Ch'ungch'ongnam-do, in 1965. His plan revealed admirable skill, capitalizing on the plasticity of concrete, but, quite contrary to Kim's expectations, the building was the object of m~ch criticism, both from the public and the architectural community. The building was denounced as a covert imitation of Japanese-style architecture and attacked for Kim's use of the torii crossbeam used in traditional Japanese Shinto shrines. Some critics even seemed biased against Kim's academic background as a graduate of Tokyo University. However, explanations were pointless, and Kim took the opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of tradition.

Three people influenced Kim's later work. One was Ch'oe Sun-u, former director of the National Museum, who awakened in Kim an understanding of the innate qualities of Korean culture.

The others were Cho Yong-mu and So Hung-nyol, both of whom systematized Kim's brilliant ideas into practical applications. Kim also received substantial support from a group of young and competent architects within his own Space Group.

Kim recognized that any local traditionalism is composed of extremely complex factors and ideas. In his effort to expand the concept of Koreanness, Kim embraced a broad range of projects, encompassing architecture, the performing arts, fine arts and publishing. The Space building in Seoul's Wonso-dong, which comprises a small theater, a gallery, the office of the monthly magazine Space and Kim 's architectural firm, became the home base for all his activities and is maintained by his successors today.

Kim's ultimate goal was discovering space within the context of Korean quintessence. Form and shape, which had dominated his formal consciousness in earlier days, gradually gave way to space. The "negativism," to which Kim professed in his acceptance speech at the Pan-Pacific Architecture Award ceremony in 1971, boiled down

The Puyo National Museum, Puyo, 1965-1967, Kim Swoogeun

The Space Group Office Building, Seoul, 1971-1977, Kim Swoogeun

to the yin and yang, elements which coexist in Korean culture, in contrast to the focus on yang in western aesthetics.

"Ultimative space" was another concept that fascinated Kim. A counterpart to all-purpose, deterministic Western architecture, Kim's "ultimative space" referred to "a third space," that is, the blank space, or rather the superfluous space created by the nondeterministic spatial applications commonly found in Korea's architectural tradition.

On the other hand, Kim's "womb space," associated with the memory of flexible warmth during gestation, provides rare moments of reassurance.

After the construction of the Space building, Kim actively pursued his concepts in numerous projects, including the offices of the monthly magazine Saemt'o (Seoul, 1970), the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

(Seoul, 1976-1979) and the Art Center of the Korean Culture and Art Foundation (Seoul, 1977-1979).

47

Independence Hall. Mokch'on, 1986, Kim Ki-ung

However, the building housing the offices of Kim's Space Group is generally regarded as both the epitome of his art and a landmark in the history of contemporary Korean architecture.

The Space building was built in three phases from 1971 to 1977. The part visible from Yulgongno Avenue was built in the first phase. Apart from its idiosyncratic wa (dark gray bricks used in traditional Korean architecture), what is most noticeable about this building is the inter-connection of functional spaces. Emanating from the building's small court are various interesting connections, both inside and out, begetting still more sub-relationships, small and large, open and closed, which arouse the viewer's curiosity.

Post-Modernism One of the more direct advantages of formalism is its communicative effectiveness. Unlike the conceptual approach which relies heavily on abstraction, formalistic works appeal to the public in a straightfoward manner.

Kim Ki-ung used post-modernist methodology to represent Koreanness in modern terms. His works include the 48

Independence Hall (Mokch'on, Ch'ungch'ongnam-do, 1986), ChOnju City Hall (ChOnju, ChOllabuk-do, 1981) and Yun Pong-gil Memorial Hall (Seou~ 1989).

Unfortunately, most of his results seem negative, for they are estranged from the true ethos of the Korean people and their traditions. Insufficiently refined, they reveal proportional absurdities, structural exaggeration and a wild sensualism.

Although Korean architects may attempt to break free from structuralist principles, the character of Koreanness itself cannot be expressed in the freedom which is such an important element of post-modernism. Unlike the Wes~ public support for architecture and a full appreciation of pluralistic values have not yet fully matured in Korea. As a result, the absolute freedom on which post-modernism is premised has not been realized. Architecture remains the art of a small elite, without a popular following or pluralist values.

Diverse Aesthetic Experience Over the years, the aesthetic experience of Korean architecture has been fairly limited. The intrinsic qualities of

Koreanness are phenomenal results deriving from the complex relationship of many unpredictable elements. That is to say, the inclusive nature of Koreanness cannot be grasped through formal fragments or superficial materials alone. That would be like trying to catch something with only one finger.

To grasp the essence of something, one needs all one's fingers.

The future of Korean contemporary architecture is now in the hands of a fourth generation of architects, most of whom are in their forties and express a more varied stylistic approach to the problem of Koreanness.

A grasp of Korean studies, essential to any attempt at expressing Korean quintessence, was first undertaken by Cho Yong-mu in the mid-1970s. Cho searched for the essence of Koreanness in the classic legend of Tan-gun, the founder of the Korean nation. Today he is completing a volume entitled Korean 's Primordial Intelligence and Innate Aesthetics. The Korean people's longing to return to their roots, a kind of homing instinct driving them to search for their national origins, could be the seed of a definitive recognition

of Koreanness. Cho's conclusions are eagerly awaited.

Kim S6k-ch'61, a student of Kim Chung-6p, is a formal romantic like his mentor. Kim's Seoul Arts Center (Seoul 1984-1993), one of Seoul's most familiar cultural facilities, gives shape to Koreanness with its roof lines and the ornamental details on its eaves. architect Sung Hyo-sang was ~n with the Space Group who later went independent. His Sujoltang, a residence built in Seoul in 1993, combines the main elements of a traditional Korean home: the courtyard, outer rooms and inner living quarters. In details, he also shows a full regard for traditional materials.

Ryu Choon-soo, also a former member of the Space Group team, is freer but attempts to achieve the atmosphere of an Oriental landscape painting in his descriptive details.

Chang Sae-yang, who carries on the work of the Space Group today, attempts to unify the yin and yang, two life-forces found in Korean traditional philosophy, and the spirit of the modern age.

Min Hyon-shik's spatial composition aptly manifests a certain Koreanness, in which he aims to capture the

Korean ethos.

For Kim Hong-shik, the essence of Koreanness is found in a broad understanding of Korea's history. Kim's Cheju Museum of Folklore and Natural History (1984) highlights the unique characteristics of Cheju Island, making use of native materials on the exterior walls. The museum's spatial composition, governed by the threedimensional interaction of interior and exterior space, exudes a Koreanness.

The Kwangju Cultural Center (19851992) by Kim Sang-shik reflects traditional methodology in its formal consciousness as well as its spatial arrangement.

For Kim Ki-ung, Seoul's Dharma Center (1989), though linked to the Buddhis,t symbolic system, serves as a departure from the form-dominated concept of tradition prevalent since the designing of the Independence Hall in 1986. One of Kim's other works, the Cheju National Museum (1992-1995), also emphasizes native materials and the subtle charm of traditional space.

To be sure, contemporary Korean architecture has been handed over to a younger generation. While they grew up and were educated under

the powerful influence of modernism, these younger architects seem well aware of modernism's shortcomings in expressing the Korean people's native sentiments. Nevertheless, their true feelings on Koreanness have yet to be defined, and it is difficult to identify a "Korean School." On the other hand, regardless of their individual idiosyncrasies, the younger architects seem driven by a universal challenge-to define and express the quintessence of Korea.

For the last three decades, Korean architects have devoted themselves to the search for personal identity, the most powerful catalyst for the development of Korean architecture. With increasing information, technology and ecological concerns, as well as the trend toward globalization, the pursuit of a genuine Koreanness is problematic, to say the least. While I firmly believe that all architecture has absolute value, the problem of identifying and expressing a Korean quintessence is an everlasting challenge because it reflects temporal aesthetics.

Architecture involves the intricate interaction of many diverse elements, and therefore many more choices will be open to architects in the future. +

The Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, 1984-1993, Kim SOk-ch'ol

The Cheju Museum of Folklore & Natural History, Cheju, 1984, Kim Hong-shik

Sujoltang, Seoul, 1993, Sung Hyo-sang

49

INTERVIEW

Kim Chong-hak A Cross Section of Korean Contemporary Art Kim Hyung-kook Professor of Environmental Studies Seoul National University

rtist Kim Chong-hak devotes himself to the painting of landscapes and wild flowers of Mt. Soraksan, South Korea's most beautiful mountain range, during each of the four seasons. He captures and recreates the magnificent natural beauty of the national park in his paintings.

The works of the "painter of SOraksan," as he is so aptly called, inspire great love and empathy from aficionados of Korean art. Judging from the popularity of his works, Kim is one of Korea's foremost contemporary painters; indeed, in some respects he personifies the history of contemporary Korean painting.

Today, South Korea's ranking as one of the world's top trading nations is one measure of its newfound economic prowess, but it was only half a century ago that Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule and then ravaged by a civil war. Kim's art draws its power from its reflection of his homeland's wrenching past.

As one who had experienced firsthand the suffering of the Korean War, Kim began studying art after the war ended. Ironically, the devastation around him moved him to pursue the antithesis of war and poverty through art; he sought to depict peace and abundance in his paintings. From utter destruction evolved his dream of beauty.

In those days, to attempt to make a living as an artist was to court starvation.

But Kim used this situation as an added impetus to perfect his craft. Since sur-

A

50

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Kim Chong-hak

The works of the "painter of SOraksan," as Kim Chong-hak is so apdy called, inspire great love and empathy from aficionados of Korean art judging from the popularity of his works, Kim is one of Korea's foremost contemporary painters; indeed, in some respects he personifies the history of contemporary Korean painting

viva! was everyone's preoccupation, Kim had to work all the harder to overcome criticism that he was a prodigal youth oblivious to the poverty around him. The hardships overcome by artists at that time are testimony to how fierce their ambition must have been.

Of course, Kim was not the only one who toiled under such dire circumstances. His contemporaries Han Yongjin, Yun Myong-ro, Kim Bong-tae and others are now recognized as preeminent painters and sculptors. The fact that each of these artists achieved great success at about the same time does not seem coincidental, but rather further evidence of the premise that "the times make the person."

Kim Chong-hak's style and perspective reflected his times, from the exigencies of war to the hard-scrabble struggle for survival in its aftermath. But with a gradual improvement in living standards, Western modernism surged as the prevailing ideology among Korean painters. Whereas other foreign influences had been indirect-intr.oduced by students who had studied in Japan, for example- and intermittent, Western modernism in all of its manifestations (abstract expressionism, minimalism and so on) captivated the Korean art world during and after the war. Kim Chonghak was no exception.

Modernism in Korea surfaced as an expression of revolt against the ancien regime. Kim's contemporaries who command the highest recognition and respect today first made their mark by refusing to participate in the National

Kim Chong-hak's interpretations of Mt. Soraksan are as beautiful as the real mountain because he has singled out the mountain's essential elements and incorporated them in his work. (above, SOrak) Kim has also depicted the wild flowers found on the mountain. The geomet'r,jc partition of the canvas Barley (right) recalls the early work of Piet Mondrian (for example, Red Amaryllis with Blue at left).

51

Exhibition, an annual competition sponsored by the government.

They regarded the jurors for the National Exhibition as too entrenched either in tradition dating back to the Choson period for Oriental painting or in narrow Japanese style for Western painting; in any case, their collective influence was seen as a repudiation of art's essential freedom. By foregoing the National Exhibition, Kim's contemporaries were shunning the only sure route to recognition and success for artists at the time. Instead, they staged their own street exhibition using the 52

surface of one wall of the building where the National Exhibiton was being held. This protest was a milestone in Korea's contemporary art history.

Thereafter, this core of young antiestablishmentarians would go abroad to immerse themselves in the currents and ideologies that dominated international art circles. Kim Chong-hak went to Japan for study and then to the United States. He became absorbed in such new techniques as printmaking and in the avant-garde minimalism.

Young artists exposed to the latest trends usually follow one of two paths.

Some painters doggedly adhere to a particular school or ideology, causing them to disavow their own style; others see the movement as a mirror, objectifying and justifying their personal experience.

It depends on the individual, but some artists exhibit only one tendency exclusively whereas others may show traces of both. Even when both tendencies are evident, one can be dominant, if only slightly.

Plasticity of Woodcrafts In Kim Chong-hak's case, the stimulus of the new movements he experienced

Kim's studio (above) reflects h~s love of ceramics and woodcrafts which he often sketches and incorporates in his paintings. Belowaresketcheshe made of antique candle holders and at

abroad infused his earlier notions with new meaning. In concrete terms, he began to discover the beauty of traditional Korean forms; with the financial help of his family, his explorations led to an obsessive fascination with collecting wooden furniture and implements crafted in earlier times.

Kim discerned in their graceful, uncluttered forms a universal and even modern quality and appeal. He recognized that the shape of a wooden lampstand, so familiar to and used by people over a hundred years ago, preceded and anticipated the forms of Julio Gonzalez,

Constantin Brancusi, Alberto Giacometti and other sculptors.

Having affirmed the universality of Korea's plastic arts heritage, he unhesitatingly donated his entire collection to the National Museum.

The response to the collection on view at the museum was overwhelming. For museum visitors, the exhibition of woodcrafts of their ancestors from different periods in history revealed the systematic development of Korea's plastic arts. The collection was included in the 1995 exhibition of plastic arts from the Chason Dynasty's "renaissance" dur53

ing the 18th century, held at leading museums in the United States. The exhibition won acclaim from American critics and patrons.

The fact that he could oonate a collection so priceless without hesitation suggests two things about Kim Chonghak. One is that after proving the universality of Korean traditional forms, he was signalling a fresh start in his own painting with a newfound emphasis on the locality, or the specificity of Korea.

The other is that he may have realized that to create his own artistic style he would have to reject his former way of living in one bold stroke.

This is the way of an artist. In the East Asian tradition, there is a saying, wanmul sangji, that teaches that to attach oneself to an object is to lose one's objective. For Kim Chong-hak, the donation of his collection may have been a resolute step in his journey of

Kim Chong-hak in his studio 54

creation and a firm rejection of the almost monomaniacal devotion he showed in collecing the woodcrafts.

Just as the times make the person, so does the environment. By environment, I mean not only the one in which one finds oneself but also the environment which one deliberately chooses.

Being a member of the generation which was .taught that preserving the stability of the family was a virtue, Kim Chong-hak found himself in an utterly unexpected environment when his marriage ended in divorce ten years ago. Although the divorce may have been a personal setback, it spurred Kim to establish new roots in the foothills of Soraksan, his chosen environment.

He was enchanted by its pure natural beau~y.

His sorrowful heart was opened and .he saw nature's deep beauty in a new light. He was able to feel again.

Kim was seized by the passion to

paint what he saw. All that he had studied-the countless theories and movements that had beguiled him, the things he had picked up by sight or by sound-suddenly meant nothing as his heart opened to the beauty of Soraksan.

He once said, "Since an artist paints to be free, it is ridiculous to have been a slave to ideology all this time. The beauty of nature is right before our eyes, and it is the artist's destiny and responsibility to capture it."

What is it about Soraksan that could inspire such a change of heart? The mountain is covered by massive, rugged white granite formations. In between, clusters of pines stay green through all four seasons. Each view of the mountain reveals a perfect structural composition, a masterpiece in itself. Such a natural environment is more than enough inspiration for the painter.

It is no wonder that Tanwon Kim

I

Kim'shomenearMt.SOraksanresemblesafolkmuseum.

Hong-do and Kyomjae Chong Son, famous painters of the Choson period, painted the legendary Kumgang-san, a northern cousin of Soraksan in what is now North Korea. Painters in other countries have also been captivated by their own mountains; the unique shape of Mt. St. Victoire in southern France inspired masterpieces of Cezanne, the father of Western modernism.

As beautiful as the real Soraksan is the Soraksan of Kim Chong-hak's rendering. He conveys the unique image of Soraksan with unerring accuracy.

Just as one recognizes someone else by the latter's characteristic features, be it the eyes or the nose, Kim Chong-hak distills Soraksan's unique beauty, reducing it to its very essence.

His success with this method may be due to years of experimenting with abstractionism.

Abstractionism is the process of universalizing and emphasizing an individual object's intrinsic form. This is what

Kim Chong-hak's admirers mean when they say that "the blossoms that cover his canvas are not beautiful as individual elements, but seen as a whole and in relation to each other, they are incomparable."

But this is not to say that Kim does not lavish time and care while painting the wildflowers of his S6raksan landscapes.

He renders them in fractured planes, modeled by geometry, in a way similar to Piet Mondrian's early works of flowers.

The contrast in their styles is apparent in their subsequent development Mondrian continued ' on an endless process of reduction, from flower paintings to purely geometric ones. Kim, compelled by the same fascination he had for wooden objects, turned his attention to pojagi, square cloths used to wrap and carry things. Pojagi's geometric compositions of traditional patterns from centuries ago outshone Mondrian's and inspired Kim to develop a wholly unique style.

Kim Chong-hak is now 60 years old.

To quote his college teacher Chang Ukchin: "The best time to become a doctor is in the twenties, and the forties are the ideal years for writers; but artists only come into their own after age sixty." It would seem that Kim has now reached the point in his life where his painting has evolved into its definitive incarnation.

Perhaps this may explain why the image of Soraksan covered in snow, which he loves so much to paint, bears such a strong resemblance to his own face. Sorak means "snow mountain," the perfect description of his snow-covered landscapes.

In his landscapes, the snow falls into drifts between valleys, from which lines of pine trees rise above the snow. The rows of green pines frame the mountain. Kim's own salt-and-pepper hair evokes the snow-covered landscape of Soraksan. The verity of the saying that successful paintings are a painter's selfportraits is very much evident in the works of Kim Chong-hak. + 55

¡

FOCUS

¡Korean Treasures Added to 's World Heritage List Kangjae-soo .

Assistant Director, Tangible Cultural Properties Division Office of Cultural Properties, Ministry of Culture and Sports

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n December 1995 the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or ~ anizto (UNESCO), decided to register three Korean cultural assets-Pulguksa Temple and its Sokkuram Buddhist Grotto, the woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana and their storage halls at Haeinsa Temple, ¡and Chongmyo, the royal ancestral shrine of the Chason Dynasty-on the commitee's World Heritage List. The list is part of an international program under

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which unique and irreplaceable cultural assets located in countries which are signatories to the World Heritage Agreement are recognized for their universal value and registered in an effort to ensure their preservation and maintenance in the interest of all humanity.

Currently, 350 cultural assets, 102 natural assets and 17 assets combining natural and cultural merits in 105 countries have been registered on the World Heritage List. This is, however, the first time a Korean cultural asset

57

has been included and reflects the world's recognition of the quality and unique character of Korean culture.

Cultural assets registered with the WHC receive technical support from international specialists in damage prevention and preservation and financial aid from the World Heritage Fund, as well as the right to use the World Heritage Emblem, symbolizing UNESCO's recognition of the registered asset's cultural importance.

Korea submitted a list of ten natural and cultural assets to the WHC for its consideration in August 1994.

Supporting documentation for the three cultural assets recently registered was submitted a month later, and in February 1995 Nimal de Silva, an architecture expert and professor at Sri Lanka 's Moratuwa University, was sent to Korea by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) to evaluate the state of preservation and maintenance of Pulguksa, Sokkuram, Haeinsa and Chongmyo.

In July 1995 the WHC Bureau decided , on the basis of Prof. de Silva's recommendations, to implement a full evaluation of the three sites and make a recommendation to the full committee. The WHC finally approved the Korean cultural assets for registration on the World Heritage List at its full session held in Berlin in December.

The Korean government, along with private organizations concerned, has endeavored to arouse greater international interest in Korea's cultural assets. The campaign to register Korean cultural treasures with the WHC is just one of many programs dedicated to this goal. The registration of these assets will provide continuous international publicity on and promote local interest in Korean cultural properties by transforming the sites of these assets into international tourist destinations.

The World Heritage List was initiated in the late 1960s when the world's 58

archeologists expressed grave concern about archeological treasures facing inundation caused by the construction of Egypt 's Aswan High Dam . An international movement developed to rescue the artifacts threatened in Egypt, and subsequently a fund for their relocation and preservation was established.

Recognizing the need for an international agreement promoting worldwide cooperation for the preservation of valuable cultural assets, UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritages in 1972. The agreement went into effect in 1975, and 143 countries have become signatories as of December 1995. Korea acceded to the Convention in February 1988, the 102nd nation to do so.

The WHC consists of 21 executive member countries. The World Heritage Fund finances efforts to determine the cause of asset damage, research aimed at strengthening preservation measures and reforms, and the training of local specialists. It also provides a variety of technical support, such as equipment for the preservation of national parks and the restoration of historical remains. The WHC announces the cultural and natural assets selected for inclusion on the World Heritage List each December.

In October 1995 the Ministry of Culture and Sports submitted an additional application for Mt. Soraksan, and plans to move ahead with applications for Ch'angdokkung Palace, the Suwon Fortress Wall, the Samnyon Fortress Wall, the Tomb of King Muryong, Kangjin-gun Kiln Site, Mt. Hallasan Nature Reserve and other assets.

Upon the inclusion of Korea's cultural assets in the World Heritage List, a variety of celebratory events were held nationwide. On December 19 commemorative services, attended by more than 1,000 members of the Buddhist community and government

and CIVIC leaders, were held at Chogyesa Temple and a reenactment of the Chason Kingdom's royal ancestral rites were performed at Chongmyo in downtown Seoul. That evening, a congratulatory concert was held at the Seoul Arts Center.

Buddhist ceremonies were also held at Pulguksa and Sokkuram in Kyongju, and at Haeinsa in Hapch'on, Kyong-sangnam-do province. The Haeinsa celebration included a reenactment of the transport of the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks to the temple and a symbolic circling of the halls where the woodblocks are now stored. An aca-demic gathering was held at the S6rab61 Cultural Center in Kyongju, featuring lectures by Prof.

Hwang Su-young, former president of Dongguk University, and other scholars and specialists on the sigp.ificance of UNESCO's recognition of Korean cultural assets.

During his stay in Korea , WHC Bureau Director Bernd von Droste visited the three sites selected for the WHC World Heritage List and presented a slide show at the Kyongju academic session, explaining the WHC's system of selection and preservation.

During the presentation, he called on the Korean audience to look beyond short-term economic profits and take a long-term view of the preservation of their cultural resources, such as the ancient capital of Kyongju and its surrounding relics, stressing that the cultural assets are not the property of any individual locality but the shared heritage of both North and South Korea.

The following are brief descriptions of the Korean cultural assets included on the World Heritage List.

Sokkuram Grotto The construction of Sokkuram began in A.D. 751 under the supervision of Kim Tae-song, prime minister of the Shilla Kingdom. It was completed in 774 at which time it was called Sokpulsa , literally "Stone

Buddha Temple."

Stone grotto temples originated in India. They can be divided into two general categories: chaitya and vihara.

Chaitya, literally "sanctuarieS," were originally three-na ved, rectangular rooms lined with two rows of pillars with a stupa at the focal point in the apse. Chaitya grottoes were first popular in India and later were adopted by the Chinese in Tunhuang, Datong and Yungang. All were created by tunneling in stone mountains.

Sokkuram, which follows the chaitya model, is considered a masterpiece because of its dimensions, exceptional sculpturing techniques and unique spatial arrangement.

Sokkuram consists of carved white granite slabs placed side by side around the walls of a rectangular antechamber and the inner rotunda where the Buddha is enshrined. A total of 39 figures from the Buddhist pantheon, including Bodhisattvas, Ten Disciples, Eight Divine Guardians, two Devas and two Vajrapanis, are arranged in systematic order around the main Buddha, giving the impression of having realized the Pure Land of Buddha (Sukkavati) in the present world. The exquisite grotto is of great historical significance and a symbol of the Shilla Kingdom-an era of dramatic development in religion, philoso' phy, science and the formative arts.

In its layout, the grotto achieves an organic blending of architecture , geometry, physics, astronomy, religion and art, unifying all elements in a single entity.

The main Buddha, enshrined in the rotunda in the Gupta tradition, sits in a cross-legged position, eyes closed in quiet meditation. The Buddha's features are exquisitely portrayed-gentle eyebrows, a noble nose, long ears and tightly curled hair-all testifying to the profundity of the Buddha's mind.

The Sokkurram Buddha embodies an ideal beauty and is recognized as one of the finest pieces of sculpture in Asia, indeed, anywhere in the world.

56kkuram is an exquisite grotto of great historical significance and a symbol of the Shilla Kingdom - an era of dramatic development in religion, philosophy, science and the formative arts. In its layout, the grotto achieves an organic blending of architecture, geometry, physics, astronomy, religion and art, unifying all elements in a single entity.

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Pulguksa Temple The construction of Pulguksa was also launched in 751 by Kim Tae-song, the Shilla prime minister responsible for the construction of SoK:kuram, and completed in 774. It has remained an operating temple ever since. All the wooden structures have been restored or rebuilt over the centuries, but several features remain from the original structures, including the two stone pagodas found in the main courtyard, the temple's stone foundation and the stone stairs at the front of the temple.

The stone structures at Pulguksa are made of granite and reflect the exceptional engineering skills of Shilla artisans.

Excavations of the site have helped

Pulguksa Temple 60

scholars gain a better understanding of Shilla-era temple design and construction. The temple compound is divided into two zones. One centers around the main hall, Taeungjon, with Chahamun Gate and Musolchon, literally "No Talking Hall" (used for lectures and ceremonies), to the right and left, connected to the main hall by long covered corridors.

The Kungnakch6n, or Nirvana Hall, stands at the center of the second zone with Anyangmun Gate in front of it.

Pulguksa is a fine example of the double-pagoda temple layout which was not used until the Unified Shilla period. Sokkat'ap Pagoda stands on the western side of the courtyard in front of Taeungjon. It is completely

unadorned, superbly balanced and dynamic. Tabot'ap Pagoda stands on the eastern side of the same courtyard.

A three-story pagoda standing on a double foundation, it is sometimes called the Seven Treasures Pagoda after the pagoda in front of which the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni, once lectured.

Pulguksa is renowned for its elaborate stone foundation. Its beauty is in the juxtaposition of the simple naturalness of its large stones and the carefully spaced stone columns on the second level. The elevated foundation symbolizes the loftiness of the Buddha's world and at the same time exemplifies the solid basis of that world.

Tripitaka Koreana The Changgyong P'an-go, the storage halls for the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks, are the oldest extant buildings at Haeinsa. The repositories - hold the 81,340 woodblocks used to print the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete and accurate version of the "" Buddhist canon in existence today.

Haeinsa is located on a slope of the 1,430-meter Mt. Kayasan in Kyongsangnam-do. Thanks to the rugged terrain, the site has been immune to the ravages of war that have plagued Korea throughout its history.

The repositories, built in the 15th century, are the only structures in the world built for the sole purpose of storing Buddhist woodblocks. They stand on the temple compound's central axis, directly behind the main hall, Taejokkwangjon, and were built in the traditional wooden architectural style of the early Choson period. They are unprecedented not only for their beauty but also for their scientific

design which provides for natural ventilation, and temperature and humidity modulation.

The Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks are carved with such precision they seem to be the work of one artisan.

But this would have been an impossible task1 of course, as each 24-by-70 centimeter woodblock is covered with 322 Chinese characters, painstakingly carved in 23 lines of 14 characters each, on both sides of the blocks!

The Tripitaka Koreana, a collection ~ of Buddhist scriptures, rules and trea~ tises, was carved under order of <3 " Koryo's eighth monarch, Hyonjong (r.

1009-1031), and presently serves as an invaluable research document for scholars of Buddhism around the world. Japanese scholars used it as the basis for their compilation of the Taisho Shinsu Daizokyo, and Chinese Buddhist scholars have used it as a reference for their compilations. It has also influenced Buddhist research in the West.

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Chongmyo Shrine Chongmyo is the Choson Dynasty's royal ancestral shrine, built to enshrine royal ancestral spirit tablets and serve as the site for memorial service s honoring the Choson kings and queens. Its basic function from the time of its creation in 1395 has been maintained through the present, although the number of spirit tablets and buildings increased steadily as the number of deceased monarchs increased throughout the Choson period.

Chongmyo is home to two national treasures, Chongjon, the main hall where the spirit tablets of kings and queens revered for outstanding

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achievements are enshrined, and Y6ngny6ngj6n, which enshrines lesser monarchs. The ceremonial music and rites observed at Chongmyo every May have also been designated Important Intangible Cultural Assets No. 1 and No. 56. While a traditional structure, built as a shrine, Chongmyo reflects many of the universal values of architecture still in use today, and as such, has been the focus of research by many modern architects. In fact, some scholars have called it the Parthenon of Asia.

Measuring 2,270 square meters, Ch6ngj6n is believed to have been the world's largest wooden structure at the

time of its construction. It differs from the brilliantly decorated palaces or Buddhist temples in its simple architec¡tural style and colors which exemplify the modest elegance of Confuc ianism.

During the early years of the Choson Dynasty, Ch6ngj6n enshrined the ancestral spirit tablets of seven generations of royal ancestors, but this number increased to nine at the time of China's Ming Dynasty. Taimiao, the Chinese imperial ancestral shrine in Beijing, has only nine shrine rooms, but Ch6ngj6n has nineteen. Ch6ngj6n is remarkable for its length and the emphasis placed on horizontal lines,

Chongm yo and its rites offer an unprecedented and consistent representation of the distinct ideology of a given era, the Confucianism of the Chason Dynasty, and of all East Asia. making it radically different from that of China, the birthplace of Confucian royal ancestral shrine architecture.

Indeed, such architecture is not found

anywhere else in the world.

The music and dance used in the Chongmyo rites and the ritual utensils and procedures are near-perfect recreations of those recorded in classical Chinese historical documents such as the Rites of Zhou. The music and dance used in the rites originated in the ruling class culture of the ancient feudal kingdoms of East Asia, but they are no longer performed in China. Chongmyo and its rites offer an unprecedented and consistent representation of the distinct ideology of a given era, the Confucianism of the Choson Dynasty, and of all East Asia. +

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Vestiges of the Kogury6 Spirit KimJoo-young Novelist

ust across the Yalu River from the North Korean town of Manp'ojin is the ancient city of ]ian, located in what is now the People's Republic of China's Jilin province. ]ian may appear quite accessible on a map but it takes more than 15 hours to get there from Changbai on the Chinese side of the border with North Korea. First you take a bus from Changbai to Fusong, where you transfer to a train that 64

meanders up to Tonghua, then jogs south to ]ian, situated on the southern border of Jilin. ]ian is a small city of 210,000, blessed with a relatively temperate climate owing to the mountain range that protects it from the frigid north wind and to the warm seasonal breezes that blow up the Yalu River from the Yellow Sea. Of its 210,000 residents, 150,000 are ethnic Koreans. From ]ian,

Manp'ojin, nestled in the mountains across the Yalu River, is dearly visible.

An Ancient Capital

On the Manchurian side of the Yalu River near ]ian is Tonggou, site of a stone monument honoring Kwanggaet'o-wang, the 19th monarch of the ancient Korean kingdom of KoguryO. Kwanggaet'o-wang reigned from 391 to 412 and expanded his kingdom as far

Changgunch'ong, the Tomb of the General. is the finest example of Koguryo stone tombs.

south as Seoul and well into Manchuria to the north. The stone monument at Tonggou was erected by Kwanggaet'owang's son and successor, Changsuwang, in 414. It is 6.4 meters high and weighs 37 tons. ¡Made of undressed stone, the monument is inscribed with 1,775 Chinese ideographs each the size of a man's hand. The inscription can be divided into three sections: the first summarizes

the deceased king's contributions to the Koguryo people and the circumstances of his death in 412; the second records his many accomplishments, including Koguryo's alliance with the Shilla and Kaya Kingdoms against Japanese aggression; and the third contains rules governing maintenance of the king's tomb.

The early Koguryo capital of Cholbon (believed to have been locat-

ed in Huanren, Liaoning province) was moved to ]ian by Yuri-wang, the second Koguryo king and son of Tongmyong-wang, the kingdom's progenitor, in A.D. 3. The capital remained in ]ian until 427 when it was relocated to P'yongyang on the orders of Changsuwang.

He is believed to have relocated the capital in an effort to strengthen the monarchy and establish the foundation 65

for the unification of the three kingdoms under KoguryO. Many scholars interpret Changsu-wang's action as an attempt to undermine the economic strength of a number of wealthy aristocratic families in the ]ian area. ]ian was Koguryo's capital for 424 years and today remains a treasure trove of relics from that era. More than 150 stone fortresses were built in this area during the early years of KoguryO. Throughout the Liaoning and Jilin provinces, to the west at Liaohe, to the north at the Songhuajiang and Heilongjiang (Amur) rivers, and to the east at the Tuman River stood great stone ramparts, bearing witness to the Koguryo people's devotion to the defense of their homeland. ]ian was also an important link in the transmission of Chinese culture to the Korean peninsula.

Nestled amid rugged mountains, ]ian and its many fortresses served as the staging ground for Koguryo's military campaigns. Because most were designed for prolonged wars, the fortresses were quite large and always included arable land and a stream or spring to support many troops and common people. The larger fortresses stretched across several ravines and often embraced large mountain peaks.

They resembled large round sofas with long arms and deep seats.

Most of the extant Koguryo mountain fortresses are located in the mountains to the east of the Liaohe River in Liaoning province. ]ian's Guoneicheng Fortress (Kungnaesong in Korean) was built in the lowlands, however, to protect the capital and civilian residents during peacetime. Wandushancheng Fortress (H wandosansong) was built to offer refuge to the king and common people in emergencies.

Kungnaesong stretches from Longshan to the east, Mt. Yushan in the north, across the Tonggouhe River to the west, past Qixingshan Mountain, to the Yalu River in the south. It was constructed more than 1,650 years ago, during the reign of Koguryo 's 16th 66

~

monarch, Koguk-won-wang. ~

g>

,5

c: Jian in Modern Times

The stone monument honoring Kwanggaet'o-wang (above) and the remains of Kungnaesong attract many tourists of Korean descent to theJian area.. With the rapid development of the city, however, Kungnaesong is difficult to find (opposite).

One often sees mules pulling carts in downtown ]ian. The animals are a popular form of transportation because they are strong, relatively good-tempered and not prone to illness. We rode a mule-drawn cart through the marketplace where remnants of the ancient Kungnaesong have been found, but there were so many mules, pushcarts and peddlers hawking their wares from mats spread on the ground that we could barely find any sign of the fortress. Solidarity A venue and Victory Road, the main thoroughfares through downtown ]ian, are lined with Korean restaurants and shops selling souvenirs that evoke the region's Koguryo tradition. The Korean influence is evident in the large han-gul signs adorning each shop and restaurant, but the city's urban development program has left Kungnaesong Fortress and other historical artifacts to fall by the wayside.

Particularly disturbing was the complete disappearance of all traces of the eastern and southern fortress walls amid a land reclamation project. It was also discouraging to see that some of ]ian's citizens have used remnants of the fortress walls for barns and sheds.

While it is almost lost today , Kungnaesong remained an important part of the Koguryo Kingdom's political and military structure well after Changsu-wang's relocation of the capital to P'yongyang in 427. Indeed, it was a strategic military installation for the Parhae Kingdom and the Qin and Yuan dynasties, which ruled this area after the fall of Koguryo. The area was preserved largely unchanged for more than 250 years after the rulers of the Qing Dynasty closed it off to outsiders in an effort to protect the birthplace of their Manchu ancestors.

Just five or six years ago visitors could find authentic Koguryo earthenware on the streets of ]ian. Today, however, the artifacts unearthed dur-

1,

ing that period are being stored in an underground storeroom at the ]ian Museum. Only a few rubbings of the . fresco-type mural paintings decorating Kogury6 tomb chambers and a handful of relics are on display.

Koguryo Tombs Wandushancheng Fortress is located on the 676-meter-high Mt. Wandushan just 2.5 kilometers to the north of downtown ]ian. On the road to the fortress, along the Tonggouhe River, is the Qixingshan Tomb System, which covers the slopes of Mt.

FromJian, Manp'ojin, across the Yalu River in North Korea, is clearly visible (above). Clockwise from right: The interior of the Tomb of the General, Yan'gou Koguryo Tombs, and the wrestling scene portrayed in wall paintings inside the Tomb of the Wrestlers.

The Tomb of the General is remarkable for the scientific precision of the stair-like pattern in which its 1,100 stone slabs are arranged Modern scientists are still not sure how the tomb's creators managed to move each 50ton slab from the quarry 20 kilometers away The tomb bears witness to the Kogury6 people's magnanimous character and enterprising spirit 68

Qixingshan. In fact, the mountains around ]ian are world-famous for the 7,800-plus tombs gathered in over 75 tumili systems. It is not uncommon to find Kogury6 tombs on hillsides and in cornfields, sweet potato patches and orchards around ]ian.

These tumili are often lumped together as the "Yan'gou Kogury 6 Tombs," but the size and shape of the graves vary widely according to their occupants' social status. The graves of kings who ruled when ]ian was the capital of Kogury6 lay near those of high officials, aristocrats and common

people. Among the largest tombs are Ch'onch'uch'ong, T'aewangnung and Changgunch'ong. All three were made by placing large stones one on top of another. Changgunch'ong, the Tomb of the General, is the largest of the three and the finest example of Kogury6 stone tombs.

The best preserved of the 18 royal tombs scattered around the ]ian area, the Tomb of the General is both m ajestic and m ysterious. Eleven meters tall at its highest point, the tomb is remarkable for the scientific precision of the stair-like pattern in

which its 1,100 stone slabs are arranged. Modern scientists are still not sure how the tomb's creators managed to move each 50-ton slab from the quarry 20 kilometers avV'ay. The Tomb of the General bears witness to the Koguryo people's magnanimous character and enterprising spirit.

The Tomb of the General also demonstrates the Koguryo people's architectural prowess and their kingdom's strength as a state. But who is buried in the tomb' This has remained a mystery ever since the tomb was discovered by Japanese

and French scholars in 1905. For many years, scholars assumed from its size and form that it was the tomb of either Kwanggaet'o-wang or Changsu-wang, but in more recent times, scholars, led by students of Korean history in China, have begun to lean toward the view that it is Changsu-wang's tomb. If that is so, then it must be assumed that Koguryo 's rulers recognized the importance of the Kungnaesong Fortress and Jian even after the capital was moved to P'yongyang in 427.

While the tour guides at Jian are

helpful, they keep a careful eye on their charges, discouraging picture-taking and refusing to answer some of the simplest questions. Their attitude seems to be born of a fear that the remaining artifacts might be damaged or the history of the region misinterpreted. Over the centuries, the tombs have been ravaged by grave robbers and damaged by curious scavengers.

This problem appears to have been especially severe during the Japanese domination of Manchuria. The sufferings of the past often affect attitudes in the present. +

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KOREAN ARTIFACTS ABROAD

Unforgettable Impressions from

CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART You Hong-june Professor of Art History, Yeungnam University

tourist spot, a book or a movie is a hit if people want to go there, read it or see it again and recommend it to others. To me, the Cleveland Museum of Art is one such attraction. I would urge anyone to experience the museum's atmosphere of refined art when visiting the United States.

Cleveland, on the shores of Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes along the U.S.-Canada border, can hardly be called a metropolis, and yet, it is a city of music and art, home to the worldrenowned Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Founded in 1916, the museum presently houses over 50,000 art works, including a world-class medieval collection, with its Guelph Treasure (11th-12th century), and a fine Oriental collection.

Since 1960, the museum has actively purchased antiquities from around the world and is now launching a long-term plan for the expansion of its New Wing, which was added in 1958. Unlike many museums in which works are exhibited by country, the Cleveland Museum displays artwork by theme or medium.

Korean artifacts are displayed chronologically with those of China and Japan in exhibits of ceramics, paintings and Buddhist arts.

As recently as 10 years ago, the museum's Korean collection was no match for its Chinese and Japanese collections in quality or quantity. The collection began with 200 pieces of Koryo porcelain and bronze donated by Dr. John L.

A

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Severance, who contributed to the founding of Seoul's Severance Hospital, now affiliated with Yonsei University.

The original collection was not systematically organized.

However, the museum began to take a greater interest in Korean art in the early 1960s when Sherman Lee, a prominent authority on Chinese art history and. author of Chinese Landscape Painting (1954), A History of Far Eastern Art (1964) and Past, Present, East and West (1983), was appointed its director and chief curator of the Oriental department. Thanks to Dr. Lee's enthusiasm, the museum now has an outstanding Korean collection. According to the curator, 80 percent of the pieces procured over the past 10 years are Korean, powerful testimony to the director's professional influence on the museum's acquisition.

The discerning eye of Michael Cunningham, chief curator in charge of Asian art, has also been a critical factor in the museum's procurement of fine Korean art, especially paintings. After majoring in Far Eastern art at the University of Chicago, Cunningham came to 'the museum as curator of Japanese art. Thanks to frequent visits to Korea where he met many Korean art historians, he is now well-versed in Korean art as well.

Epitome of Koryo Buddhist Painting Seven Buddhist paintings from the Koryo Kingdom are the pride of the collection. Sakyamuni Buddha Triad, Seated Bodhisattva, Amitabha Triad,

Standing Image of A valokitesvara, A valokitesvara in White, The Arhats and Five Hundred Arhats are universally recognized as the epitome of Koryo Buddhist painting. Considering the fact that only 100 Koryo Buddhist paintings are thought to exist today, with more than 80 in Japan and only 10 or so in Korea, the Cleveland Museum:s collection is truly remarkable. The collection is also noteworthy for the original content and unusual forms found in the paintings, quite distinct from the stereotyped iconography seen in most Buddhist paintings. .

The museum's collection of Choson paintings is also exceptional, although there is room for improvement. The 16th-century landscape paintings and 17th-century albums are of exceptional quality. Choson paintings are less common than ceramics in American collections, "so those in the Cleveland collection deserve attention.

In addition, since the possession of even a single masterpiece can boost a museum's prestige more than 100 reference works, the museum is to be envied for its ownership of Winter Landscape in Snow by Kim Che, one of the finest artists in the 16th century.

Choson paintings antedating the Japanese invasion of 1592 are fairly rare.

Furthermore, paintings of that early era were usually quite small, measuring less than 20 by 30 centimeters. Kim's Winter Landscape in Snow, however, measures 68 by 53 centimeters. The painting is also unique for its inscription. Few paintings antedating 1592 include record-

Winter Landscape in Snow, by Kim Che (1524-1593), Chos6n Dynasty, 1584. Light colors on silk.

ed accounts of their origins, except for early Choson master An Kyon's Dream journey to the Peach Blossom Land, painted in 1447. But Winter Landscape in Snow has an inscription: "This was painted for a man named An Sa-hwak in 1584." If An Kyon was the master painter of the early Choson period, Kim Che certainly deserves to be called a master of the mid-Choson period. This makes Winter Landscape in Snow all the more valuable.

Originally, the painting belonged to a private Japanese collector. Even today, most catalogs of Choson paintings refer to private collections in Japan. The

Cleveland Museum did not purchase Kim's masterpiece until1987.

Cunningham kindly invited me to look at the work in his office. Having long cherished the desire to see Kim's work in person-catalog photos do not do it justice-I was stunned by its superb artistry. Cunningham's comments, published in Interpretations under the title "Sixty-Five Works from the Cleveland Museum of Art," aptly describes the painting's power.

This winter landscape is detailed in its execution, varied in its subtle range of ink tones, and richly narra-

tive in subject. The departure (to the left) and the arrival (to the right, by boat) of guests to a gentleman's country retreat provides the ostensible subject of painting. Long admired in East Asian painting, the theme is a scholar-gentleman's happy retreat from the burden of government and bureaucracy.

On hearing the details of the 1987 purchase, I remarked that the price of Korean paintings was at its peak that year, but Cunningham instantly replied, "Considering the quality, we didn't worry about price."

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Buddha, gilt bronze, Unified Shilla, height 25.4cm 72

Idiosyncrasy of Choson Painting Cunningham was certain it was Chason paintings. The painting depictNext Cunningham showed me Korean. His reasons: In his research on ed an old willow tree growing against a another large painting ent itled Chinese and Japanese art, he has found cliff. Its branches had run into an overWillow Tree and Swallow and no Chinese or Japanese painters who hang, and the tree spread to the side, requested my commanifesting a vital life-force ments, as if he were tryand the courage and wisdom ing to enhance the to adapt to adversity. enjoyment of appreciaAttracted by similar tion. In addition to metaphors characteristic of questions about its artisChos6n painting, Cunningham tic quality, he asked me has focused on Korean art about the painting's orirecently and is trying to gin. Was it from China, understand the philosophy Japan or Korea? It was expressed by each artist a troublesome question. through his work The day I met him he was to attend a Clearly, the style and content indicated it was weekly seminar of East Asian painted in the 17th cenart scholars. Apologizing for not being able to invite me to tury, but identifying an dinner, he hurried away, unsigned work is like down the beautiful lane guessing the nationality of an Asian person on behind the museum.

As I returned to my lodgthe streets of New York In most cases, there are ings, I felt overwhelmed by some general criteria: If Cunningham 's extensive the painter strives for knowledge of Chason painttechnical perfection, he or ing and ashamed of my own she is likely to be Chinese; work as an"art historian. At if ornamental elements the same time, I was not are added to descriptive completely mortified. I felt details, the painting is usugrateful to Cunningham for his interest in Korean art. ally Japanese; and if the painting appears natural Gridden House, where I was Tall jar with a dragon and cloud design, blue and white porcelain, staying near the museum , (or "unrefined" as some Choson Dynasty, 18th century, height 39.4 em critics say), it is often was an old building, built a century ago and has now Korean. However, this picture contains all three elements. were painting in this style in the 17th been designated a local cultural asset.

Finally, admitting my uncertainty, I said century. More significant was the Comforted by the inn's coziness, I I thought there was a fifty-fifty chance humor and human touch seen throughlooked forward to the day I would visit that it was Korean. out. This is an idiosyncrasy seen only in this place again. â&#x20AC;˘

Scroll box with a dragon and phoenix design in mother-ofpearl inlay, Chos6n Dynasty, 18th century 73

KOREAN ARTISTS ABROAD

KangSueJin Charisma and Beauty on the World Stage LeeJong-ho Dance Critic

or even ¡the levels of achievement interest in or understanding of the ballet. will never forget the premiere of The failure to develop an early educaattained by China's Beijing Ballet. the Stuttgart Ballet's production of An understanding of Korean ballet's tion program for young dancers has also Romeo and juliet on January 29, 1993. undermined progress. unfortunate history shows that the tears Among the audience were clusters For decades, Korean ballet stumbled shed at the premiere of Romeo and of young Korean women weeping. juliet in 1993 were not simply a typical along on the performance and educaAs the curtain fell and I stepped out into Korean reaction to the beauty of Kang's tion fronts in comparison to the world's the lobby, I encountered still more tearperformance or to the enthuful women, many sobbing siastic response .of the openly. While Koreans are European audience. Rather, known to cry at the drop of the tears revealed the Korean a hat, there was more to it. ballerinas' admiration for and That evening Juliet was envy of Kang and her sucperformed by Kang Sue Jin, cess, a certain introspection and most of the tearful specabout their own careers, and, tators were ballerinas from moreover, the regret they felt Seoul. As they embarked on about the domestic ballet a group tour of Europe, the community, which has young artists heard of Kang's ignored its own deep-seated impending debut in Stuttgart problems for so long. and decided that they had to attend the performance. But Young, Yet Mature why cry? True, Koreans do Kang Sue Jin is not the cry easily, but it is also true first Korean ballerina to that Korean ballet has shown dance with a Western ballet little progress over its 70-year history, a matter of great frusg company. In the 1960s, Kim tration and disappointment Hye-shik, chairman of the .__.......____________...__ _ _ _ __, School of Dance at the for all affiliated with it.

Why has the Korean balKorean National Institute of Ballerina Kang Sue]in let community failed to Arts and former director of the National Ballet, studied at Britain's progress over the 70 years since its finest ballets and relative to the length of inception, or even during the half-centuits history. Only in the 1990s has there Royal Ballet School and performed with ry since liberation from Japanese colobeen any fundamental development, the Zurich Ballet and Canada's Grand nial rule? Although it has shown tempoand that not so much on an institutional Ballet. Kim's early achievements are not rary spurts of activity, generally speakwidely known in Korea because there level as in the emergence of a handful ing, it has lacked vitality. The reasons was so little interest in ballet and only of individual artists whose talent merits recognition on the international stage. limited contact with the outside world are many and varied. The problems involve the general level of ability, the Prior to the 1990s, one could never hope at that time. Kang, on the other hand, for the excellence achieved by the great has generated enormous interest in overall atmosphere in the local dance Russian or European ballet companies, community and the lack of popular Korea. She performed with the

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A scene from the Stuttgart Ballet's Seoul performance ofRomeo and juliet

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Kang has many strengths as a dancer: her heig~

ideal for

performing with Western partners; her well-balanced build; her fresh, modem good looks; and her obvious dancing ability, emotional expressiveness and acting skills.

Kang Sue]in performing Pamina in Maurice Bejart's staging of The Magic

Flute

Stuttgart Ballet in Korea in October 1994 and has been the object of much media attention when she returns to her homeland every summer on vacation.

An interview on a popular local television program last summer showed how Kang has trained herself to deal with the new attention. In the past, she had avoided interviews with news reporters and critics, but last summer's interview with Kim Han-gil, host of a talk show program, revealed a new poise and maturity. Kang handled Kim's sometimes sensationalistic questions and sexual innuendoes skillfully and managed to steer the interview back to ballet with poise and sincerity.

She has since described that interview as her most difficult yet, but she clearly revealed newfound maturity.

Perhaps the Korean people hope to discover in Kang Sue Jin the pride and envy the Japanese people have for Yoko Morishida, a renowned Japanese ballerina. Incidentally, neither of them is a homegrown dancer: they both learned to dance abroad. Although they studied the basics in their home countries, both Kang and Morishida owe their status as world-class dancers to their educations in Europe.

Kang has many strengths as a dancer: her height (167 centimeters), ideal for performing with Western partners; her well-balanced build; her fresh, modern good looks; and her obvious dancing 17

ability, emotional expressiveness and acting skills. In her early years, Kang tended to be quite rigid in her upper body, but more recently she has shown remarkable fluidity; indeed,~ each movement is nearly perfect, suggesting that she has reached her prime.

She joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 1986 at age 19, the youngest ballerina ever to enter the troupe, and worked diligently for 7 long years before she was selected to play the lead in Romeo and juliet.

Like so many top artists, Kang got to where she is today as much because of her superhuman effort as her remarkable natural talent. The anxiety and frustration of overseas life, often exacerbated by a lack of progress in one's chosen field, can only be understood through direct experience. Kang still practices one hour with a private instructor at seven each morning before work, and spends a sizable chunk of her meager salary on therapeutic saunas two or three times a week

Valued Teachers No discussion of Kang Sue ]in's career would be complete without mentioning Marika Besubursova, director of L'Ecole de Dance Classique de Monte Carlo, and Marcia Haydee, artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet since 1986.

Besubursova came to Korea 's Sunhwa Art High School in the early 1980s to select talented students to study at her school in Monaco. Among those selected were Julia Moon, now artistic director of Seoul's Universal Ballet, Kim In-hee, artistic director of the Seoul Ballet Theater, Huh Yong-soon, lead dancer with Switzerland's Basel Ballet, and Kang Sue Jin who was chosen in 1982 Adrienne Dellas, Crimea-born principal of Sunhwa Art High School and the first to teach ballet there, was, together with the Korean teachers working at the Seoul High School for the Arts and dance institutes in Seoul, responsible for early ballet training in Korea for many years and was instrumental in providing many young dancers with opportunities to study abroad. A stern taskmas78

ter, Dellas has always reminded me of the Hungarian conductor Sir Georg Solti.

While she is six years younger than Solti, Dellas shares his East European background, gravelly voice and sharp temper quite unexpected in someone of such an advanced age. Korean ballet owes a great debt to Dellas. The young dancers who were given an opportunity to study at Ecole de Dance Classique de Monte Carlo should remember that luck played as much of a role in their selection as talent and effort. (Many major figures in Korean ballet have maintained or are reestablishing their relationship with the school today by sending their own students there to study.)

Throughout the four-year course at Ecole de Dance Classique de Monte Carlo, Besubursova taught Kang with dedication and sympathy for the naive student from a faraway Asian country.

Besubursova is, of course, famous for her teaching ability, but "She gave Kang special attention and invited the young Korean to live in her home during her final year at the school. Besubursova taught her not only the fundamentals of ballet but also inspired in her the emotional strength and habits required of a great artist. Besubursova has continued to advise Kang since her graduation and remains an invaluable counselor and friend. Following Kang's 1993 performance as Juliet, wellwishers found the dancer and Besubursova tearfully embracing in her dressing room.

In January 1985, with just one semester left at the school in Monte Carlo, Kang entered the Prix de Lausanne Competition in which she shared first place with another dancer. It was the first time a Korean had won a prize at a major international dance competition.

While her accomplishment was admired by her countrymen, few realized its great significance to the domestic ballet community. It was comparable to baritone Hans (Hyon-su) Choi's Grand Prize at the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1990 and a long overdue repeat of the international

recognition bestowed on another Korean dancer, Ch'oe Sung-hui, who was invited to serve as a judge at the Brussels International Dance Competition back in 1939. Interestingly, when I introduced myself as a Korean to Philip Braunschweig, founder of the Prix de Lausanne, at the Diaghilev Ballet Competition in Moscow in 1992, he immediately asked if I knew Kang Sue Jin and proceeded to rave about her fine dancing and character. He was right: Kang's fresh, pure character is as much an asset as her dancing ability.

Life with Stuttgart Ballet Since joining the Stuttgart Ballet, Kang has enjoyed the absolute trust and affection of artistic director Marcia Haydee.

Indeed, so dedicated to Kang's success is Haydee that she gave Kang the costume she wore in her own first performance of Romeo and julie~ choreographed for her by John Cranko in 1%2, as well as a ring presented to her by Cranko after the performance. She is also responsible for casting Kang as Juliet in the January 1993 production which commemorated the 30th anniversary of the work and marked Kang's successful debut on the international stage.

In December the same year, Haydee and Kang were jointly cast in choreographer Renato Janella's Mata Har~ causing quite ~ a stir in the dance world. Kang's joint casting with the artistic director had great symbolic significance. Just two months earlier Kang danced the role of Pamina in guest choreographer Maurice Bejart's staging of The Magic Flute. So effective was she in the role of the innocent Pamina that Bejart returned to Lausanne after the first performance, raving that she had fulfilled all his expectations for the role.

Kang's rapid success in recent years is, in my opinion, the result of her unwavering dedication and effort. (Scholars and philosophers often experience sudden enlightenment after years of study and contemplation.) Haydee cast Kang as Juliet because she recognized her talen~ and thanks to that exposure, Kang's

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Kang Sue]in performing in choreographer Renato]anella'sMata Hari

talent is developing new breadth and depth. Kang has also benefited from the efforts of colleagues who have offered to work as her manager.

Until she played the title role of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty in October 1995, Kang's leading roles had all been in modern works, such as Romeo and juliet. Her casting as the sleeping princess helped dispel concerns that her talents may be limited to emotive roles.

A classic ballet, Sleeping Beauty demands diversity of its leading lady. It is extremely rare for an Asian dancer to be cast in the leading role of a classic ballet, especially for a season opener, because, whatever their talents, Asian dancers simply do not look the part.

However, when it comes to looks and stature, Kang can hold her ground with the most beautiful Western dancers. In fact, her Western looks have been an unexpected advantage. Her technique

also exudes great maturity. When I saw Kang performing as a soloist in the Stuttgart Ballet's May 1990 production of Sleeping Beauty in Yokohama, Japan, I could tell she had prima ballerina potentiaL and her 1995 turn as the work's leading character proved that she was fully capable of the task No doubt her success as the sleeping princess will play a decisive role in her quest to be recognized as a world¡dass ballerina.

Marcia Haydee describes Kangas: "A unique ballerina, endowed with great natural talent On stage, she exudes a distinctive charisma, beauty and sincerity.

Few dancers possess all three characteristics, the marks of the ideal ballerina."

Sincerity is an expression of one's humanity and willingness to work for one's goals everyday. Charisma and beauty are, for a dancer, the ability to express feelings through dance and acting. As Ha ydee suggests, these ele-

ments are everything to a stage performer. Perhaps this is why Kang Sue ]in prefers ballets which combine dance with spoken parts. Most of the ballets"' she has performed thus far have been composite works. This preference reflects her confidence that she can handle both modern and classical pieces. In the future she would like to take on Adolphe Charle.s Adam's Giselle (1841), every ballerina's dream and ultimate challenge. Torn between the present world and the world beyond, struggling with two distinct personalities, the appeal of performing Giselle is obvious.

And what is dance? I believe it is life, it is the universe. Life and the universe are always moving. Without movement, there is death, extinction. And Kang Sue ]in's universe is the stage, where the dancing never ceases. Stages in Europe, in Korea, everywhere. + 79

DISCOVERING KOREA

Lee Tchang-bok Professor Emeritus, Botany, Seoul National University 80

nemones bloom with the spring wind and are thus called param kkot, or windflower, in Korean. Awakening from a long winter sleep, the bright and colorful plants and trees revel in the spring sun.

Bears who have hibernated through the winter in caves deep in the mountains are now awake and look for food that peeks up through the snow. The

A

weeds the bears find in the snow on Mt Soraksan are called komch'i by the local people. Kom means bear and ch 'i means weeds. Komch'i should not be confused with another plant called komch'u~ which is a type of chrysanthemum.

Komch'i is called Symplocarpus nipponicus by botanists. It is different from Symplocarpus renifolius or skunk cabbage which has thin, long leaves and

Aulea (top)and Amur Adonis (above)

blossoms in winter rather than spring.

Skunk cabbage leaves grow in winter and right next to the leaves are unshapely, snakeskin-like bracts in which the flower blooms. In Seoul it is called paech'u namul (wild cabbage) and is used for making jelly and folk medicines. That is why it does not sound strange that bears eat its cousin komch'i In high mountains such as SOraksan, 81

olleji (dog-tooth violet; Erythronium japonicum), Han-gyeryongp'ul (Leontice microrhyncha) and kkwon-gui paramkkot (a type of anemone; Anemone raddeana) begin to bloom i~ the early spring just as the snow starts to melt.

The dog-tooth violet has dark green leaves with black patterns and a purplered flower which droops from a long stalk. With petals like a folded umbrella, the anemone looks like it is protected from strong winds. Han-gyeryongp'ul comes out like bean sprouts before the melted snow seeps into the soil.

The dog-tooth violet and anemone can be found in the central and the southern region of Korea. Hangyeryongp'ul was so named as it was first found in Korea on Pugamnyong Ridge to the west of Osaek Valley on Soraksan. Because it came from Manchuria, Soraksan is regarded as the southern limit of its spread. It was found during a survey of the SOraksan region following the Korean War in preparation for designating the area a nature preserve.

Pugamnyong Ridge was once known as a secret trail for North Korean espionage agents. Han-gyeryongp'ul was collected in front of a South Korean guard post and the very next day, a nearby post was hit by a North Korean hand grenade. This incident has become a part of the history of the Hangyeryongp'ul Among the early bloomers, poksuch'o (Amur Adonis; Adonis amurensis) is relatively large. Although the plant is short, the flower is about 4 centimeters wide and it looks much like a yellow chrysanthemum. Thanks to the meaning of the Chinese characters of its name, "plant of prosperity and long life," the Amur Adonis is often used as a New Year's decoration in Japan. It is indigenous to East Asia and can be found as far south as Cheju Island The maehwa kkot (Japanese flowering apricot; Prunus mume) is another early bloomer, usually coming out while there is still snow on the ground When the Japanese apricot blooms in the early 82

spring, it is called maehwa in Korean, and the fruit is called maeshil Hanmae, another member of the Japanese apricot family found in the Puyo region, is said to be the earliest bloomer in the apricot family. Indigenous to China, it is not yet widespread in Korea.

Misonnamu (white forsythia; Abeliophyllum distichum) reaches full bloom before spring arrives. The Chinese characters for its name mean "round fan," which describes the shape of its fruit. Found only in Korea, it grows on Mt. Kunjasan in Koesan-gun, Ch'ungch'ongbuk-do province, where the ground is covered with rocks and stones. The roots sink deep into the ground beneath the stones and the trunk grows in the bright sun. Even in summer, when the rocks are so hot one can hardly touch them, the white forsythia is unaffected Due to its unique. ability to grow in this harsh environment, the white forsythia is a loner, thriving where few plants can survive. Because of its rarity and beauty, gardenerss have tried to grow this plant in parks, but it usually dies out, unable to cempete with the surrounding plants. This underscores the importance of creating the proper environment when trying to protect or cultivate rare plants. The white forsythia has white, pink or ivory flowers of various sizes. To protect the plant and its habitat, the government has designated it a Natural Treasure.

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The dog-tooth violet, anenome and japanese flowering apricot, which is commonly called plum blossom, (top to bottom) begin to bloom just as the snow starts to melt. Spring arrives when forsythia (opposite) begins to bloom.

Symbols of Spring Along with the white forsythia, yellow kaenari (forsythia) and pink chindallae (rhododendron or azalea) are symbols of spring in Korea. They brighten the bleak winter landscape and turn the mountains and fields into a riot of color.

Azaleas are a large part of Samjitnal, the third day of the Third Moon, a celebration of the return of spring. One of the foods prepared for this occasion is hwajon or azalea cakes. On this day, women come out into the warm sun to dance and play. These flowers are also featured in a poem titled "Azaleas" by

Kim Sowol (Kim ChOng-shik; 1903-1934) which is known to every Korean, young and old. ¡ Forsythia grows anywhere and as a result has become one of the most common decorative plants in temperate regions. There are two points of interest near the main entrance to Soraksan called Kwon-gumsong and Ulsan-bawi, each featuring unusual rocks. A close look at them will reveal mallihwa (Forsythia ovata), a member of the forsythia family, growing between the rocks. No one knows how the plants got there, but it is a beautiful sight when the bright golden petals blossom.

Koreans often call their land kumsugangsan (land embroidered with rivers and mountains). This is especially true in autumn when the mountains are draped with colorful tints of their foliage. These leaves, however, are actually from the same plants that produce bright flowers in spring.

Azaleas usually grow on the northern slopes of mountains and hills. That is

why one sees more azaleas when headed south along a highway than vice versa. This growth pattern is probably related to the differences in humidity.

Azaleas are frequently found in northern areas from Manchuria to Mongolia and along the Ussuri River, covering the area in pink when they bloom. When they are mixed with yellow forsythia, the scene is spectacular.

Once the azalea blossoms have fallen off, the blooming of ch 'oltchuk kkot (smile rosebay or royal azalea) follows.

The pink of the azalea is spectacular because it blooms before the leaves, but the smile rosebay blooms at the same time as the leaves are out, creating a different sensation. It spreads up from the foot of the mountain, climbing all the way to the top. It can be found all around the mountain ridges. Smile rosebay was the first plant to be introduced to the West from Korea. It was one of the plants that the German navy collected during a marine survey in the Wonsan area, now in North Korea. This

was modern science's first encounter of a Korean plant Azalea petals are eaten raw, cooked into special rice cakes or added to liquor to enhance its color and flavor. The rosebay, however, is toxic, which is why the azalea is referred to as a "true flower" and the rosebay as a "pseudo flower."

Most rosebays are shrubs and are thicker than azaleas. A well-known rosebay growing on Mt. Pallonsan in Chongson-gun county, Kangwon-do province is 5 meters tall, has a chestheight girth of 78 centimeters and 108 centimeters around the base, and a crown 7 meters across. The plant is 200 years old and has been designated Natural Treasure No. 348.

Mountain climbers have a Rosebay Festival there every spring after the azaleas have gone by. Although the festival has been scaled down because of criticism that the large number of people who crowd into the area destroy the rosebay bushes and other plants, it still remains an annual event +

83

CURRENTS

The Art of Kim Hong-do Remembered LeeWon-bok Curator, National Museum of Korea

he largest exhibition of Choson Dynasty paintings ever, featuring the works of Kim Hong-do, was held from December 19, 1995 to February 25 this year at the National Museum of Korea. The exhibition, commemorating the 250th anniversary of Kim's birth and the last held at the soon-tobe demolished National Museum building, attracted thousands of enthusiastic viewers each day. The large exhibition was also unique in that it was jointly sponsored by the National Museum and two private institutions, Kansong Art Museum and Ho-Am Art Museum.

Kim Hong-do, also known by his pseudonym Tanwon, was one of the three most famous painters of the Choson era, the others being An Kyon, active in the 15th century, and Chang Sung-op (1843-1897) of the latter Choson period. Together with the gentry painter ChOng SOn (1676-1759), Kim was one of the most prolific painters of the late Choson era. He is most commonly thought of as the master of genre painting, but he was actually skilled in all painting styles.

He first gained fame with portraiture and paintings depicting Taoist and Buddhist themes. Later, as a reward for painting the king's portrait, he was appointed to a ranking government post, at a level comparable to a county magistrate. Although he was a professional painter born to a commoner family, Kim was also accomplished in poetry and music. With the patronage of King ChOngjo (r. 1777-1800), he created a classical painting style that epit-

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omized the proud qualities of Choson art.

Although quite different in scale from the most recent exhibition, there were five exhibitions of Kim Hongdo's work in the past. In 1%5, the National Museum held an exhibition of 56 paintings, mainly of genre and figure paintings; unfortunately, no catalog was published.

Eight years later, in the spring and autumn of 1973, and again in the spring of 1985, the Kansong Art Museum, which has the largest collection of Choson paintings, held special exhibitions, each featuring 30 to 50 of Kim Hong-do's paintings. And in October 1990, the National Museum held an exhibition honoring Kim as the "Cultural Figure of the Month," also displaying paintings owned by the Ho-Am Art Museum and private individuals.

The most recent exhibition is much larger in scale with about 300 paintings exhibited, including The Immortals (Kunsondo), National Treasure No.l39; 20 paintings from a 1796 album Pyongjinnyon-hwach'op, Treasure No. 782; and 25 paintings from the Tan won Collection of Genre Paintings (Tan won P'ungsokhwach'op), Treasure No. 527.

The Ho-Am Art Museum spent over two' years preparing for the exhibition, while the National Museum examined all of Kim's works in its depository and painstakingly selected 80 of the best, including those previously unexhibited. The Kansong Art Museum contributed more than 50 masterpieces, including Eight Scenes from Kwandong (Kwandong p'algyongdo), Historical Figure Paintings (Kosa in-

multo) and Paintings of Birds and Animals (Yongmodo). In addition, the

museums of Seoul National, Korea and other universities, public and private museums, and individual collectors lent paintings from their collections.

The special exhibition displayed works in almost every style of Kim's painting, including landscape, genre, historical figures, Buddhist and Taoist figures, portraits, flowers and birds, birds and animals, flowers and insects, fish and crabs, the "Four Gentlemen" (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo) and calligraphy, providing a rare glimpse at the life of this painting genius and the artistic world he created.

The most noteworthy landscapes belong to the Album of Kumgang's Four Counties (Kumgang sagunch'op)

from a private collection. The 5-volume album consists of 60 paintings painted by Kim at the age of 43 in the autumn of 1788 after a visit to Mt. Kumgangsan under orders from King ChOngjo.

On the cover of each volume is the title "The Complete Paintings of Kumgangsan," written in India ink.

Originally kept in the royal palace, these paintings have never been publicly exhibited before, except for four black-and-white reproductions introduced in two essays on Kim Hong-do

by Yi Tong-ju.

The seals affixed to the paintings were added later, but all 60 paintings feature place names written in India ink by the same person. These early landscapes differ from Kim's other,

CURRENTS more well-known landscape paintings in their delicate and detailed-.touches.

In addition, three paintings from The Complete Paintings of Kumgang (Myogilsangdo, Ongch'ondo, and Piryongp'okp'odo), belonging to the Na-

tional Museum collection, were made public for the first time.

Chu Hsi's Virtues (Chubujashiuido),

a six-panel screen which was brought back from Japan a few years ago and is now in a private collection, is one of the most outstanding historical figure paintings. According to records from the reign of King Ch6ngjo, the screen originally consisted of eight panels.

But, after it was taken to Japan, it was reduced to six panels following the Japanese style. The screen is executed with restrained brushstrokes fit for the king's inspection, depicting the eight virtues promoted by the great Chinese Neo-Confucian Chu Hsi. Each panel

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contains poems written in an impeccable hand. The paintings were drawn when Kim was age 55.

Shin'onindo, which contains an unusually long foreword in the yeso writing style of ornamental characters

by Kim's preceptor Kang Se-hwang, uses India ink to depict unique subjects. Although the painting is in poor condition, its extraordinary brushwork is noteworthy. The colophon reveals it was painted in 1773 when Kim was 28 years old.

The paintings from Historical Figure Paintings (Kosa inmulto) are mounted on hanging scrolls, but were originally produced for screens. This was the first time they have been exhibited tosether in one place. Admiring Apricot Flowers from a Boat (Sonsanggwanmaedo), from a private

collection, depicts a boat ride, the same subject as a piece of shijo poetry re-

cently confirmed to have been composed by Kim. Its existence has long been noted in painting records, but this was the first time it was exhibited.

Nine paintings of birds, animals and flowers, from the 1796 album Pyongjinnyon-hwach 'op owned by the Ho-Am Art Museum were included in the exhibition. It was also the first time all eight panels of Paintings of Birds and Animals (Yongmodo),

from the Kansong Art Museum collection, were exhibited. They clearly reveal Kim Hong-do's true talents in this style of painting.

The exhibition will long be remembered for having offered the public a rare chance to see how Kim Hong-do flawlessly portrayed Korea's beautiful natural scenery through his realistic landscape paintings and the hard life of the common people with humor and passion. +

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Kim Hong-do flawlessly portrayed Korea's beautiful natural scenery through his realistic landscape paintings and the hard life of the common people with humor and passion.

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,,

BOOK

WhoS Who in Korean Literature Korean Culture and Arts Foundation · Hollym International Corp., 1996 · 557 pages, 20,000 won

Reviewed by SuhJi-moon

he need for an English-language reference book of Korean writers and poets has long been felt by international students and teachers of Korean literature. To fill this need, the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation has compiled a Who 's Who in Korean Literature, which the Hollym International Corporation has recently published.

The book's format testifies to the foundation's commitment to compiling a comprehensive guide to 20th-century Korean literary figures. Each entry includes the name of the poet or writer, both in English and Korean, brief biographical data, and a list of his or her works by category-one-volume works, collections, critical writings and essays, complete works. The main body of each entry consists of a brief description of the writer or poet's literary career and his or her major themes, with critical commentary.

Translators and editors are increasingly awakening to the growing need to provide background information about authors, something that many books and periodicals have thus far neglected to do. Accordingly, this book will prove to be a great help to foreign students of Korean literature courses and general readers seeking a fuller understanding of the authors.

However, being the first attempt of its kind in Korea, the book does 86

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have its shortcomings; mainly being incomplete in many respects. The most regrettable flaw concerns the list of entries, which seems to me to suffer from glaring omissions while containing some superfluous individuals.

It is hard to understand why such important authors and poets as Yi Byoung-joo, Mo Yoon-sook, Chang Yong-hak, Kang Kyong-ae, Yu Chu-hyon and Sohn So-bee are left out. And playwrights have been totally overlooked; not even Cha Bom-sok and Oh Young-jin are included. Also, some of the listings of works are incomplete and impor-

tant dates are missing.

The entries were written by Korean literature scholars and then translated into English. Thus, the critical commentaries contain many vague expressions typical of Korean literary criticism. As one of the translators, I had great difficulty in translating some of the fuzzy critical commentaries. This difficulty was obviously shared by all the translators, as revealed in the final outcome.

The entries are alphabetically ordered, yet there are quizzical variations, such as four of the seven entries for Cho coming after Choi, Choe, Chong and Chon. More seriously, some of the o]s are spelled Lee and others Yi, and are separated in the alphabetical listing.

It is my understanding that the KCAF originally intended to include listings of translated works of the authors, but I suppose this plan was abandoned owing to the magnitude and complexities of such an undertaking.

But, as the KCAF director admits in the preface that the book needs improvement and enlargement, and promises repeated revisions, I believe we can look forward to the future bringing us fuller and more complete versions. For the time being, the book's publication itself is worthy of congratulations to all those who contributed to this introduction of Korean literature to foreign readers. +

JOURNEYS IN KOREAN LITERATURE

Choi In-hoon

Choi's writings offer a modern history of Korea that is richer and more objective than any history book.

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A Fear of Idols: The Works of

Choi ln-hoon Rew Bo-seon Literary Critic

eality is cunning and humans are complex. In other words, reality is unpredictable and an individual's ability to develop a humane consciousness is determined by various elements not easily categorized. Although countless theories of history have been conceived, no one has succeeded in establishing a systematic history of humanity. By the same token, while there are hundreds of epistemological arguments on the meaning of human existence, no absolute theory has appeared.

The same goes for the realities of Korea and the Korean people's mode of life. More precisely, Korea's reality is even more cunning and the Korean consciousness even more complex. If referring to reality as "cunning" signifies the difficulties in discerning the essence of reality and predicting the future, and if referring to human beings as "complex" suggests the difficulties in defining the relationship between consciousness and unconsciousness, between perception and practice, and between ideology and reality, then I hardly need to point out the formidable barriers to understanding the inner psychology of the Korean people. And it must not be forgotten that this difficulty is closely associated with the fact that the standards and criteria used to define humanity and perceive history were established upon a foundation of Western history and philosophy.

Korean history appears to proceed by chance, rather than according to a natural order of events, and the Korean people seem to be impossible to define

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using logic alone. Koreans place a strong emphasis on their ethnic homogeneity, yet they fought a bloody civil war and built a wall of national division which shows no signs of disintegrating.

They habitually refute this contradictory reality with great passion, then turn around and become the very personification of these contradictions.

I would like to recommend the literary works of Choi In-hoon to anyone interested in a brief lesson in Korean history and literature. Moreover, if I may make a subjective judgment, I would like to make a stronger recommendation: study Choi In-hoon if you want to understand the unique quality of Korean literature. Likewise, study his novels if you are interested in the history of Korea and its intellectuals. The reason is simple: through wide-ranging and objective observations and profound thought, Choi In-hoon has put into concrete form the modern history of Korea, a most difficult subject, and the struggle for existence waged by Koreans, a people with an extremely complex inner world.

Choi's writings offer a modern history of Korea that is richer and more objective than any history book The fact that many of his literary works have succeeded in portraying Korean history in a more realistic manner than most academic works is the most important reason for praising him as a great author.

Choi's success in objectively illuminating Korean history is closely related to his personal experiences and to his literary consciousness, which is, of course,

dictated by those experiences. Choi's life has been plagued with hardship and difficulties. By overcoming them he has acquired a consistent consciousness as a writer. The most distinctive tone found in his work is his sense of displacement The French philosopher Gaston Bachelard once said childhood was life's "finest scenery," but Choi's childhood was torn apart by ,violence.

Remarkably, Choi calls that violence an act of reason in his novel Hwadu.

Accordingly, the discovery of a certain madness of reason and a sense of having lost one's spiritual home are evident when Choi writes about feelings of displacement.

Vagabond Consciousness Another theme running throughout Choi's work is a "vagabond consciousness," a kind of nomadic sense. Choi is unable to find his spiritual roots because of the intense experiences he had as a child. He was born in Hoeryong, Hamgyongbuk-do province, in 1936 and moved to Wonsan as a child. Life in W onsan was happy enough, but his family was forced to flee -south when ¡ the communists took over at the end of World War II. His childhood memories, all the more poignant because he was forced to leave his home, made it impossible for him to experience happiness elsewhere. Furthermore, South Korea's capitalist society was not a place where the adventurous acts of an individual, social development or objectivity and subjectivity could harmonize with each other. Rather, it devastated Choi's spirit in yet another sense, forcing

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him to wander like a tortured soul, unable to settle in one place.

Choi's consciousness as a writer thus consists of many layers. At SOI_!le levels, it could be called a fear of idols, at others a yearning for a society in which subjectivity and objectivity, and the individual and the society, exist in harmony.

Choi dreams of the perfection of the self through which an awareness of objects and the self converges. He dreams of mental fulfillment based on a sensual conviction that leads to knowledge, wisdom, self-awareness, reason and spirit.

The path to this perfection of the self is not easy, however, because the most basic of all goals-that of living as a humane being-was not permitted in the historical circumstances in which Choi lived. In that era of turbulence, introspection and self-reflection were forbidden. Choi had to lead the life of a vagabond and to suffer simply because his goal was self-fulfillment In the end, his unique experiences and literary awareness brought a critical introspection to his writing and the capacity to observe Korean society dispassionately.

A tragic aura envelops Choi's writing.

The characters in his novels are not portrayed as actors in world history. They do not influence the great flow of history or represent any large group. If "tragedy" implies the frustration of an individual's dream of realizing a certain order or of an individual's refusal to accept a preordained fate, then Choi's novels can hardly be called tragic. His characters are ordinary people who simply try to save themselves.

Nevertheless, each character is swept up in tragic circumstances. They live a life of self-preservation, deciding, as one character in A Record of a journey West (S6yug1) does, that they are incapable of taking responsibility for life's burdens. "What significance is there in assuming a burden only to collapse under it for lack of strength?" the character says. Still, Choi's characters are never free from the violence wielded by power. Violence is always used in the name of reason as seen in "The

Gray Club," The Square, The Gray Man, A Record of a journey West, and Hwadu. Choi perceives Korean society as one which disregards the will of the individual, forcing him or her into a deep abyss of despair. Korean society is even more repressive for those who try to realize independent self-consciousness through spiritual self-perfec-

Choi is an exceptional writer in that he has never blindly accepted any concept or structure without thorough examination.

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tion. Through the use of intermediaries, Choi reorders Korean history and reality, which will not tolerate the dialectic thought process that could help one develop a higher level of self-awareness through the realization of the individual's consciousness.

Third World Modernism The history and realities which Choi reorders in his novels are even more realistic than actual history and reality.

This is because the intermediaries presented by Choi serve as aesthetic outlets, which approximate the essence of Korea's modern history more profoundly. Korea was an underdeveloped country. It followed in the developmental footsteps of the advanced capitalist nations, taking those countries as models for its own development and attempting to adjust itself to fit that model. Korea was also a Third World nation. As such, Korea has not only assumed the hopes and heartache of capitalism, it has also indirectly experienced socialism, which developed as a way to overcome the contradictions of capitalism. In short, Korea took an existing social structure as a role model and followed it accordingly.

Korea's modern development thus caused Korean society and the people living in it to become so complex as to defy belief. The model or concept was presented a priori; everything else had to follow. Existence did not determine consciousness; rather consciousness determined existence. Koreans had to make their individual will and emotions fit a given universal reason, instead of achieving a universal reason through a continuous process of self-realization.

The fixed notion that actions striving for universal reason were the only true and sincere actions came to predominate in Korean society, and the individual inevitably came to experience a serious rupture between emotion, perception and action.

Through this process, intuitive norms or concepts dominated, and the process of individual self-realization was 90

reduced to slavery. The individual became secondary, reduced to a means for the realization of a priori notions, instead of being viewed as the most important component of society.

Humanity was not considered in managing the society. Korea's experience of modernism while still a Third World country is closely linked to the confrontation between the extreme left and right after liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, which led the Korean ,...------. ,

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Peninsula to experience a tragic civil war. The state of division has not yet been overcome.

Choi has delved into Korea's unique history and the inner psychology of its people more deeply than any other writer, using as intermediaries the "fear of idols" and "the establishment of a system of communication between subjectivity and objectivity." In his famous book, All That Is Solid Melts Into AirThe Experience of Modernity, Marshall Berman compared Feodor Dostoevsky and Charles Baudelaire. He describes Dostoevsky's literary world as "the modernism of underdevelopment," something quite distinct from "the modernism of advanced capitalism" represented in

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Baudelaire's work, which has been the cornerstone of the world's mainstream developmental model. Berman also argues that the modernism of underdeveloped nations reveals a deep despair and nihilism in the face of human history because the underdeveloped countries experienced the despair of advanced capitalism much too early. If that is so, one might call Choi's literary world-filled with despair and desperate to find hope when the, very process of self-perfection is judged improperanother form of modernism, that is, Third World modernism.

The German sociologist and philosopher Theodor Adorno once criticized Gyorgy Lukacs' theory of realism, arguing that Lukacs thoroughly refuted various frames of perceptions that interfere with the rich re-creation of reality while at the same time viewing the . socialist spectrum of perceptions with an unusually generous eye. The notion that "all that is whole is false" underlies Adorno's criticism, as does the horrible memory of fascism arising from the eradication of all differences between the individual and the object.

Adorno's perception is essential to an understanding of Korea's history.

The universalism and narrow framework of perceptions that once reigned here have robbed everyone of all trust, and that lack of trust has in turn created irrevocable and horrifying ci'rcumstances. Choi is an exceptional writer in that he has never blindly accepted any concept or structure without thorough examination. This is, of course, because he lacks a spiritual home to return to. Nevertheless, he has willingly endured his tragic fate, and because of it, his literary works have left a clear mark on the history of Korean literature. In fact, his significance is not limited to the history of Korean literature.

Choi's work stands as a new milestone in the history of world literature, representative of Berman's Third World modernism. As Baudelaire once said, only tortured souls seem able to create great literature. +

NEWS FROM THE KOREA FOUNDATION

Support for Korean Studies Programs Abroad The Korea Foundation offers financial assistance to universities, research institutes and libraries abroad in their efforts to promote the study and understanding of subjects related to Korea. Projects submitted for consideration must be in the fields of humanities, social sciences or arts and within the categories listed below: 1) Fst:ablishment and expansion of Korea-related courses and faculty, 2) Fellowships for graduate students or research grants for faculty, 3) Library acquisition and cataloging.

Applications must be submitted to The Korea Foundation by May 31. The results of the final selection will be announced by October 15 of the same year.

For application forms, program guidelines or further information, please write to: International Cooperation Department I The Korea Foundation CPO Box 214 7 Seoul, Korea Te l82-2-753-3464.

Fa x 82-2-757-2047,2049

KOREA FOCUS A BIMON111LY ON CURRENT KOREAN AFFAIRS

In addition to KOREANA, The Korea Foundation publishes KOREA FOCUS as part of its effort to inform the world community about Korea and to enhance international understanding in this era of globalization. We believe KOREA FOCUS will serve as an important and timely reference for the world community.

KOREA FOCUS offers a comprehensive view of contemporary Korea in a wide-ranging selection of informative articles on Korean current affairs. , In this bimonthly, you will find timely reports on Korea's politics, economy, social environment and culture, opinions on world affairs, and a chronolqw of recent events in Korea.

Published in English and Japanese, ··-·I its articles come from leading publica·-tions in Korea, including major daily 1 newspapers, newsmagazines and academic journals.

·--·--

The Korea Foundation Fellowship Programs FEllOWSHIP FOR KOREAN STUDIES

provided with round-trip airfare to Korea and a monthly stipend during the grant period.

Applicants should complete two copies of The Korea Foundation Fellowship for Korean Studies application form and submit their academic research proposals to The Korea Foundation by May 31. The results of the final selection will be announced by August 15 of the same year.

FEllOWSHIP FOR KOREAN LANGUAGE TRAINING

The Korea Foundation offers grants for Korean language training to graduate students, scholars and other qualified professionals overseas who wish to learn the Korean language at a Korean university language institute for a period of six to twelve months.

Each successful applicant will be assigned to a Korean language course at one of three major Korean universities, and will be provided with tuition and a monthly allowance during the grant period Applicants should complete and submit two copies of The Korea Foundation Fellowship for Korean Language Training application form to The Korea Foundation by May 31. The results of the final selection will be announced by August 15 of the same year.

For application forms, program guidelines or further information, please write to: International Cooperation Department II The Korea Foundation CPO Box 2147 Seoul, Korea Tel82-2-753-6465 Fax 82-2-757-2047,2049

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