Koreana Spring 1989 (English) by The Korea Foundation

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KOREANA Vol. 3/No. 1I 1989

KOREANA is published quarterly by INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL SOCIETY OF KOREA. 526, 5-ga, Namdaemunno, Chung-gu, Seoul100-095, C.P.O. Box 2147, Seoul, Korea Telex: INCULKO K27738 Fax: 757-2049 Tel: 752-6170, 753-3463/7 KOREANA was registered as a quarterly magazine with the Ministry of Culture and Information, Republic of Korea, on August 8, 1987 Registration No. Ma-1033

FEATURE

PEOPLE

PUSCKSA MON AMOUR

PARK KUI HEE

By Kim Seong-jin

by Art· Space

PUSCKSA

LITERATURE

By Kim Eung-suk

THE LYRICS OF CHONG CH'OL

By Song Hye-jin

Pusoksa's Halls and Treasures

HERITAGE

BUDDHIST TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE IN KOREA

COTTON WEAVING AT SAETKOL VILLAGE

By Joo, Nam-chull

By lee Kyung-hee

TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE AND BUDDHIST BELIEF

REVIEW/ART

By Pop Chong

LEE UNG·NO

38 KOREAN BUDDHISM AND RELIGION IN KOREA

By Paul Mooney

REVIEW/MUSIC

SAMULNORI vs MU

By Ku Hee-seo

DIAIDGUE

IKEBANA MASTER HIROSHI TESHIGAHARA

By S. Chang

REVIEW/DANCE

THE SONG OF CHONGUP

PHOTO POEM

THE FERRY BOAT AND THE PASSENGER

By Han Yong-unfTranslated by Kol, Chang-soofPhotos by Art· Space

ART NEWS I BOOKS

PUBLISHER/PRESIDENT: Kim Seong-jin EDITOR IN CHIEF: S. Chang EDITORIAL BOARD: Choe Chungho Hahn Man-young Rhee Sang-woo Yoo Young-ik ART DIRECTOR: Park Seung-u COYER: A view of Pusoksa's Anyangmun Gate and of the Muryangsujon Hall with the mounta ins spreading out ace ross the horizon.

TEXT EDITORS: Paul Mooney Suzanne Crowder Han Suza nna M. Samstag

ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kim Young-uk (text) Sui Kyung-dong (design) Hyun Kwan-uk (photos)

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FEATURE

'-'

PUSOKSA MON AMOUR

A Layman's View of the Historic Temple

By Kim Seong-jin

still remember how hard it was to suppress my emotion the first time I visited the temple, Pusoksa. Deep in the crepuscular mountains, when I gazed all around, standing right there in front of the temple's lovely main hall of worship, I was at once awed and stunned. In the distance the rolling ridges of one blue mountain after another, as far as I could see, seemed to take one uniform, and striking posture. Yes, they all appeared to kowtow and do so prayerfully in the direction of but one edifice - Pusoksa. Ignorance, as the saying goes, is bliss. My knowledge has always been limited of religion in general and Buddhism in particular. I have no apologies to offer for this. Nevertheless, in the serene twilight that engulfed Âˇ the great mountaintop temple, I could immediately tell one thing for sure. There could be only one mot juste to charÂˇacterize the ecstasies into which I had been transported: transcendental. This is well over a full decade ago. Dear readers. When the editors of Koreana asked me to give some intr.oductory remarks about the subject of this issue's main article, I felt no trepidation. The reason is not complicated. Ever since that first visit my love affair with Pusoksa has steadily climbed in seriousness. The face of the matter is plain: the more I have studied the temple, the more bewitching has practically everything about it turned. In the end, I have, as a confirmed Pusoksa aficionado, even dared to come out with a pet theory of my own: to enjoy this temple is to sample the

essence of Korean culture. Perhaps someday some of you might want to test my theory by exploring the endlessly mystifying shrine yourselves. Here again I fearlessly make one prediction: no matter what you might think of my view, the characteristically Korean about the golories of Pusoksa is not likely to leave you disappointed. The trip nowadays would prove anything but arduous (see map). Beside, while en route to and from Pusaksa, you would have hours of opportunity to observe what still constitutes the backbone of our nation: our countryside. The first time I was up there, one question just naturally gripped my mind: who founded the temple or what kind of a man was he? Of course, I talk of Uisang (620-689), Pusoksa's sernilegendary founder. That question proved even haunting when I closely examined the striking boldness of his calligraphy. The vivid inscriptions were on a wooden tablet, now among the most highly valued of Pusoksa's treasures. The text detailed the circumstances under which the temple came into being and how it was subsequently repaired under his supervision. The J!lanly brush strokes seemed to betray Uisang's soaring intellect. That was not all. It also seemed to reflect faithfully his dauntless courage and boundless energy. Indeed the priest is among Korea's fondest historic personages. Inescapably, down the ages romantic tales have evolved about him, his life and thoughts. The best known of the yarns tells of how he managed to "prevent" a

war with China. As it relates, Uisang was in China deepening his knowledge of Buddhism when a highly classified piece of intelligence was secretly conveyed to him: warlords of the T'ang dynasty were hatching war plans to conquer and annex the Silla kingdom, the novice monk's long-lost home country. That ominous information was "leaked" to him by the lovelorn daughter of a high-ranking T'ang courtier. At their home, you see, he had been a guest boarder. Always a man of action, the young priest from Korea lost no time in packing up and getting set to race back home. By the time the girl reached the port, his boat had already weighed anchor and was about to disappear over the horizon. Poor girl. Or would you call her that? In despair, she committed suicide by plunging into the sea. Then again in the tales of this nature, such a supreme act of love does not mark a finale. By a magic power, the dead girl now transformed herself into a dragon. ~nd the soaring creature

overflew Uisang's teetering, slow boat from China and protected it from an almost interminal succession of looming tempests. Home at long last, Uisang succeeded in fast-talking authorities into allowing him to trek the length and width of the country and to hunt for an appropriate temple site. _ That site, an indefatigable Uisang in no time discovered in the mountainous central portion of what now is the Republic of Korea. That dragon once again and for the last time made an appearance from the blue yonder when a handful of villagers at the chosen site refused to vacate their ancestral homestead. Howling in white wrath, the dragon indicated that a whale of a rock it was holding with its claws would come crashing down if the villagers refused to leave. Frightened, the reluctant folks fled when the dragon still clutching that rock did come crashing down from heaven. Where the dragon breathed her last, as the story goes, stands Muryangsujon, Pusoksa's main edifice. A hefty piece of rock resting on the

ground to the west of it is said to have been a portion of that formidable rock carried up there by the dragon. Hence the name of the temple, Pusoksa, literally Tempje of the Floating Stone. There Uisang is said to have conducted an esoteric rite and did away with the gathering clouds of war with China. So much for the Romanesque. Still and all, the consensus among the generations of our Buddhist scholars underlines one aspect of Uisang's personality. He was never a bookish ascetic chained to his ivory tower. Indeed the best of our scholars always discuss a contrast between Uisang and Wonhyo (617-686), the other great priest in the Silla period. Wonhyo, though erudite and brilliant, seldom left his piles of books in Kyongju, the caeital of Silla. Uisang, I have come to presume, amounts to the opposite prototype of priesthood for posterity in the clergy to emulate. His voluminous writings left indelible and lasting influences over the development of Buddhism in Korea. But at the same time he marked himself as a restless soul. To him, no matter how vast a collection of theological discources, it was all but insignificant when not transcribed in terms of missionary work. He persisted in ranging far afield among the masses. In fact, his personal presence and participation is recorded in the construction or expansion of as many as ten of the greatest of our Buddhist temples. When talking of Pusoksa, I may be excused to relate a role I personally played in my capacity as Minister of Culture and Information. In fact, I happened to be instrumental in having a thoroughgoing restoration program conducted for the temple. It lasted three painstaking years from December 1977. The massive job was supervised by two able people who used to work with me. One was Choi Sun-u, then head of our National Museum, and the other Hwang Suyoung, at that time a member of the Cultural Property Committee. Alas, Choi has since died. But together with Dr. Hwang, he was at it so zealously that the project inevitably went over and aboveÂˇ the budget earmarked for it in the first place. Consider the portion of the work that dealt with the living quarters of

monks. The late Choi was so exacting in affixing its sliding doors at their original level that carpenters were forced to redo it three times. My ministry did not object to such a labor of love, and for good reason. As I have come to realize, the key to the secret behind what makes Pusoksa so endearing is its infinitely delicate arrangement for harmonizing or even fusing with its natural environment. With this in mind, you would know how crucial the height of the sliding doors was to achieve that harmony. The moment the doors slide open that sense of harmony must just naturally register itself with your mind. The wonders of Pusoksa are indeed innumerable. In its gracefully sloping compound there are as many as seven items of what our government has designated as National Treasures. Among them, I cite here but one magnificent example. Indeed I point to the gem of architecture, Muryangsujon (literally, Hall of Infinite Longevity). For the restoration of it the same late Choi was justifiably dead set against the use of any of the customary pigments whose effect, with some temples in our country, could only be called gaudy. Last time I visited Pusoksa was last October. The temple and its enchanting environs greeted my eyes with all their unchanging charm. As usual, the whole atmosphere was reposeful and comforting. Once again I asked myself that old question: what makes Pusoksa so appealing to me? In the end I found myself toying with the same old proposition for a reply: harmony. Where fusion is complete between god and nature, an ultimate serenity must make itself felt for humanity. That to me is what Pusoksa always means. + Mr. Kim Seong-jin is president of the International Cultural Society of Korea.

ust as Asia is plural and not singular in culture, so too is its tradition in architecture. Consider the case of Korea, China and Japan. Although the three peoples have shared a common architectural heritage flowing out of yesterday's China, each has down the ages developed unique features of its own. In Korea, these particular features are amply reflected in its Buddhist temple architecture. (Those features too have for long been incorporated in the stylings of dwellings for common folks.) Many fine examples of Korea's Buddhist architecture have taken the form of temples in the mountains. Their styles are often dramatized by a great emphasis placed on a thoroughgoing accommodation to nature. The typical mountain temple in tum is characterized as well by the asymmetrical arrangement of structures. This is the starting point for all manner of spatial management designed to intensify Buddhist experiences. Among the most notable of these mountain temples is Pusoksa. Built in the latter part of the Unified Silla period (668-935), it is probably the most appropriate point of kickoff for our studies of the idiosyncracies and charms of Korea's Buddhist architecture. By the way, we might note here that up till the Unified Silla period, that is, through much of the Three Kingdoms period (lst century B.C.A.D.668), most of the Buddhist edifices

were located not in the mountains but in the plains and flat areas around Korea. Pusoksa indeed is among the loveliest of Korea's ancient buildings. Its main hall of worship, Muryangsujon, is in fact believed to be the oldest extant wooden structure of the country. Another edifice reputed to be about as old is Kiingnakchon hall at Pongchongsa temple in Andong not far from Pusoksa. What is particularly noteworthy is Pusoksa's spatial arrangement. Approaching the temple, visitors first take a gently sloping footpath, then climb stairs to the bottom of a raised pavilion. Finally they reach the magnificent Muryangsujon. Simple as it might sound, the process often proves full of surprises. Not a few of the pious pilgrims have gone so far as likening the experience to that of attaining Nirvana. One of Korea's ten greatest Buddhist temples, Pusoksa is located 25 kilometers from Yongju city and just four kilometers from Pusok village and some 140 kilometers to the southeast of Seoul. It is on the southern slope of Mt. Ponghwangsan, one of the great mountains in Kyongsangbuk-do province. Viewed from a distance in the south, the ridges of Mt.Ponghwangsan seem to be reaching out to embrace - or offer prayers to - the temple. Small wonder. The edifice is famous for the breathtaking beauty of its surround-

Pusciksa's 1/chumun or first gate.

ings and represents the storied principles of geomancy. In terms of geomancy, the site is exceedingly propitious. In the timehonored science, an ideal site for such a hall of worship must be a flat tract of land encircled by mountains. Beside, these mountains must be high and rugged to the northern side with ridges extending to the east. These ridges are called Blue Dragon (Ch'ongnyong). On the western side there must also be more mountains - White Tiger Âˇ (Paekho). Pusoksa's location fills all these conditions perfectly. Records indicate that the temple was constructed in or around the year 676, the 16th year of the reign of the Silla king Munmuwang. The king himself is said to have ordered the construction of it to Uisang, one of the renowned priests in the realm, as the headquarters of the Avatamsaka (or Hwaom) sect. As detailed in the preceding article by Kim Seong-jin, president of the International Cultural Society of Korea, a pathetic legend has been !old of the temple and its founder Uisang, his flight from China, the transformation of a lovelorn girl into a dragon and

how with a massive stone held up in the sky, _the creature made it possible for the Uisang to occupy the site. The story evidently is meant to heighten the greatness of Uisang who overcame all manner of obstacles in opening a center for the propagation of the Avatamsaka sect. There are a number of buildings in the temple complex. Because of a number of fires which have destroyed various buildings over the years, the structures found today reflect the architectural styles of various historical periods. Muryangsujon (National Treasure No. 18) and the Chosadang Shrine (National Treasure No. 19) reflect Koryo era construction while the belfry and Anyangmun Gate which form the main axis of the complex are Choson period creations as are a number of the smaller structures. In addition, one can find buildings constructed in more recent times. Pusoksa is also famous fqr its many historic artifacts including: the great reinforcing stone wall, the flagpole supports (Treasure No.255); the Seated Clay Buddha (National Treasure No. 45); the Three-story Stone Pagoda (Treasure No.249); the Stone Lantern

From the top of the three-tiered foundation that leads up to the temple, the visitor gets afirst general view of the temple complex (above). Before climbing the stairs beyond the temple's stone foundation wall only part of the temple complex is visible (left). Passing through the Ch6nwangmun, the Gate of the Four Heavenly Guardian Kings, and climbing a set of steep stairs, the visitor reaches the stone foundation wall from where the temple is hardly visible in the distance (bottom).

(National Treasure No.l7) , the three stone seated Buddha (Treasure No. 220) all from Silla; the Chosadang Shrine Wall Paintings (National Treasure No. 46); the Koryo Woodblocks (Treasure No. 735); the Monument to Wonyungguksa, two stone pagodas, and the pudo or gravestones, all from the Koryo period. To enter Pusoksa, visitors must climb the gently curved mountain path up Mt.Ponghwangsan to the northeast, passing the information signs and ticket booth until one reaches the iljumun, or outer gate. At the left as the visitors go through this gate, they find the flagpole supports which demark the boundary of the temple. After passing through the Gate of the Four Heavenly Guardian Kings at the top of a somewhat steep flight of stairs, the visitors reach the famous stone foundation made of stones cut approximately one meter by one meter in size. This stone foundation extends out on the side, adding to Pusaksa's majesty. From the top of the steep incline formed by the three-layered foundation, one sees two three-story pagodas brought from the Tongbangsa temple site in the east. From here the visitors get a beautiful

view of the overlapping lines of the belfry, Anyangmun Gate, and the gentle curves of Muryangsujon's roof between the two pagodas. At the edges of the stone foundation lie the dormitory and protective pavilion built in modern times to house the wall paintings from the Chosadang Shrine, the Koryo woodblocks, the records of the restoration of the Anyangmun Gate, and other artifacts. After climbing a small flight of stone stairs, and passing through the bell pavilion reconstructed during the Choson period, the visitors arrive at Anyangmun Gate. The belfry which constitutes the temple's middle gate (chungmun) is unique among Korea's temples in that it has a hipped and gabled roof when viewed from the path to the main hall, but puts on another face of both simplicity and obstinacy by showing only a gabled line when viewed from above - from the main hall. This feature provides the visitors with a sense of intimacy and expresses the desire to maintain a solemn atomsphere in the central area of the temple. The dichotomy is most likely the invention of the late Choson era. 11

As the visitors climb the stairs below the belfry, Anyangmun Gate and Muryangsujon, the main hall overlap beautifully and appear to be connected when seen through the opening in the upper part of the belfry. From that vantage point, the line extending between Anyangmun gate and Muryangsujon lies at a slight angle. It is at this point that one can sense the Korean people's devotion to the creation of Buddhism's paradise of Nirvana. That is, the feeling one senses when standing by the belfry gazing at this magnificent sight is the Korean people's will to express the beauty of paradise. This Buddhist paradise is not some unapproachable sanctuary, but rather is a merciful world which reveals itself freely to humanity. Approximately 35 meters from the belfry one must climb a long stairway as one looks up at the Anyangmun Gate which stands on the top of a tall stone reinforcing wall, at 5.7 meters, the tallest at Pusoksa. The p'alchak hipped and gabledroofed Anyangmun Gate stands at the top of these steep stairs. While only a small structure, the gate is quite imposing, and through its opening the stone lantern and eaves of Muryangsujon begin to appear. Passing through the gate, the lantern and hall come into full view. Despite the physical openness owing to the fact that there are no buildings in between Anyangmun and Muryangsujon, the visitors feel a warm sense of stability and intimacy as though the hall were reaching out to embrace them. It is this impression from the space created within this temple that gives Pusoksa its refined and distinct face, quite different from that of the simple and unsophisticated Kiingnakjon at Pongjongsa (a simple wooden structure). This feeling brings with it a modesty and beauty that also distinguishes Pusoksa from the almost gaudy splendor of Choson period architecture. The spritely upward tum of the long hip rafters with the firm downtum at the edge of the eaves, the slow and flowing slope, and the relatively low ridge on top combine to reflect the heart and soul of the artisan who prayed for the realization of the land of Happiness through his patient craftsmanship. To the left of Muryangsujon at the

Pusaksa's Anyangmun Gate and Muryangsujon Hall.

bottom of a steep bluff lies the legendary pusok (floating stone), and to the right stands the Three-story Stone Pagoda. Behind the pagoda is the pavilion of Sonmyo to pay tribute to the legendary Chinese girl with a portrcrit of her in the pavilion. Up the mountain behind the Stone Pagoda is a fork in the path. To the east is the Chosadang_ Shrine which contains a portrait of Uisang himself, and nearby visitors can find a stone marking the site of Ch'wihyonam. To the west of the fork are the Chaindang

Shrine which contains the seated stone Buddha brought_from the Tongbangsa temple site and Ungjinjon Hall which houses the portraits of the great priests who have visited Pusoksa Temple. To the rear is the Tanha Pavilion which houses a statue of the Tanha Bodhisattva. Down below and to the southwest lies the western pudo (gravestone) area. To the southeast of the Chosadang Shrine stands the Monument to Wonyungguksa, the eastern pudo area and further to the Ch'wihyonam, the visi-

tors pass the Wonkakchon (Hall of Sakyamuni's Perfect Enlightenment) and the newly built living quarters for head monks. Korean temples can be divided into three categories: the plains temple, the ridge temple and the mountain temple. The plains temple of the Three Kingdoms period generally followed the "one-pagoda" format influenced by China. Perhaps the single most important feature of the plains temples was their pagoda-focussed format, characteristic of early Buddhism, which cen-

tered around one large-scale pagoda. This configuration reflected the era's ostentatious tendency to emphasize Buddhist pomp and a patriotic spirit through the contradiction of nature. With the popularization of Zen Buddhism and the spread of geomancy in the Unified Silla period, most temples were erected in the mountains by the middle and latter part of the era. Pusoksa is a combination of the transitional ridge temple and the mountain temple forms, built high on an elevated embankment. It lacks therefore the

sequestered feel of a mountain temple and exhibits a sense of architectural majesty. Standing atop its great stone foundation, Pusoksa's layout is clearly meant to create a place of learning aimed at cultivating and propagating Avatamsaka thought, an accommodating and benevolent form of Buddhism, through its balanced combination of harmony and conflict with the forces of nature. However, although Pusoksa is the home of the Avatamsaka sect, its arrangement and construction technique are characteristic of the Pure Land or Sukkavati sect of Buddhism. One can see this clearly from the structure of the stone foundation, the names of the buildings, and the placement of the statues of Buddha. Thus, while Pusoksa is the source of the Avatamsaka sect in Korea, there is no Vairocana Buddha or Taechokkwangjon as is the custom of the Avatamsaka sect, but rather one finds the Muryangsujon and Anyangmun Gate, and an Amita Buddha, all part of the Pure Land iconography. In addition, the position of the Buddha varies from the standard placement facing the front door of the building and instead is placed in accordance with the Pure Land belief on the western side of the hall facing the east. The foundation of Pure Land thought is the desire to go to the Nirvana of the Amita Buddha after death. The "Amita Buddha" refers to the Buddha now preaching in the Western Paradise. Interpreted in Chinese characters or Korean pronunciation, this Buddha is called Muryangsu. The paradise he now preaches in is called kungnak (Nirvana) or anyang. Thus it is clear that Pusoksa with its Anyangmun Gate, Muryangsujon, and Amita or Muryangsu Buddha is an expression of the Buddhist Paradise of the Western Pure Land. Even though in the real world, the Pure Land or Paradise is expressed spatially as "the West (sobang)" and temporally expressed as "the future" or "the world beyond (naese)", its actual meaning is rebirth in Paradise or Nirvana. Only when a person undergoes a qualitative change and enlightenment does he or she cross into Nirvana. This qualitative change is purity of the heart. When society is purified through Bodhisattva acts, Nirvana will be realized.

Seen from the front of Muryangsuj6n Hall, Pus6ksa's buildings harmonize well with the surrounding mountains.

Those who have been reborn on the road to the Western Paradise a re divided broadly into three stages, or more specifically into nine ranks. The repeated rebirth of these "born-agains" into the nine various stages is the basis of Pure Land thought and the road to Nirvana. Pusoksa's layout appears to directly portray the Pure Land doctrine as the theme of three levels or stages is played out over and over again. Viewed narrowly, there are three levels, crossing the steep approach slope and then the two stone retaining walls, and from a broader perspective, there are three stages again, from the large stone foundation to the foundation of the belfry, and that of the Anyangmun Gate. Finally the Pure Land of Nirvana is depicted by Muryangsujon. Pusoksa was built to invoke the idea of these three stages and nine ranks as one climbs the stairs, and the arrange-

ment of this temple constructed for the worship of the Amita Buddha or Muryangsu is the actualization in a physical form of the Pure Land philosophy. Thus we now understand why Pusoksa is located on this steep spot on Mt.Ponghwangsan, reinforced by its man-made stone embankments, rather than somewhere else. The embodiment, the realization of the Western Paradise is its raison d'etre. This is the road to Nirvana. At the time of Pusoksa's construction, the Silla Kingdom was threatened by interminable invasions from abroad and constant domestic disorder. Uisang, under the protection of royal authority, prayed that Silla would become a land of peace and happiness. Because peace and happiness are possible only when the human spirit is pure, the realization of purityJor our country itself must have been Uisang's

great dream, and that of the Korean people. While it is difficult to harmonize Avatamsaka doctrine with that of the Pure Land sect, Uisang, through practical action, realized the Nirvana of the Pure Land doctrine based on the philosophical background of the all-embracing, all-accommodating Avatamsaka thought. The profound desire to create a clear and clean Buddhist kingdom in Korea flows through the hearts of our people. Even today in the fourth lunar month, hundreds of believers gather in front of Muryangsujon on Buddha's birthday, circling the stone lantern and chanting ''Amita Buddha, Amita Buddha;' a vivid reminder of the cherished desire that flows through the Korean people.

â&#x20AC;˘

The writer is a staff writer at Koreana Magaz ine and a member of, the Architecture Critics Group.

Pusiiksa's Halls and Treasures

Muryangsujon, the Anyangmun Gate and the Stone Lantern in the courtyard are all ancient relics of Korea's Buddhist heritage.

MURYANGSWON NATIONAL TREASURE NO 18, A ONESTORY HALL, HIPPED AND GABLED PALC HAK ROOF COVERED WITH TILES, COLUMN HEAD BRACKETING STRUCTURE. Muryangsujon was built as Pusoksa's main hall in 676. The original structure was destroyed by fire and rebuilt during the reign of the Koryo King Hyonjong (reign 1009-31). In 1358, fire struck again and the hall was rebuilt in 1376. Muryangsujon is one of Korea's oldest extant wooden structures and serves as a valuable example of the column head bracketing system that is typical in classic Korean architecture.

The characters for Muryangsujon inscribed on this wodden tablet are said to be the work of King Kongmin of the Koryo period (r.1351Âˇ1374).

The hall is 18.75 meters wide and 11.57 meters deep. It is built upon a man-made stone foundation and has entastic columns with fitted brackets on top supporting the weight of the roof. The brackets are fitted only to the top of the columns in the column head bracketing style. The roof is a p'alchak hipped and gabled roof, the shape and body of which are wellproportioned, providing a sense of stability and calm which belie the overall size of the structure. On the exterior wall in front, there are five sections divided by the columns, the center three of which are wider than the two which stand to the extreme left and right, fitting the classic gold_en rule of architectural pro15

The Amita Bdddha in the Muryangsujon Hall is the largest and oldest clay Buddha in Korea.

portions. When viewed from above, the entasis, upward flow and lean are visually well-planned. Although the spaces separating the columns are relatively wide, they do not seem overly wide. Even the long face of the walls does not seem too long, evidence of the harmony achieved through the use of entastic columns, neat and concise brackets, slightly longer columns at the outer extremities of the structure, minutely crossed lattice work. The brackets seem to be complicated, but because they are actually quite simple and ideally structured, providing the visitor an opportunity to see the archetype of the column head bracketing system, Muryangsujon is most valuable to an understanding of the history of Korean architecture. Of particular note is the. fact that this 16

The brackets and columns in the Muryangsujon express the distinct flavor of Korea's traditional wooden architecture.

hall has astragal under the column heads and small bearing blocks on top of the columns not found generally, as well as lotus flower designs along the lower edges of the bracket arm, clearly expressing the distinct flavor of Korea's traditional wooden ar chitecture. The feeling of the hall's interior is different from that of most Buddhist halls built later. First of all, because the statue of the Buddha faces east, the entire space is oriented down the length of the hall. To each side of the statue are koju (interior columns which are taller than the exterior columns). The interior space is divided into two sections, the interior (nae j in) and the outer perimeter (oejin), creat-Âˇ ing a basilica-style interior rarely found in Korean architecture.

A wooden halo with flame designs is attached to the gilt statue of the Am ita Buddha.

THE SEATED CLAY BUDDHA NATIONAL TREASURE NO 45, KORYO The Buddha in Muryangsujon is the largest and oldest clay Buddha in Korea. This statue is not a Sakyamuni Buddha but rather a Amita Buddha who wards off evil spirits. This Amita Buddha is the guardian of the Western

Paradise and thus sits in the west and faces east as he does in Muryangsujon. This statue is a faithful representation of the Buddhist statues of the Silla period but there is no concealing its schematic and symbolic side which

reflects a historical gap in its style. The gold color covering the body is brilliant, the statue itself a masterpiece reflecting the ingenious handiwork of the Koryo period.

Chosadang Shrine.

THE CHOSADANG SHRINE NATIONAL TREASURE NO 19, SIMPLE GABLED ROOF, COLUMN HEAD BRACKETING STRUCTURE. The Chosadang Shrine lies in the woods on a hill approximately 100 meters to the northeast of Muryangsujon. The small shrine was built some 150 years after Muryangsujon and is characteristic of the column head bracketing structure developed in the late Koryo period. While the building itself is simple and neatly structured, its roof is relatively heavy, providing a startling contrast to the ingeniously proportioned Muryangsujon. The Chosadang Shrine is simple in structure but has several unique features. A section of the girder has been cut like the keel of a boat, and the lower portion of the girder is fitted to the width of the horizontal member changhyo which supports the round crossbeams which in turn support the roof. This is contrasted with the rounded sections used in the roof of Muryangsujon. This is an ingenious technique employed to reduce the feeling of heaviness caused by the use of a large timber in such a small building. In addition, the brackets are not curved, but rather are made of a number of straight lines, a unique finishing touch.

THE WALL PAINnNGS IN_THE CHOSADANG SHRINE NATIONAL TREASURE NO 46, LATE KORYO PERIOD Six fresco paintings were originally

Two of the six fresco paintings on the wall of the.Chosadang Shrine.

painted on the exterior walls of the Chosadang Shrine in 1377 toward the end of the Koryo period. The paintings were moved to their present protective housing when the Chosadang Shrine was repaired. From the point of view of both artistic content and the state of their preservation, these paintings are the best examples of extant Koryo period wall paintings. There are six panels in all, one depicting each of the Four Heavenly Guardian Kings and two portraying Bodhisattvas. A marvelous contrast has been achieved between the dynamic Heavenly Guardian Kings and the serene Bodhisattvas.

SONBIHWA Sonbihwa is a tree which stands under the eaves of Chosadang Shrine but is now protected by an iron fence. It is said that_ this tree grew in the very spot where Uisang, preparing for his trip to study in India, poked his walking stick into the ground and predicted that if a tree grew there, it would not die. More than 1,000 years later, this tree remains green, never losing its leaves or blooming. It is 'also recorded that the great Confucian scholar, T'oegye, of the Choson period, composed a poem upon seeing this tree. The text of that poem is preserved at Pusoksa.

Three Story Pagoda.

THE THREE-STORY STONE PAGODA TREASURE NO 249, UNIFIED SILLA This three-story pagoda built on a double foundation dates from the Unified Silla period (668-935). It is typical of stone pagodas of that period although its width at the base is proportionally large for its height, giving it a somewhat he<\vy feeling. This is balanced though by the gradual tapering which provides it with a dignified air. While it is customary for pagodas to be built in front of the main hall, this one stands to the east.

Granite lantern from the Unified Silla period (668Âˇ935) standing in front of Muryangsujiin.

THE STONE LANTERN NATIONAL TREASURE NO 17, UNIFIED SILLA, HEIGHT 2.97 METERS, GRAN ITE The 2.97-meter-tall stone lantern that stands in front of Muryangsujon is a beautiful example of the granite lanterns of the Unified Silla period (668-935). The octagonal base of the pedestal is decorated with inverted lotus petals and flowers and the top of the pedestal, which also serves as the base of the

light chamber, is decorated with upturned lotus petals. Bodhisattvas are carved in relief on four sides of the light chamber. The overall proportions of the lantern are harmonious, making this work one of the masterpieces of the stone lantern form in the Unified Silla period.

Four Bodhisattvas carved in relief on the four sides of the lantern's light chamber.

Woodblocks engraved with the Avatamsaka Sutra.

KORYO WOODBLOCKS TREASURE NO 735 The woodblocks found at Pusoksa are believed to have been made during the time of either Ch'ungmyong (13th century) or Woniing (14th century, two influential Buddhist priests.. The woodblocks are engraved with the Avatamsaka Sutra, one of the most voluminous Buddhist texts which describes through parables, narratives, images and symbols a totalistic vision of the universe. The woodblocks are notable for their unprecedented engraving of 34 ideographs, rather than the usual 17, on each line. It is most appropriate that these woodblocks are preserved at P_!lsoksa as it was founded by the priest Uisang, the propagator Âˇ of the avatamsaka philosophy in Korea.

RAGPOLE SUPPORtS TREASURE NO 255, UNIFIED SILLA The flagpole supports in front of the temple gate are pillars which support the flagpoles on which a banner was hung. The square hole near the top was used to hold a lever, and the round stone base is adorned with a lotus petal motif. The simple and refined shape of the Pusoksa flagpole supports which are slightly tapered exudes a sense of stability, indicating that they were erected during the early Unified Silla period, possibly around the 7th century when the temple was first built.

Flagpole supports in front of the temple gate date from the Unified Silla period.,

THE MONUMENT 1U WONYUNGGUKSA KORYO PERIOD This tablet records the achievements of the great monk Wonyungguksa of the Koryo Kingdom who died at Pusoksa. It is protected in a covered pavilion approximately 500 meters to the east of Pusoksa. The tablet is extremely damaged, but the turtle~shaped base and top are in their original condition.

SAMUL, "THE FOUR THINGS" The term samul refers to the four instruments used in Buddhist ceremoTablet recording the achievements nies: the temple bell, the wooden fish, of Koryii period monk, Wonyungguksa. the unp'an, and the drum. PUDO Temple bells are divided into two A pudo is a kind of gravestone used categories: large and small. The large to house the bones or remains of a bell is hung in the belfry and rung Buddhist priest. It can be found any- together with the other instruments, where regardless of the overall layout while the small bell is most often used of the temple itself. Usually pudo are ' during regular ceremonies inside the Âˇ octagonal or specially shaped, and main hall. There are both large drums (taego), almost all are single-storied. Pudo became popular with the and small drums (sogo). The large growth of Zen Buddhism in the late drum is hung in the belfry and used Unified Silla period. They were the together with the large bell at the natural outgrowth of Zen which morning and evening worship ceremoplaced great importance on the wor- nies. The small drum is used mostly ship of the sect's founder and high during Buddhist invocations. priests. The wooden fish is a percussion Pudo are the commonest form of instrument made of a log which has stone object in Buddhism and are found in a wide range of shapes and designs. Their structure, carvings and designs on their surfaces make pudo both architectural structures and sculptures. At Pusoksa, the pudo are found on the eastern and western side of the mountain, away from the center of the temple.

Pusiiksa's eastern pudo area.

been hollowed out from the bottom and carved in the shape of a fish. It is carried on a strap slung over the shoulders and played with a stick. The unp'an is a cloud-shaped metal instrument which is also beat with a stick. These four instruments symbolize the transmission of the "sound of the Buddha" (purum ). The sounding of the bell symbolizes rebirth, the drum calls for the salvation from purgatory or the World of Beasts, the wooden fish calls for the salvation of fish, and the unp'an sounds to save the animals which are floating in space. Today only a large drum and wooden fish, both of uncertain origin 1 are found in the belfry at Pusoksa. A large bell was recently made and is stored in the bell pavilion.

The bell pavilion at Pusiiksa.

By Joo Nam-chull

I. BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN THE THREE KINGDOMS PERIOD

Behind the glories of Pusoksa is a great tradition in Korean Buddhist architecture, a subject taken up with penetrating scholarship in the following article. In the final passages, Professor Joo even attempts to analyze what is known as the magic of Pusoksa.

1. Koguryo (37 B.C.-A.D.668)

Buddhist architecture was first introduced to Korea with the initial transmission of Buddhism to the peninsula in A.D.372 during the reign of Sosurimwang of the Koguryo Kingdom. According to the Samguksagi (A History of the Three Kingdoms), a Chinese emperor sent Buddhist missionaries with statues of the Buddha and scriptures to Korea at that time. In A.D.374, the first temple,

Ch'omunsa, was built along with Yibullansa Temple, launching Korea's long history of temple construction. Temple architecture flourished thereafter in Koguryo. Historical records indicate that nine temples were built in A.D.392 under the reign of the Great King Kwanggaet'o, and in the century that followed, numerous others were constructed, including Kiimgangsa built in A.D.498 during the reign of Munjawang. Despite the erection of these many temples during the Koguryo period, today there js very little evidence of

Through an opening in the upper part of the belfry in Pusoksa Temple, Anyangmun Gate and Muryangsujon Hall overlap beautifully.

how they were built or what they looked like. The Kiimgangsa temple site at Ch'ong-am-ni near P'yongyang, the temple sites at Wono-ri and Sang-o-ri, and the Chongniingsa temple site provide us with some of the few hints we have as to how temples were constructed during the Koguryo period. Unfortunately, however, relics at the temple site at Wono-ri were already badly damaged at the time of excavation in 1937, making it impossible to speculate on its original appearance. According to a 1939 excavation, it is believed that the Sang-o-ri temple site had an

octagonal pagoda in the center with two rectangular "golden halls" (main halls) to the left and right, providing symmetry to the temple layout. The site at Ch'ong-am-ni is a more specific example of the layout of a Buddhist temple during the Koguryo period, but because there was no conclusive evidence that this was definitely the site of a temple or simply the site of a collection of buildings, some scholars have referred to the site as the Ch'ong-amni building site rather than temple site. The Ch'ong-am-ni site ultimately proved to be a temple site, however,

when the discovery of the Asukadera temple site in Nara , Japan in 1956-7 revealed that the Japanese temple was built in the "three-golden-hallone-pagoda" style transmitted from the Paekche kingdom (18 B.C.A.D.660) . The Ch'ong-am-ni site conforms to this model, and this fact proved that it is the Kiimgangsa temple site built in A.D.498 according to the Samguksagi. The Kiimgangsa site is arranged along a central axis which stretches westward from the southernmost meridian. In the center is an octagonal foundation to the left and right of which are rectangular foun23

dations. A larger rectangular foundation is found to the north of this. It is generally believed that an octagonal wooden pagoda stood atop the octagonal foundnation while the rectangular foundations were the sites of the three golden halls. This layout is identical to that of Japan's Asukadera temple site, and indicates just how much temple design had developed in the 126 years between the time Buddhism was first introduced to Koguryo in A.D.372 and A.D.498 when Kiimgangsa Temple was built. The main stream of Koguryo temple architecture corresponded with this Kiimgangsa model: the "three-golden-hall-one-pagoda'' temple with a single pagoda arranged along a central axis symmetrically balanced from left to right by three golden halls. The Chongniingsa temple site could be called an example of an earlier period of "three-golden-hallone-pagoda" temple building but also it may be an exception to Koguryo temple architecture norms. This temple was built as a shrine by King Changsuwang (reign A.D.413497) in A.D.427 when he moved the capital and the tomb of the Koguryo founder Tongmyongsong-wang to P'yongyang, some 70 years before the construction of Kiimgangsa. The Chongniingsa temple site definitely does not fit the "threegolden-hall-one-pagoda" style, but there has yet to be a clear conclusion to the academic debate on this temple. The Chongniingsa temple site is set on a rectangle, long from north to south and short from east to west, and is divided into three sections surrounded by an open verandah or corridor. In the southernmost section, an octagonal pagoda stand is flanked at the left and right by square golden hall foundations. Foundations for three Buddhist sanctums are situated in the middle section. The question of whether these are golden halls or not determines how one views the layout of Chongniingsa temple. The final section of the complex includes what appears to be the site for the lecture hall. Because no actual examples of Koguryo temple architecture exist

1·:·1 •

•

Diagram showing the "three golden-hall - one pagoda" temple model (above) and the "one golden-hall - one pagoda model (below).

today, scholars have depended on artifacts such as round eaves tiles and bricks, and architectural plans found in paintings in ancient Koguryo tombs to surmise that these wooden structures were constructed by fitting wooden brackets to the top of columns, creating a bracket system which supported the eaves and purlin, the timber laid horizontally to support the common rafters of the roof. The assumption is substantiated by the stone columns, the capitals (square head of the pillar) and the bracket arms found in Tomb No. 3 at Anak, in the murals of Ssang-yongch'ong (The Tomb of the Double Columns), and the kingpost (a timber used in the frame of the roof) and bracket arm from the roof of the tomb of Ch' onwangjisin. Roofs during this period were made of tile as indicated in entries in the Kudangso record which state that palaces, government offices, shrines and temples were roofed in tile. Pieces of roof tiles and round eaves tiles found at archeological sites support this statement. Paintings found on the walls of Koguryoera tombs clearly indicate that hipped roofs and gabled roofs were the style of choice, but we cannot eliminate the possibility that p'alchak roofs, a combination of both hipped and gabled construction, also existed since this style can be found depicted in the decorated round eaves tiles of the Paekche period.

2. Packche (18 B.C.-A.D.660) Buddhism was introduced to the Paekche Kingdom 12 years after its debut in Koguryo. The History of the Three Kingdoms indicate that in September 384, a Chinese monk introduced the religion, and by February 385, a temple had been built in Hansan, the capital. Both the Samguksagi and Samgukyusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) record the construction of numerous temples in the years that followed. The most important Paekche temple sites studied by modem scholars are the Kunsuri site, the Tongnamwangsa site, the Kiimgangsa temple site, the Chongnimsa temple site, and the Miriiksa temple site in Iksan, Chollabuk-do province. At the Kunsuri site excavated in 1945-6, a central axis follows the north-south meridian. At the southernmost point on this axis lies the site of the middle gate (Chungmun). Next to this is the foundation for a square-shaped building sites on both the right and left. To the north of these three building sites are the remnants of a long rectangular structure. If one assumes the three square buildings in the center are the sites of three golden halls and the rectangular building to the north is the lecture hall, then it is clear that the only thing distinguishing this layout from the "three-golden-hallone-pagoda" scheme of the Koguryo Kingdom is the alignment of the three golden halls. In the report of this archeological excavation, however, there was evidence of an open corridor seperating the central golden hall from the other two on the left and right. These also were outside the corridor. This contradicts the "three-goldenhall-one-pagoda" pattern of Koguryo, suggesting to some a new temple arrangement based on "onegolden-hall-one-pagoda" principle. The problem with this theory is that the remains of the left and right buildings and those of the gallery almost overlap, thus suggesting that the veranda may have been built after the demolition of the two buildings. This, combined with the preexistence of the "three-golden-hall-

one-pagoda" temple and the influence of this style felt as far away as the Asukadera temple in Japan lend strength to the "three-goldenhall-one-pagoda" theory. Kiimgangsa and Chongnimsa, however, clearly represent the "onegolden-hall-one-pagoda" temples of Paekche. In these temples, the northsouth meridian is the central axis with a symmetrical balance on each side of the axis. The central gate lies at the southern end and the lecture hall at the far northern end. The width from east to west is short while the length from north to south is long, forming a long rectangle surrounded by an open corridor. Entering the central gate, one finds a pagoda on the central axis with the golden hall lying to the north and the lecture hall to the north of that. Thus these two temples fit a "one-golden-hall-onepagoda" model. . On the other hand, there is no pagoda at the Tongnamrisa temple site, and at the Miruksa site in Iksan there are three pagodas,the center one made of wood and the others of

stone, and each with its own golden hall. Thus Miruksa was a "threehall" style with a central hall and a western and eastern hall to either side of it. The structure of Paekche era temples was, like those of Koguryo, clearly wooden construction with a bracket system fitted on the top of the columns to support the weight of the roof. Artifacts from many famous buildings, such as round eaves tiles and bricks, the Puyo National Museum's collection of fragments from the miniatureCopper Pagoda, decorated tiles and owl's tail tiles used to decorate the end of the roof's ridge, and examples of temple architecture found in Nara which were transmitted from Paekche, support this assumption. Paekche temple roofs were covered with tile. Round eaves tiles were fit at the end of the roof, and decorated end tiles adorned the hip ridge. As for the roof style itself,gabled roofs, hipped roofs and p'alchak hipped and gabled roofs were all used. In addition, we cannot exclude the possibility that the "tail-rafter" (ha-ang)

bracket system seen in the Copper Pagoda fragments was not commonly used during this period. The stone pagodas that have survived from the Paekche period are vital elements of Paekche temple architecture. While pagodas were of course constructed in Koguryo as well, there are no surviving examples of them. There are, however, many examples of Paekche stone pagodas extant today (e.g. Sosokt'ap at Miruksa and the stone pagoda at the Chongnimsa site), although the wooden pagodas, such as the one at Kusuri, have all been lost. The Sosokt'ap stone pagoda at Miruksa is an early example of Korea's most ancient original stone pagoda built in the style of wooden pagodas. The original nine-story structure is now only six-stories tall. The stone pagoda at the Chongnimsa site is the archetype for Paekche's five-story pagodas. The upward curve of t,h e eaves on each story differ from the straight lines of Silla pagodas.

Illustration featuring typical Buddhist temple architecture with p'alchak, gabled and hipped roof.

3. Silla (57 B.C.-A.D. 668) Of the three .kingdoms that existed on the Korean peninsula at this time, Silla was the last to accept Buddhism. According to the Samgukyusa, the religion was introduced by Mukhoja from Koguryo during the reign of Nulchi-wang (A.D. 417457), but was not widely accepted because of official persecution. In 528, the martyrdom of Yi Ch'a-don resulted in the acceptance of Buddhist belief, and the construction of temples commenced. With the official recognition of Buddhism at this time, many temples, including Hwangnyongsa, Punhwangsa and Hiingnyunsa were built. One can see the true face of Silla temple architecture in the Hwangnyongsa and Punhwangsa temple sites which lie near each other in Kyongju. All that remains, however, are a flagpole and one stone pagoda at Punhwangsa, erected in 634 and built with stones imitating bricks. The shortage of remains makes it impossible to imagine the original layout of the temple. The excavation of the Hwangnyongsa temple site continues today and evidence suggests that this temple inherited the "three-golden-hallone-pagoda" format of the Koguryo Kingdom. That is, the site is a rectangle, long from east to west and short from north to south. This rectangle is surrounded by an open verandah. At the southernmost end, the central gate stands on the central axis. Inside this gate one finds the site of two small raised pavilions which are believed to be the book depository and belfry. To the north of these buildings lies the 7 foot-by-7 foot site of a nine-story wooden pagoda. Three golden halls stand in a row to the north of this pagoda, and a lecture hall is located north of these. This layout is a varient of the "three-golden-hall-one-pagoda" format of the Koguryo Kingdom and is similar to the Kunsuri temple site of Paekche. Temple architecture in the Silla Kingdom appears to have been of wooden construction with a bracket system affixed on top of the column. This assumption is based on the appearance of the columns, column

Stone Pagoda at Bunwhangsa Temple.

capitals and bracket arms depicted in pictures on round eaves tiles and stone artifacts uncovered in archeological excavations, decorated earthenware representations of houses and in historical records such as the Samguksagi. Silla temple roofs, like their Paekche contemporaries, included gabled roofs, hipped roofs and p'alchak hipped and gabled roofs. It is believed that they were covered with tiles with dragon heads and embellished end tiles for decoration.

Tabotap Pagoda at Bulkuksa Temple.

II. BUDDHIST TEMPLES IN THE UNIFIED SILLA PERIOD(668-935) Pusoksa, Sach'onwangsa, Kamiinsa, Mangdoksa, Kamsansa, Pulguksa, Haeinsa, Hwaomsa, Tonghwasa, and Pomosa are several examples of the temples representing Unified Silla Buddhist architecture. Of these Sach'onwangsa, Mangdoksa and Kamiinsa were representative of a new "one-golden-halltwin-pagoda" layout. In this format , the golden hall stood in front with two pagodas arranged symmetrically to the left and right behind it. At this time, the two pagodas themselves tended to be of the same size and design, but on occasion they would differ, the eastern one a Tabot'ap (Pagoda of Many Treasures) while the western one was a Sokkat'ap (The Pagoda of Sakyamuni). The emergence of temples located in the mountains was another important change occurring during the Unified Silla period. Nearly all temples of the Three Kingdoms era were located in the plains, but with the rise of Esoteric Buddhism and Zen Buddhism in the Unified Silla period, (emples were constructed in mountainous regions. As a result, buildings were arranged in relation to the topography of the site, breaking with the symmetry which had characterized temple site layouts up

<D Gate of the Four Heavenly Guardians @ MuryangsujOn ® Great Reinforcing Stone Wall ® Pus6k ® Dormitory @) Three-story Stone Pagoda 0 Toilet ® Protective Pavillion

@) S6nmyo Pavillion @ Qhaindang Shrine @) Ungjinj6n @ Tanha Pavillion ® Chosadang Shrine @ Former area of Ch'wihy6nam @ Pudo, eastern area @ Monument to Wonyungguksa

®Two three-story Stone Pagoda 0 Bell Pavillion 0 Onghyanggak ® Ch'wihy5nam @)Living quarter of Head monk @ Wonl<akchOn @ Anyangmun gate

100

200

300

400 m

Layout of Pusoksa Temple.

to this time and replacing it with a free-style or natural arrangement. Pusoksa, Pomosa and Hwaomsa temples are just a few examples of the mountain temples built during this period. The structure of these wooden temples were the same as that of temples in the Three Kingdoms period, a fact widely recognized by the academic community on the basis of artifacts found in the Anapchi garden pond, other archeological relics and historical records.

III. THE KORYO KINGDOM (918-1392) As Buddhism was the state religion of the Koryo Kingdom, in the early years of the dynasty ten great temples were built in addition to the existing temples. These ten temples included Popwangsa, Chaunsa, Wangnyunsa, N aechaesoksa, Sanasa, Ch' onsonwonsa, .Sinhi:ingsa, Munjusa, Wont'ongsa and Chinjangsa, built in Kaesong in 919, the second year in the reign of the Koryo founder King T'aejo. In addition to these temples, more

Diagram showing the "one golden-hall -twin pagoda" temple style.

than ten other temples, starting with Taehi:ingsa temple, were built from 921 to 941, clearly reflecting how Buddhism flourished during this period. One can find the "one-golden-halltwin-pagoda" temple style of the Unified Silla period in the excavation of the Hwangnyongsa temple site, while the 1986 excavation of Namwon's Manboksa site revealed the ''three-golden-hall-one-pagoda'' layout of the Koguryo Kingdom. From this we can see that Koryo temple architecture inherited all the temple arrangement patterns of previous historical periods. One change, however, was in Buddhism's acceptance of native reli-

gious belief and the subsequent construction of shrines to the mountain spirit and Taoist shrines consecrated to the Big Dipper. Numerous other structures including the Yongsanjon, a shrine to the Sakyamuni Buddha, and the Yonghwajon, a shrine to the Maitreya Buddha, were also constructed. We can be certain that the construction technique of this period was wooden architecture using the chusimp'o bracket system which live on today in Pongjongsa's Ki:ingnakchon (Nirvana Hall), the Muryangsujon Hall of Pusoksa and Sudoksa's Taeungjon Hall (Sakyamuni Hall). The chusimp'o, or column head bracket system, consisted of a bracket placed only on top of the column heads and differed from the brackets used in the Three Kingdoms period in its lotus flower design on the bottom of the bracket arm, its curved surface on the bottom of the capital, the existence or occasion non-existence of a astragal, entastic columns (columns which have a convex swelling in their staff) and the use of inverted "v" form

Tabotap and Siikatap Pagodas at Bulkuksa Temple in Kyiingju.

of strut. The Kiiknakchon at Pongjongsa was built in the late twelfth century but it resembles the style of the main hall at Namsonsa, China's oldest wooden structure which was built in 782, and thus fits the pattern of eighth century temple architecture. Another style involving multicluster brackets (t'ap'o), adopted from Yuan China, was introduced after the mid-Koryo period and is found in the Pokwangjon Hall of Simwonsa built in H~angju in 1374 and in Sokwangsa's Ungjinjon built in 1386. The multicluster bracket system was much more magnificent with clusters of brackets placed not only on the column heads but also on the horizontal beams between columns. A horizontal beam or architrave which did not exist in column head bracketing was added to support these brackets, and the intermediate brackets became a special feature of temple architecture during this period. The lotus flower embellishments on bracket arms were replaced with round corners. The roofs of Koryo temples were usually gabled or p'alchak hipped and gabled, while simple hipped roofs were rare.

IV. CHOSON KINGDOM BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE (1392-1910) With the Choson regime's suppression of Buddhism in favor of Confucianism, new temple construction declined significantly, but Buddhist architecture did not disappear altogether. Hiingch'onsa, a shrine to the deceased Queen Kang, was built in Chongniing in the western part of the capital in 1397. During the reign of T'aejong (1401-1418), Munkyongsa and Yon-gyongsa were built, and Yongmunsa was constructed during the reign of Sejo (1455-1468). Temples during the Choson period inherited the tradition of mountain temples which preceded them. The many examples of Choson period architecture found in numerous national treasures extant today indicate that both the simple column head bracketing system and the multicluster bracketing system were used. In auxiliary buildings such as nunneries, the ikkong, mintori, with only purlin and without bracket, or the wing-like bracket system which combined features from both types

but which was simpler and more economical, was used along with a crossbeam and a supporting strip of wood.

V. SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF KOREA'S TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE Korean temples are distinct because of the peculiar spatial composition of temple site arrangement. This is most conspicuous in temples found in mountainous areas as rna jor structures within the temple complex were arranged in relation to the natural forces or topography of the site. The shift from the construction of temples on plains to their location in mountains, and the subsequent 1,200-year tradition of mountain temples starting in the Unified Silla period is ample evidence that this is indeed the key feature of Korea's Buddhist architecture. Yongju's Pusoksa is one of the best examples of the mountain temples constructed during the Unified Silla period. The Muryangsujon Hall and Chosadang of this temple which

demonstrate the column head bracketing system and the Kungnakchon Hall of Pongjongsa, Korea's oldest surviving wooden structure, reflect the process of change in column bracket architecture and thus occupy an important position in the history of Korean architecture. Pusoksa lies halfway up Ponghwang Mountain and was built in the early part of the Unified Silla period in 676. When one enters the temple, one immediately faces a newly restored first gate Iljumun. After passing through this gate and the Gate of the Four Devas or Heavenly Gaurdians, one faces the hipped and gabled roof of the raised belfry pavilion. Of course, as one enters the temple, one gradually climbs up a slope . as is the nature of a mountain temple. The main Iljumun gate is elevated and the Gate of the Four Devas is slightly higher. When passing through these two gates, one moves from a natural open space to an enclosed artificial space and back again into a natural space. After entering the second gate, as one stands at the foot of the belfry, one can see that the temple is arranged on an angle with the roof of the main hall, Muryangsujon, and its gate, Anyangmun, facing 20 degrees to the east, or 20 degrees askew from the perfectly southern axis which is followed when entering through the two gates. This placement of even the main structure of a temple complex at an oblique angle to the axis of the entry way is the obvious distinction of mountain temples such as Pomosa, Hwaomsa and Haeinsa. The reinforcing stone walls found between the belfry and the Anyangmun Gate and between this gate and the Muryangsujon itself serve to regulate the unevenness of the mountainous site. The most dramatic element of Pusoksa's spatial atmosphere is the movement back and forth to open from closed spaces and to high from low spaces until one crosses over the threshold of the final gate, Anyangmun, to climb and face the front of Muryansujon Hall. This sense of drama flows out of the changes in spatial feeling one

experiences as one finally arrives at the most important spot in the temple after moving in and out of open and closed spaces and over high and low spaces, after crossing over the skewed axis. The continuity of perceived space as people move from here to there, the change in spatial feeling, and the gradual movement upward in a spatial hierarchy of importance and sanctity are the special characteristics of all Korean mountain temples, and indeed all traditional Korean architecture. +

Bongjongsa Temple's Kiiknakchon Hall. The Anyangmun Gate in Pusciksa Temple. Detail of the bracket system in the Anyangmun Gate.

Dr. Joo Nam-e hull, Ph.D. is professor of Archit~cture at Korea University

The Taeungjon Hall at Tongdosa Temple in Yangsan.

Taeungjon - The Main Hall temple is a pure training ground for the education and enlightenment of ascetic monks. Belief is the presuposition of all asceticism and enlightenment, and thus the central building of a Buddhist temple must be the Main Hall, or Taeungjon, which enshrines the image of the Buddha himself. Taeung refers to the Buddha, literally meaning the great man who is enlightened and spreads the truth around the world. Originally only one Buddha, Sakyamuni, was enshrined in this hall, but later the Bodhisattvas Kasyapa and Anan were added to the left and right of the Buddha. Kasyapa was Buddha's loyal disciple who actively promoted the religion following the passage of the Buddha to the Western Paradise. Anan was another disciple who faithfully attended the Buddha for 25 years. Anan was known for his remarkable memory and specialized in the recitation of Buddha's teach-Âˇ ings which he, of course, had heard directly. Thus the meditative branch of Buddhism started with Kasyapa while the teaching branch was launched by Anan. In the center of the main hall, a statue of the Buddha is enshrined atop a pedestal, despite the limitation this central placement imposes on the use of the hall. The Buddha is placed in the center so believers can

circle the statue, a custom handed down from ancient India where people traditionally honored a revered figure by circling him three times in a clockwise direction. References to this practice can be found throughout the Buddhist scriptures. Only by placing the statue in the center of the hall can it be circled

and for this reason, the doors of most Buddhist structures, not just the main hall, are placed in front and to the left and right. It is customary for the head priest and elder priests to enter through the front door while younger priests and believers enter by way of the side doors.

The Taechokkwangjon Hall at Haeinsa Temple in Hapchon.

Taechiikkwangjiin - The Hall of Vairocana The "three bodies" of Buddhism are popsin, or Vairocana, the body of Sakyamuni, posin, a body created as a result of the search for truth through retributions, and hwasin, the physical body that exists in the present world, an incarnation. According to the Avatamsaka Sutra (Hwaomgyong), Vairocana preaches the truth in a world of eter-

nal peace and brightness (sangchokkwangt'o) . Thus the main Buddha in the Taechokkwangjon or Hall of Vairocana is not the historical Sakyamuni, but rather Vairocana. In some temples, a posin Buddha and a reincarnated Sakyamuni Buddha (hwasin) sit to the left and the right of the Vairocana Buddha, and sometimes two Bodhisattvas, one symbolizing knowledge and the other virtue, are found in this building. The presencP.

of the Bodhisattvas signify the existence of wisdom and virtue in the pure form of Vairocana. And where does this world of eternal peace and brightness exist? Within the heart of man which is the pure Buddha nature. This means that the moral nature of humanity possesses both knowledge and virtue, and thus living humanely means living with an awareness of our human moral nature. Vairocana means spreading the light everywhere; that is, our original pure moral nature shines as tranquility and light around the universe. The Vairocana found in a Buddhist hall is simply a statue, but it serves to remind us of the body of Buddha which lives within all of us.

Siilbiipchiin or Musiilchiin In the past, temples following established custom always had a separate hall for preaching and ceremony called the Solbopchon, but in recent years as temples have been reconstructed, this building has not been built. Songgwangsa still has the Solbopchon, and the Musolchon, literally a "no talking hall;' was included in the reconstruction of Pulguksa. Musol or "no talking" is synonymous with sol bop, or preaching. If a preacher is overly attached to his words or to the listening audience, he can neither preach nor accept learning. The teachings of Buddha live and move only when we preach without preaching and listen to silence.

Tongdosa Temple's Kuknakchon Hall.

Kiiknakchiin or Muryangsujiin The Nirvana Hall The Amita Buddha is found in the Kuknakchon or Nirvana Hall. Derived from the Sanskrit Amitayus meaning infinite life and Amitabha meaning infinite light, Amita has been translated in Korean as muryangsu (infinite life) or muryanggwang (infinite light). The Buddhist prayer "Namas Amita Buddha" is an oath to embrace the Buddha of infinite life and wisdom. "Namas" means to return and depend upon. According to the Muryangsu scriptures, if we leave this world and go to the west, passing through the Buddhist land, we will reach an ideal pure land called Paradise or Nirvana. According to Buddhist doctrine,

the world did not make itself; rather the world was constructed by some great force. In addition, while it seems we embrace an Amita Buddha who exists in some faraway Western Paradise, in fact this conversion is an oath that we will return to our original selves which were formed through knowledge (muryanggwang,infinite light) and compassion (muryangsu, infinite life). In his final sermon, the Sakyamuni Buddha urged believers to depend only on themselves, the truth and nothing else. The Pure Land of Paradise is in the west because the people of ancient India believed the West was the ideal world. The Amita Buddha of Pusoksa's Muryangsujon is enshrined on the western side of the hall for this very reason.

Kwaniimjiin - The Hall of the Gaddess of Compassion

The MusolchOn Hall at Pulguksa Temple in Kyongju.

The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Kwanseitmposal) is the incarnation of compassion. She rescues the reborn from disasters and exists everywhere in the world as an instrument of knowledge. Belief in the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has long existed in Korea and has become a sort of folk religion. Koreans believe that when they are in trouble, if they chant "kwanseitmposal;' they will overcome their difficulties and prosper. The belief in god's miraculous virtue through prayer is strong even today and embraced by many 33

The Kwanumjon Hall at Songgwangsa Temple.

Koreans. In fact, several temples are favored by believers as particularly strong Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva centers including Naksansa's Hongyon-am, Pomunsa on Kanghwa Island and Poje-am in Namhae. The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has an infinite number of "bodies" and 1,000 hands and eyes so that she can save all those who need her help. Generally a bodhisattva is sexless, but because compassion is a distinctly feminine and maternal concept, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is usually portrayed as a woman. Judging from the near absence of a Korean temple without a Kwanumjon, one can see how deeply embedded this figure is in the Korean consciousness.

Nahanjon or linginjiin - The Hall of Saints

The P'alsangjon Hall at Popchusa Temple in Mt. Songnisan.

P'alsangjon

The Ungjinjon Hall at Pusoksa Temple.

Nahanjon houses all types of Nahan or saints, each with his own distinct personality and appearance. Nahan derives from the Sanskrit arhan which means literally "someone worthy of accepting food or alms;Âˇ or "one who accepts the truth and helps others to enlightenment." Even the Sakyamuni Buddha referred to himself as an arhan once. This expression of respect is used not only in Buddhism, but also in other Indian religions to mean "saint" or "holy man." In Korea, the Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined in the Nahan jon, and it is customary that 16 arhan or saintly Bodhisattvas sit on either side of the Buddha.

The P'alsangjon Hall houses an eight-panel painting depicting the life of the Sakyamuni Buddha. Such paintings can be found at Popchusa, Sanggyesa's P'alsangjon Hall and Yongsanjon Hall at T'ongdosa in Yangsan.

Chijangjiin, Myongbujiin or Siwangjiin These three structures, all variations on a common theme, enshrine the Chifang or Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. This Bodhisattva is enshrined like any other except it is dressed like a Buddhist priest. The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva vowed to save all those suffering in hell. In his left hand is a metal cane with which he beats on the doors of hell, and in his right hand is a shining orb which lights up the land of darkness. This merciful Bodhisattva defends the reborn who stand in judgement before the King of Hell, and once swore that he would never leave hell

until all the reborn caught there were saved. The Siwangjon and Myongbujon earned their names as the home of the ten kings (myongbusiwang) who stood as judges in hell, a concept clearly influenced by Chinese Taoism, nonexistent in Indian Buddhism.

Miriikchon or Yonghwachon - The Hall of the Merciful Buddha The Miruk Buddha is the Buddha of the future. Belief in this Buddha sprouted in the earliest years of the Buddhist religion. According to this belief, the Miruk Buddha will appear in the distant future when the world will become a Paradise, and all people wi ll live to be 80,000 years old . In addition, the Miruk Buddha will redeem all those that the Sakyamuni Buddha failed to save. The religious significance of the Miruk Buddha is great both for its popular prophetic tendency and for

its messianic theme. Humanity has always tried to overcome its problems through a hope for the future, and belief in the Miriik Buddha most certainly was born of this human tendency. The word miruk originates from the Sanskrit maitreya which means "benevolent." Thus the Buddha of the future is a Buddha who can save humanity through benevolent love. The origins of the belief in the Miriik Buddha in Korea are unclear, but it is certain that Chinese influence was great. The many statues of the Miruk Buddha found from fourth-century Koguryo and Paekche indicate the belief already flourished in that period. Early Japanese Buddhism cultivated by priests from both these Korean kingdoms has also left a great deal of evidence of the popularity of Miriik Buddhist belief, and written evidence of the flourishing religion can also be found in the Samgukyusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms). The towering statues of the Miriik Buddha erected at Kiimsansa and Popchusa and the Miriik temple site itself are all vivid proof of the extent of belief in the Miriik Buddha.

Chosajiin - The Founder's Hall Chosa refers to the founder of a sect of Buddhism, respected and revered by all future generations of followers. The Chosajon is generally the home of portraits of the founder of the temple and of priests

The Chosadang at Pus6ksa Temple.

who have been instrumental in teaching the ways of the temple. Memorial services are held in the spring and fall. In some temples without a Chosajon, a portrait pavilion enshrines the portraits of these important figures. Both structures reflect the history of the temple through the portraits of the priests who have cultivated it from earliest times.

Yiimhwasil or Misosil The Buddha once climbed to his seat at a worship service and sat silently looking at the audience, holding only a single flower. The audience sat quietly not knowing what to make of the Buddha's behavior. Only the saint Kasyapa smiled broadly, understanding the Buddha's true meaning. The Buddha explained that _the true Nirvana had

passed from him to Kasyapa without the use of words, a lesson in the power of immediate communication or telepathy between two spirits. The room occupied by the head priest is called Yomhwasil (Telepathy Room) or Misosil (Smile Room) so as to emphasize the importance of communication through the heart.

Unghyanggak or Hyangnogak Regardless of whether a temple has many visitors or only a few, its main purpose is as a training ground for young priests. Each priest is assigned a task, from the head priest down to the cook. The priests responsible for the maintenance of the Buddhist sanctum live in structures called the Unghyanggak or Hyangnogak. Hyang is the Chinese character for incense and thus the name of these two .structures refers to these priests' duty to light the incense honoring the Buddha three times a day.

llchumun Ilchumun is the first gate as one enters the temple. The term ilchumun literally means a gate standing on one column, but it can also be interpreted as "one heart" or "one spirit. "Thus Ilchumun urges all who enter to always study and search for the truth while carrying with them a common spirit uniting them to their fellow man and the Buddha.

Ch'iinwangmun or Haet'almun

The 1/chumun or first gate at Tongdosa Temple.

After passing through the Ilchumuri , one generally finds Ch'onwangmun (Gate of the Four Heavenly Guardians) or Haet'almun 35

The Chcinwangmun Gate at Puscik5a Temple.

(Gate of Deliverance). Ch'onwangmun houses the four Heavenly Guardians, the supernatural kings who control the four heavens and guide the reborn to the right path. The concept of the Heavenly Guardians is referred to in ancient Indian texts and clearly predc:tes Buddhism. In Buddhism, they have

accepted Buddha's truth and play the role of the guardians of the religion. Each guardian represents a direction: the eastern king holds a knife; the northern king holds a lute; the king of the west holds a pagoda; and the southern king waves a dragon. The Haet'almun Gate is erected to deliver or save (haet'al) those who

The four heavenly guardians in the Chcinwangmun Gate at Pusciksa Temple.

pass through it from the cares and worries of the physical world.

POmjonggak - The Bell Pavilion or Belfry Pomjong means "pure bell," the bell with a clear sound found in a Buddhist temple. The "four instruments" (samul) - a bell, a drum, a

The Bell Pavilion at Pusoksa Temple.

unp' an and a wooden fishshaped percussion instrument - are housed in the bell pavilion and used in the morning and evening services.

the meditation hall, they seek to personally experience Buddha. There is no statue of Buddha in the meditation hall. Even when honoring the Buddha himself in this hall, priests bow to each other. This is a means of realizing Buddha's actions and experiencing the Buddha without depending on anything else. The priests sit empty-handed on a cushion, concentrating, and when it is time to sleep, they sleep on the hard wooden floor with only the cushion to cover them. Thus the meditation hall is also called the sonbulchang or "the place to choose the Buddha". The study of the way of Buddha is the study of oneself, and that is the forgetting of oneself. Only then can a person become one with the experential world and be saved.+

Sammuktang The Sammuktang refers to the dining area, bathroom, and toilet in the temple. Sammuk means "three silences" and refers to the prohibition on speaking in these three places.

The Lecture Hall The basic precepts of Buddhism are taught in the lecture hall. Novice priests study the religious commandments and protocol as well as a set course in the teachings of the Sakyamuni Buddha. In addition, they learn general knowledge about history and comparative religion.

Siinwon - The Meditation Hall After completion of the basic study of Buddhist thought, priests train themselves through regular meditation. They learn Buddha's teachings in the lecture hall, but in

/ The Bell Pavilion at Tongdosa Temple (above). The big drum in the Bell Pavilion at Pusciksa Temple.

Monk Pop Chong is a poet and master at Songgwangsa Temple in South Cholla-do Province.

ne thing that distinguishes the Koreans from their neighbors is their fervent public manifestation of the religious dimension of their lives. Within walking distance of any house in Seoul, there may be upwards of twenty Christian churches and even the most remote villages will have one or two spires peering over the low lying roofs of the surrounding houses. Including Pusoksa temple, the subject of this issue's main article, over 7,000 Buddhist temples, too, dot the countryside and are never short of people who come to pray and pay their respects. In this century Buddhism has undergone a deep renewal and the sense of competition with the coming of Christianity has awoken and enlivened the ancient faith rather than destroyed it. Further, many new religions have appeared in Korea over the last hundred years, and these too have gained adherents attracted by the combination of Western and Oriental thought strongly colored by indigenous Korean concepts and practices. In the 1985 National Census some 41.4 percent of the Korean population claimed to profess a formal religion but the number of those who do not believe in any spiritual power beyond themselves is probably minimal. Buddhists accounted for some 46.8 percent of the religious population with 8,060,000 believers; Protestant Christians came second with some 6,489,000 believers or 3 7. 7 percent of the religious population; Roman Catholics accounted for some 1,865,000 believers or 10.8 percent; and those who registered their religion as Confucianists numbered some 483,000 or 2.8 percent. These figures roughly agree with those of the major religious groupings in Korea at that time but the numbers of formal adherents for Christianity and Buddhism have increased further since that census was made. The Korean consciousness is deeply ingrained with a shamanist religious outlook which sees spiritual forces at work in the world and pervading and sustaining all that exists. In this view, human beings are not the only possessors of spirits. They are also seen as living in natural

forces and in animate and inanimate objects. Thus the spirit world and the world of objective reality were not seen as independent realms but as different dimensions of the totality in which man lives out his earthly existence. This consciousness is not only displayed in shamanist rites, which are still performed, but has also carried over into Korean Buddhism and into the Korean Christian churches. This partly explains the position which religious figures play in Korean life as they are seen as conduits between the world of the spiritual and the world of mankind's ordinary existence. Essentially, therefore, religion in Korea is highly practical in that it is centered around the problems of everyday life. Different doctrines and dogmas have been widely accepted on an intellectual level but theological debates take second place to the deeply felt needs to restore harmony through appeasing the spirits that dominate the cosmic dimension. Included in this is the respect and reverence given to the spirits of the deceased especially one's dead ancesÂˇ tors , which is central to many shamanistic rites and to the memorial services held for deceased ancestors on the anniversary of their deaths and on major Korean feasts such as Lunar New Year's and the harvest thanksgiving festival. The Yongsanchae, a traditional Buddhist rite which celebrates the charity of the Buddha, also includes the dimension of preparing the souls of the deceased for their journey into

heaven. Memorial masses for the dead are offered regularly in the country's Catholic churches. This shamanistic belief in the immortality of the human soul and in the souls of natural objects is found in the earliest of Korea's historic remains and dates to the Neolithic period. So, it is not surprising that these beliefs have survived to this day. Modern shamanist practices center around a mudang or shaman who acts as an intermediary with the spirit world and performs rites to cure sicknesses, avert bad luck and ensure the peaceful rest of the souls of the deceased. Their role also includes resolving conflicts felt between the souls of the living and the dead. Elements of shamanist belief have been carried over to Korean Buddhism and even into Confucianism and it has been said the popularity of pentecostal Christianity in modern Korea is due to the fact that it resonates with much of the concerns of shamanism, especially in healing and exorcism. Another important factor that distinguishes religion in Korea is that it is seen as basically a pronationalistic force. Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity may have come from outside Korea but their survival and growth on the Korean peninsula has largely depended on and been due to their support for the Korean people and Korean political institutions. Initial resistance to Buddhism during the Shilla period and to Catholic Christianity during the late Chason period was partly a reaction to their foreignness and partly to the perceived danger they would have on the social fabric of the nation if they were accepted. Concomitantly, the success of Protestant Christianity and the revival of Buddhism in this century can be partly attributed to the identification of leading Protestant and Buddhist figures and these faiths in general with Korean independence and the development of the Republic of Korea . Finally, an interesting factor in the development of the modern Korean religious scene over the last 130 years has been the growth of new religions or indigenous Korean religions. These religions have been classified by their dominant lineages

which gave the basis of their doctrines whether these were Buddhist, Confucian, Christian or whether they had their roots in traditional Korean beliefs. All in all, there are estimated to be over 200 new religions in Korea as well as scores of Christian sects and over 20 Buddhist sects. Ch' ondogyo which developed from the Tonghak movement and Wonbulgyo which developed out of Buddhism form the largest and most established of these new religions. However almost all these different religions are characterised by a syncretistic attitude to the different religious traditions and many include Korean folk beliefs with a strong consciousness of Korea's ultimate destiny and the role of their followers as a chosen elect.

Korean Buddhism The first thing that must be said about Korean Buddhism is that it belongs to the Mahayana or Greater Vehicle school of Buddhism that is practiced throughout much of North Asia. In this school the monks wear grey and not saffron robes and the teaching is much more explicitly religious than the more atheistic Hinayana or Lesser Vehicle Buddhism practiced in Southeast Asia. In Mahayana Buddhism a profound metaphysical system supports an elaborate religious world of deities, saviors, saints, heavens and hells that was not included in the original teaching of the historical Buddha. This does not mean that this tradition departs from the central concepts of Buddhism; rather it has built on these as it spread through central and east Asia into a strongly devotional religion that stresses idealism, disinterested love and relief of the suffering of others. These traits in turn were further developed and reflected in the history and development of Korean Buddhism. The widely accepted date for the entry of Buddhism into Korea is in the year A.D.372 at the middle of the Three Kingdoms period when the monk Sundo came to the Koguryo Kingdom (37B.C.A.D.668) as an emissary from the neighboring Chin state in northeast China. Sundo is credited with having brought images of the Buddha and Buddhist scriptures with him

and two years later he was followed by another Buddhist monk called Ado. Koguryo seems to have welcomed these two missionaries and their religion and two temples, Songmunsa and lbullansa, were constructed in honor of the arrival of the Chinese missionaries. In 391 Buddhism became the established religion of the Koguryo Kingdom upon the accession to the throne of King Kwanggaet'o who ordered the nation to adopt Buddhism. The Paekche Kingdom (l8B.C.A.D.660) which occupied the southwestern part of Korea also accepted Buddhism at the same time as Koguryo and recent archaeological discoveries are beginning to reveal the extent of the highly developed Buddhist culture that flourished in this part of Korea during this period. The monk Malananda is credited with having brought Buddhism to Paekche in A.D.384 from the Chinese Eastern Chin state in the Yangtze river valley. Again the religion quickly found royal patronage and was considered beneficial for the cohesiveness and development of the nation. To this end, it was in the interests of the rulers of Korea at that time to ensure the unity and vitality of the Buddhist faith and this emphasis highlighted the Vinaya doctrines which set forth the "disciplines" or rules governing monastic life. In 529 King Song of Paekche sent Korean monk Kyomik to study Buddhism in India. Kyomik returned to Korea with a 72-volume transla-

tion of texts from the Sanskrit which further fostered the spread of Buddhism in Paekche and deepened its position as the religious basis of the nation. Other monks also travelled abroad during this period both to learn more about Buddhism and to spread the new religion in Japan much as Chinese monks had introduced it into Korea two centuries before. At this time also Buddhist art flourished in Ifurea and the extent of such developments can be guessed at from of the remains of the Paekche period Miruksa Temple at Iksan which is believed to have had the first stone stupa in Korea and some surviving examples of early Buddhist art in Japan attributed to Korean monks and craftsmen. Shilla was the last of the three kingdoms to accept Buddhism and it is here that the richest and most lasting examples of Korea's Buddhist heritage can be found. It was also during the Unified Shilla period (668- 935), which encompassed all of the peninsula south of the Taedong River, that Korean Buddhism began its great intellectual development under a series of eminent monks. In the early sixth century, Buddhism was introduced to the Shilla royal court by monk-envoy Wonpyo from the southern Chinese state of Liang. However, the aristocracy opposed this move and this ultimately led to the martyrdom of Yi Ch' a-don, a court noble, in 527 for his adherence to Buddhism. ItÂˇ wasn't until the end of the reign of King Pophiing (r.514540) that Buddhism came to be an officially recognised religion in the Shilla kingdom probably around the year 535. With official tolerance, conversion to Buddhism increased rapidly and Hiingryunsa, the first Shilla temple, was built and by the time the Unified Shilla period began, Buddhism was the official religion of the Shilla Kingdom. Shilla monks also continued the practice of going to China to study and some such as Hyech'o went as far as India. His Record of a Journey to the Five Indian Kingdoms remains with us as classic account of his journey. Influenced by developments in T'ang China, five major schools of Buddhism appeared in Korea, the Nirvana school, the Vinaya, the Buddha Nature, the

Avatamsaka and the Dharmalaksana. The Nirvana school had become popular in Koguryo and Paekche before those kingdoms fell but it was the Avatamsaka known as Hwaom in Korean that became the favored doctrine of Shilla's nobility. This doctrine was introduced to Korea from Chjna by the learned J5orean monk Uisang (620-689). Uisang founded Pusoksa Temple located in what is now North Kyongsang Province and his doctrines emphasised the harmony of all sentient beings within the single Buddha mind. The emphasis on oneness was in accord with the centralized nature of the structure of the Shilla state and probably explains why Shilla's elite were so taken by this doctrine. Shilla's famous Hwarang, a special warrior youth corps, was also deeply influenced by Buddhist teachings especially in the belief in the Maitreya, the Buddha of the future who would come as the ultimate revelation of the Buddha nature. In the early seventh century, the eminent Buddhist monk Wongwang laid down five basic rules for the Hwarang which included loyalty to the king, filial piety, fidelity in friendship, not to retreat in battle and to avoid wanton killing. But probably the best known of all Shilla's monks was Wonhyo (617686) who devoted himself to the spread of Buddhism among the common people in the second part of his life. Wonhyo never went to China but his learning and profound understanding of Buddhism won him a great reputation as a Buddhist priest and teacher. Wonhyo's early thought reflects different Buddhist schools but the Buddha-nature school is considered to be dominant in his beliefs. However, despite the profound depths of his learning his most famous achievements relate to his wanderings as an itinerant monk in an act of penance for breaking his vow of celibacy and the consequent the birth of his son Sol Ch'ong which arose from his love affair with a Shilla princess. In the period of his wanderings Wonhyo gave himself to spreading the Pure Land creed of Buddhism which even the unlettered could comprehend and through which come to eventual rebirth in the Western Paradise where the

Amitabha Buddha dwelled. In the later Shilla period Son or Zen Buddhism began to gain popularity with its stress on contemplation over the textual or Kyo schools which stressed the merits of a particular sutra from the Buddhist canon. Son emphasises cultivating the spiritual mind and the path of sudden enlightenment and is more individualistic than the other schools. This school had come to Shilla in the mid-seventh century but it was not until the start of the ninth century under the reig)'l of King Hi:ingdok (r.809-826) that it came to be fully appreciated. This movement started with the founding of the Mt. Kaji sect at Porimsa Temple in South Cholla Province. Other Son sects soon followed and the movement became known as Kusansonmun or the Nine Mountain Sects. Son was particularly popular with the independent minded local gentry of the countryside and with some of the common people as well. While the Shilla period is always regarded as the high point of Buddhist influence and Buddhist culture in Korea, it must not be forgotten that Buddhism was also the established religion during the Koryo period and that Korean Buddhism consolidated many of its present characteristics at this time. The underlying religious principle that influenced much of the official attitude to Buddhism at this time was that salvation could be attained through the performance of good works. This manifested itself in the

promotion of the building of temples and there are said to have been as many as 70 temples in Kaesong, the Koryo capital. Buddhist festivals were observed at different times during the year and a system of national examinations was instituted for Buddhist clergy. However, the most notable cultural achievement of Korean Buddhism during this period was the woodblock printing of the Tripitaka Koreana, the Buddhist canon, in Chinese characters. The noted monk Uich'on, the fourth son of King Munjong (r.1046-1083), collected the Buddhist sutras in Sung China and these were sent back to Korea for compilation and publication. The massive task of compiling the texts, carving them onto woodblocks and then printing them was not completed until 1087. The woodblocks were then stored in Taegu's Puinsa Temple until they were destroyed in the Mongol invasions during the 13th century. The Koryo Tripitaka that is stored today at Haeinsa Temple is a new edition of this 11th century work which was begun on Kangwha Island, where the Koyro court had taken refuge during the Mongol invasions, and waยง finally completed in 1251. Uich'on was also active in the area of trying to unite the Kyo or textual school of Korean Buddhism with the Son or contemplative school. His efforts led to the establishment of the Ch'ont'ae sect of Korean Buddhism in an effort to reconcile these conflicts and reform the the Buddhist faith as it then existed. However, Uich'on's emphasis was firmly on the side of the textual school even though his movement attracted many of the brightest monks of the Nine Mountain Sects. This meant that a real breakthrough in the development of Korean Buddhism did not emerge until the founding of the Chogye sect under the inspiration of the monk Chinul (1158-1210). This coincided with a period of military rule and resistance against the Mongols. This striving to reconcile the textual and contemplative dimensions of Korean Buddhism has been the most lasting and distinctive aspect of Buddhism in Korea over the last 800 years. The basis of the Chogye doctrine is a belief in sudden enlighten-

ment followed by gradual cultivation . In this framework meditation is given priority but study of the Buddhist sutras cannot be neglected along with the practice of invoking the name of the Buddha. This belief, thus, managed to incorporate insights from the various strands of Korean Buddhism and won support from the military party in the Koryo period as it opposed the textual and reward centered Buddhism favored by the aristocracy. Nevertheless, the close association between the Buddhist religion and the state meant that Buddhism was identified with the corruption and weakness of the declining Koryo period. This criticism of the role of Buddhism and the rise of neoConfucianist thought during the late Koyro period set the scene for the official rejection of Buddhism and acceptance of Confucianism during the Chason period (1392-1910). Despite the fact that Buddhism proved its essentially patriotic nature during the Japanese invasion of Korea from 1592-98 and that some Chason period rulers were devout Buddhists, Confucianism retained such a stronghold on the national ideology during this period that Buddhism was relegated to the position of being an official outcast. No Buddhist temples were permitted in the new capital to be located at Seoul and under the reign of King T'aejong (r.l400-l418), the third Chason period monarch, there was a severe repression of Buddhism resulting in the disestablishment of all but 242 temples throughout Korea. Thus Buddhism became associated with remote country temples, pious women and common countryfolk. Buddhism obtained a temporary hope and respite from persecution due to the personal faith of King Sejong (r.l418-l450) who established a prayer hall within the palace complex and King Sejo (r.l455-l468) who constructed Wongaksa Temple on the site of what is now Pagoda Park in downtown Seoul. Sejo also instituted a Superintendency for Sutra Publication and had vernacular Korean commentaries on the sutras published. But these moves were short lived and a total ban on entering the priesthood was imposed during the reign of King Songjong

(r.l469-l494) and this was followed in 1506 with the abolition of the official examination system for Buddhist clergy. Under the rule of Queen Dowager Munjong in the mid-16th century, Buddhism again gained royal favor for a short time and during this period Pongunsa Temple became the main temple of the Son school and Pongsonsa Temple that of the Textual school. During the Japanese invasion in the late 16th century, many monks rallied to the defence of their fatherland and organized monk militias that fought alongside the armed resistance organized by Confucian scholars. In the fighting many Buddhist treasures were destroyed and priceless relics lost forever. The most eminent Buddhist monks of the period distinguished themselves in the national struggle including the monk-philosopher Sosan. Sosan sought to restore the original spirit of Mahayana Buddhism through Son meditation and textual studies. Nevertheless Korean Buddhism continued to decline in influence during the rest of the Chason period being looked upon as the religion of the unlearned and powerless elements of society with its most devoted monks taking refuge in remote mountain temples and hermitages. It was in this much reduced state that Buddhism entered the 20th century but its basically patriotic impluse led to participation in the national independence movement especially among those who also sought the renewal and revival of

Korean Buddhism. The monk poetphilosopher and political activist Han Yong-un was the most outstanding figure among these circles and truly he can be called a latter day Wonhyo. His major theological work entitled The Restoration of Korean Buddhism called not only for religious renewal but for Buddhist involvement in social renewal. Korean Buddhism's patriotic emphasis has to do with the desire to protect Buddhist truth and the land where that truth resides. In ancient times this doctrine was used to support the ruling dynasty and the national fabric. In this century the doctrine first manifested itself in support for Korean independence and later in the defence and development of the nation. No assessment of Korean Buddhism can go without stressing two major facts. Firstly, it is the religion of millions of ordinary Koreans and its teachings are deeply embedded in the Korean consciousness. Even the shortest visit to a Korean temple will reveal that Korean Buddhism is a living faith that is being passed on to the oncoming generations. Secondly, Korean Buddhism, dispite its foreign origin, is totally rooted in Korean culture. Korean Buddhism has suffered with the common people and those elements of Korean Buddhism that can be labeled devotional and characteristic of popular religion are the same elements that have given comfort to the countless generations since the religion was first introduced into the country. Ultimately, all religions are engaged in a dialogue with history and with culture, changing as the historical and cultural conditions change. Nevertheless, Korean Buddhism's constant themes of patriotism and striving for a higher harmony uniquely equip it to face the challenges of the 21st century in Korea. +

The writer is currentl y engaged in resea rch at the Asian Center for Theological Studies in Seoul.

ByS. Chang e has been to Korea but twice. Indeed, he spent even less than a fortnight on these visits last year. But that was more than enough for the richly endowed, and sharply perceptive, Japanese artist to be overwhelmed with a singular sensation. Says he: "For the first time in my life I have felt completely at home in a foreign country - Korea." This is Hiroshi Teshigahara, who has distinguished himself in a variety of fields. He is a brilliant movie director (among his best films, Woman of the Dunes}, deeply respected potter and grand master of a flower arrangement school called Sogetsu (literally, Grasses and Moon). One must never dismiss ikebana (flower arrangement) as a sissy pastime. Inspired by Zen, developed by generations of Japanese literati, it is today such a robust art that its practitioners number millions in Japan and overseas. Of the many schools of it, Sogetsu is the most influential around the world. Editor S. Chang recently interviewed

Teshigahara for Koreana. Excerpts from the interview follow. What most of all is fascinating to you

about Korea? "I would need at least a couple of hours answering that one. But let me say that what I consider the essence of Korean culture leaves me endlessly enthralled. How do I describe that essence? Once again I would need a couple of hours detailing my view. But let me say that what fires my imagination is the humanism of Korean culture. It's first of all characterized by human warmth, human scale, human touches. That's infinitely enduring and endearing."

Please be more specific. "My understanding is that the untranslatable term used here is 'mot.' It denotes, as far as I'm concerned, a frame of mind where the inhumanity of symmetry is shunned and where the constant interest in harmonizing with nature is treasured. What you have in Korea is something never akin to the Chinese perfectionism. Nor is it in any way reminiscent of the Japanese

obsession with precision and detail. In artistry, Koreans are so remarkably free - downright spontaneous, unconstained, warmhearted."

the word. After running into this gentleman, I felt for the first time in my life completely at home in a foreign country- Korea."

Of the many encounters you had on your visits to Korea, which one do you consider especially memorable?

What would you say the greatest difference is between south Korea and your country?

"In Kyongju one day last year, I was approached by an elderly Korean gentleman in traditional clothes. Clearly he was good-natured but was at the same time perfectly frank. After taking a good look at me, he said I should not keep my hair so long as I did. (Now Teshigahara has his hair closely cropped.) He said that I should have a haircut and that the sooner the better, because then, then alone, might I look more socially acceptable." "At first I was dumbfounded by this unsolicited piece of advice. Then I decided I loved the way he had taken in sharing his wisdom with me. He wanted to have his say and said it because obviously he was convinced that it would do me some good. Some people might call it meddlesome. I call it kindly in the truest sense of

"I always sense something continental about Korea, its people and their thoughts. It's a very open society because the frame of reference among its people is traditionally international. In contrast, Japan, in more ways than one, is a closed society." "Ours in Japan also is a very wealthy society. But wealth has the tendency to breed arrogance and in turn, nationalism. Ours in other words is turning into an uncertain society. What I believe to be vitally important is for artists in both our two countries to go all out deepening contact with each other and help nip in the bud the potentially dangerous one by one in the process of continuing the earnest exchanges."+ As well as being the chief editor of Koreana, Mr. S.Chang is a senior journalist and columnist.

When you are in my arms, I do not care Whether the river is deep, shallow or rapid. If you do not come, Âˇ I wait for you from morning till night, Exposed to winds and wet with snow or rain.

Once you reach the other bank, You go away without looking back. But I know you will come back some day. So I grow old, waiting for you day and night. I am a ferry boat. - You're my passenger.

Han Yong-un !1879-1944), Buddhist monk, poet, philosopher and patriot , is one of the best loved figures of modern Korean history and one of Korea's greatest modern writers. His simple and profound poems deal with the mystery of love and can be understood on different levels.

This poem was translated by Koh Chang-soo who, in addition to translations of Korean poems, has published his own poetry in both Korean and English . Mr. Koh holds a doctorate in literature from the Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul and has served in various Korean diplomatic mission abroad .

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PEOPLE

Korea's Mistress of the Kayagum by Art Âˇ Space mong the many performances of Korean traditional music that I have watched, there is one artist whose presentation touches my heart in a special way. Park Kui-hee (who will celebrating her seventieth brithday in 1990) is a superb solo performer. She has been acknowledged for her genius from the time of her debut as a sixth grader. She has been recognized as a "National Living Treasure" by the Korean government, the highest official honor that is bestowed in Korea. She is literally a pillar of the Korean music community and has worked ceaselessly as a director of the Korean Music Association and the High School for the Traditional Performing Arts (to name but two of the organizations that she is involved with). Mrs. Park is a successful business woman aiso. For many years she ran a highly rated Korean restaurant in Tokyo and since the end of the Korean War she has owned and operated a beautiful traditional-style inn in the heart of Seoul's oldest district. She is known for her unfailing graciousness and ev~n a sense of style which keeps

her most fashion-conscious students~ on their toes. However, as much as I enjoy her solo performances and admire the fullness of the life she has created for herself, I find that when she performs with her students, sometimes six individuals and on special occasions with thirty or more - this to me is wonderfully satisfying emotional experience. Park Kui-hee has the extraordinary ability to teach. While many of her contemporaries are acknowledged also as masters of their particular area of Korean music none has produced the number of successful and highly regarded performers as she has. Mrs. Park was born on February 6, 1921 in Taegu, Korea. She recalls that on her way to elementary school, there was a music studio. When she was in the third or fourth grade she first became conscious of the sound of singing coming from the studio. "I heard a male teacher teaching tan ga to young people like myself. I decided that I wanted to learn, also. From that day on, I started skipping school. .." What she heard, the tan ga (literally meaning "short song") is sung by p'ansori singers before the start of a main p'ansori performance, which normally goes on for four or more consecutive hours. This short song is used by singers to condition or warm up their voices before the more difficult performance to come. Tan ga is a far less demanding vocal technique and employs only one type of rhythmic cycle (changdan), usually chungmori changdan (12/4). The contents of its text are mainly poetic descriptions of the natural world, episodes from history, stories of human interest, and the like. Tan ga, therefore are taught also as a type of first step for students beginnip.g their study of p'ansori. Mrs. Park, however, had made the decision to join the class on her own, without any specific invitation from the teacher. She tells how she would just sit and listen to the other students as they practiced. ''After a while I felt confident that I could do ' better than they - and some had already been studying for three or four years. H only the teacher would - call on me..."

Soon she had started singing with the other students. The teacher heard her and asked if she had studied music somewhere else. "I said no, that I just had heard the others singing and imitated that. He then asked if 'l wanted to try and I said I did. I sang. The teacher called me a genius." .. .She was twelve years old at the time. In learning the tan ga, she cannot recall that she ever had any special difficulties. This is extraordina~y to those of us who try to learn Korean music as it is traditionally taught. There is no natural progression, necessarily, from simple to more Âˇ difficult. For example, in the case of learning tan ga or p'ansori, the student is expected to plunge right in with a classic. The usual teaching method consists of the teacher singing a phrase and the student attempting to imitate the vocal quality and timbre of the teacher. Each student is expected at the same time to make their own text (until very recently tan ga or p'ansori texts existed only in the heads of the singers or in their personal notes and were not compiled systematically and published). The type of learning process requires that the student be able to absorb and recall a tremendous amount of information in a relatively short period of time. And of course repetition and practice are essential to producing the type of sound desired. Mrs. Park recalls that at home she was not allowed to practice. Korean parents as a rule were, and still are, not highly supportive of offspring who wish to pursue careers as musicians (Korean traditional music). There are several reasons for this. Some parents object to the atmosphere which surrounds the performers and their lifestyles. For young women, there is the legacy of the kisaeng (female entertainers). Parents tend to think of this profession in a very negative light, failing to consider that these women, known for their beauty, refinement and ability to entertain, were among the best educated and culturally enriched people of their age. For other parents, it was not the stigma of having a daughter who was a kisaeng, but rather a concern with problems of finding a husband or having a skill _

that would enable one to support oneself later on in life that fostered their objections. In any event, for a person like Mrs. Park, learning music was often a difficult choice between family and school responsibilities. The schools at that time did not offer any courses in Korean music. Run by the Japanese, who occupied Korea from 1910 until the liberation in 1945, all subjects from the third grade on were taught in Japanese. It was Japan's history and culture that were emphasized to the utter exclusion of things Korean. "I don't remember exactly when, but it was February or March when I graduated from elementary school. I was 14 or so and iny teacher felt that I was ready to make my debut. I still recall my costume - a hanbok (traditional Korean dress) with a red top and yellow skirt. In April a troupe of performers came to Taegu. I sang for them once, then joined them on stage at a theater in town. The response was overwhelming. People who heard me sing said that 'a young master had appeared'." At the age of 14 Park Kui-hee joined the troupe. She ended her formal schooling at that point, but began to learn what was to become her specialty: p'ansori . p'ansori is one of the more representative performing arts among Korea's rich performing arts tradition. P'ansori comprises various elements in its performance and has remained the subject of much conjecture and debate in regard to its genre. The p'ansori text, an oral literature, can be examined from a literary point of view, from a dramatic aspect, and from a theatrical standpoint. From the musicological point of view, however, p'ansori can be best described as the unique Korean style of folk operatic song belonging to the category of Korean vocal music which was developed by professional folk musicians during the late period of the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910). P'ansori is presented by two musicians, a solo singer and a single drum player. In a given performance, the p'ansori singer presents a dramatic story through various songs (sori), dialogue or narration (aniri), and dramatic action indicated by

simple gestures (pallim). The drummer accompanies the singer with rhythms based on set rhythm cycles. As Mrs. Park describes it, her joining the troupe meant daily practice and performance. In winter, shows would begin at 6:30p.m . and in the summer at 7 p. m.The theaters, while in no way nearly as well equipped as modern ones, did have lighting available. Theaters at that time, like everything else in Korea, were run by the Japanese. While they did not object to the performance of Korean music, it was always a good idea to have some of the dialogue (during the dramatic portions) in Japanese and have some of the songs sung in Japanese. Mrs. Park found the fact that she had at least graduated from a Japanese-run elementary school to her benefit. "The other performers had not even received any formal schooling at al\ and I could at least speak and read some Japanese:' she said. Mrs. Park continued with her study of p'ansori, learning all of the five classic pieces in the modern repertoire. Usually "100 days" of study was what was required to learn a piece and she still has the notebooks she kept at the time. At the age of 19 her father died and the family moved to Seoul. By now her mother had accepted her choice of profession - "You see, it was because I was good at what I did." - and she became her family's sole support. Her life as a performer was incredibly full. Following a circuit, the company would tour medium and large towns in Korea, traveling as far as her northern border with China. These tours were seasonal, every spring and fall, with three to four shows daily. Her official salary at that time was W200 per month. Half was given to her family for its support and half was hers to keep. She also got another WlOO under the table, so to speak. Officially receiving W300 would have put her in direct competiton with performers much older than herself and engender bad feelings among the troupe, but, on the other hand, the manager knew what to do to keep a star. The theater bill consisted of two solo performances of twenty to thirty 57

Mrs. Park is a gifted teacher and students come to her home once a week to receive instruction.

minutes each. Mrs. Park performed p'ansori almost all the time episodes from the longer classic pieces - while the other members of the troupe would perform on the Kayagum or dance. At times the entire troupe would take part in ch'ang guk. Ch'ang guk (literally "sung drama"), as distinguished from p'ansori, developed in the early part of the twentieth century as a type of revised version of p'ansori with many singers as in Western opera. It included the theatrical trappings of scenery, lighting, special costumes, and make-up. Ironically, she recalls that the salary she received was good, but there wasn't anything to buy with the money. Food was scarce: she mentions black barley bread with disgust .even today. Costumes, which they had to buy themselves, could only be made with the poorest of fabrics. With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, life changed dramatically. Away from home at the time, she returned to Seoul to find everything lost. "People alive today, haven't had a similar experience, so they can't 58

really imagine, but when I returned everything was gone, old costumes, pictures from when I was young, all the memorabilia of my life on tour." she states. After the war, there was no possible way to resume the life of a performer. With the troupe dissolved and no source of income, she was faced with the problem of supporting herself and her family. "I talked with a businessman that I respected. He suggested that for a woman, opeating an inn would be one possible way of earning an income. He told me that I probably would not earn a lot of money, but the work would be honest." Known as the Undang Yogwan, it is situated just south of the main gate of the Ch'angdokkung Palace and in the 38 years since Mrs. Park has run the inn, it has become one of Seoul's landmarks. Everything is strictly Korean style with elegant rooms heated with a traditional underground heating system. Guests are offered an incredible native menu and the chance to sample a way of life virtually non-existent in modern Seoul. In the meantime, Mrs. Park had

begun her travels abroad. She began by going to Japan to make records after the liberation. She had found in her years of experience with a troupe that putting male and female artists together created problems. There were the inevitable romances and children. "I hated it when we had to take the babies along. They always wet the floors of our rooms." she says. So when she decided to take her own troupe abroad to record, she took only young women. The effect was sensational. With her all-female troupe, they performed to packed houses in Pusan and Seoul also. "In the Pusan Tong-A Theater there was one performance that was so crowded that a pregnant woman got stuck in the lobby and had to have her baby right there. It was a boy... Another time when we performed in Seoul; students formed a line to see us that extended from the theater for about five blocks." . Mrs. Park spent approximately twenty years commuting back and forth from Korea to Japan. She ran a school there, teaching Korean music and dance and she opened a restau-

rant to serve other Korean artists who came to Japan to perform as well as Japan's Korean community. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics she directed the presentations at the Korea Pavillion. In 1960 she was one of the founders of the school for the traditional performing arts in Seoul. At that time the course of instruction ran from middle to high school. Now she teaches once a week at Chungang University in Seoul and has her students come to her home once a week to receive instruction. She looks for students who are not only talented musically, but who are bright intellectually as well. There is no possible way, she says, to become a good musician strictly on instinct. Physically there are no special requirements except that she does not pick students who are either too tall or too short. In comparison to the students she taught in years past, today's students are not less diligent, instead they just have so much more to learn that it cuts down both on their ability to concentrate and to practice. "When I was young, we only did Korean music, but now my students have to learn foreign languages, mathematics, science, and whatnot. Of course, I suppose that this is necessary in the modern world, but frankly I secretly wish that my students only had to concetrate on their music." Mrs. Park laments the fact that among her teachers and later among her contemporaries so few invested the time in teaching. Male students are now very rare, whereas once they comprised the majority of performers. She spends a great deal of time teaching and has written the definitive book on her field . She is now in the process of preparing a book on p'ansori in time for her seventieth birthday. However, while Mrs. Park feels that her specialty is p'ansori, she has received her designation as a "National Living Treasure" for her performances of kayagum byung ch'ang. Kayagum is well-kriown among Korean instruments. It is usually described as a type of zither, related to the Chinese cheng and the Japanese koto. The kayagum can be played as a solo instrument or with

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The script of the Hiingpuchon, one of the five classics of modern p'ansori, in anotebook used by Mrs. Park when she began her studies.

The traditional style Undang Yogwan which Mrs. Park has owned and managed for the last 38 years.

other Korean instruments. Ch'ang means song, while byung means to combine or unite. Thus this type of Korean traditional performing art is one in which the performer sings while playing the kayagum. Mrs. Park explains her selection as a "Living National Treasure" as being one of compromise. "There were, at the time the selections were being made, comparatively few who could be designated for kayagum byung ch'ang, while there were many candidates for p'ansori. It was felt that for the preservation of kayagum byung ch'ang that it would be best for me to receive my designation in this field:· she says. Mrs. Park is an extremely busy woman. She lives in a rear portion of the inn she operates and the sound of her giving lessons or her students practicing is an unexpected delight to the guests who stay there. She says that she has been busy all her life, and although she tells stories of hardships on the road many, many years ago and sighs, she will not

slow her pace. She is finding writing her latest book on p'ansori very difficult. Handing down Korean music in book form is almost an impossible task. "It is the flavor of the music that my students must learn and how does one transmit this to the· written page?" she asks. She laugh::: when her students complain on the rare occasions when they have to perform two shows a day. "We used to do three performances a day and four on Sundays... nowadays everyone eats well and rides in cars ..." She smiles at the thought of these "hardships." She is a remarkable woman, a graceful pragmatist. Yet, as she enters her seventies she discusses the past with what might be described as almost a slight disinterest. The future: this evening's appointment, tomorrow's class, next weekend's performance, next year's book, travel abroad, prospects like these excite her interest far more. + Ms. Kim Young-uk is the managing editor of Art Space Publications in Seoul.

LITERATURE

'-'

THE LYRICS OF CHONG CH'OL Songs from an Exiled Fblitician By Song Hye-jin

hong Ch'ol (1536-'93: pen name - Songgang) takes an indisputable position in the history of Korean literature. His rich output of prosepoetry called kasa have long been acclaimed as the epitome of classical vernacular literature. It fully displays the artistic quality of the Korean language that had traditionally been overshadowed by Chinese. Nobody doubts either the weight of his role as a politician who faced ups and downs in the turmoil of factiona.l split through the reigns of three monarchs in the mid-Choson period. Few people, however, seem to have ever considered the impact he had on his contemporaries as the writer of many popular songs. The kasa lyrical form, probably a descendant of the long tradition of oral literature that may be traced to hyangga (native song) of the Shilla period (-57 B.C.-A.D.935), was to be sung, though their music is not known today. Through the kasa poems, the Neo-Confucialliterati of Choson were able to vividly express their attachment to the beauties of nature or their loyalty to the king. Shifo, the shorter, three-line verses with regular semantic units, which was hom in the late Koryo period (918-1392) and further developed during Choson, performed a similar role. They were composed and sung mainly by the educated members of the aristocratic class. Chong, hom to a noble family respecting scholarly accomplish-

ments, was trained to appreciate literature and music as a gentleman. Professional poets were never part of the Korean tradition. The shifo poets of old Korea , for example, were refined and cultivated gentlemen who savored the delights of versifying in order to pass leisurely, convivial hours in the company of their friends. Many statesmen, scholars and military men thus left their shijo compositions. They appreciated music, too. But in many cases, music, like painting and calligraphy, was considered a good means of developing one's character rather than a medium for aesthetic pleasure. Chong was hom in Seoul in 1536 while his father was serving as a high ranking government official. But he had to wander from one place to another during the first half of his teens after his father was exiled for having been caught in a purge of the literati. His family settled down at Ch'angp'yong, Tamyang-gun County, Chollanam-do Province, an area blessed with a rich artistic heritage. Chong was educated under such great figures as Confucian scholar Kim ln-hu, scholar-statesman Ki Tae-sung and poet Song Sun. He passed the civil service examinations at the age of 26 and 27 and embarked on his eventful political career at 33. Being outspoken and upright in nature, he went through many vicissitudes in his fortunes in the midst of serious factional conflicts until he met his death in Kanghwa-do island at the

age of 57 in 1593 while the devastating seven-year war with Japan was going on. For a quarter of a century, Chong's political life was literally a series of exiles, retirements and reemployments. As a leader of the Westerners, his major trial came when he proposed designating an heir to the throne then occupied by King Sonjo, who had had no legitimate son. In the ensuing conflict, the opposing Easterners were divided into two sub-factions. The Northerners urged harsh condemnation and punishment of Chong and his fellow Westerners. The Southerners took a more moderate stance. Chong was banished to various places in the course of the continuing factional strife. But whenever he was allowed to choose the place for retreat, he would almost always pick Songsan, the scene of Songsan Pyolgok (Song of Songsan), one of his most ourstanding kasa lyrics. Chong wrote most of his best known lyrics while in exile, and this Songsan Pyolgok, his first major work depicting the prominent beauty of nature at Songsan, Tamyang-gun, Chollanam-do, is no exception. It is said that Chong composed this long verse at age 42 for his friend, Kim Song-won, who was leading a tasteful life there, reading, writing poems and playing komungo, the six-stringed Korean zither. The poem gives a graphic description of the beauties of natural scenery at Songsan in the four sea-

The Shigyong-jong or Shadow Resting Pavilion where Chong Ch'ol wrote the Songsan Pyolgok.

sons and Kim's life around Shigyongjong (Shadow Resting Pavilion) that he built for himself to best enjoy the scenery. The language he used is simple, but vividly expresses the stunning beauty of nature and a man's deep enchantment with it: Plucking the strings of a komun-go The poet looks as noble as a pine tree. Mindful neither of a guest Nor of the world he is. A crane flying in the vast heavens Truly looks like a fairy ... - From Songsan Pyolgok (Song of Songsan)

When he was in exile, the poet also seemed to be frequently plucking at his komun-go, probably to forget the pain in his heart. The following lines certainly describe the feelings of the poet himself, rather than his friend's: Ten thousand bamboos wet in the drizzling, cold rains Evoke a sentinemt desolate and forlorn. A hiding man should have much to complain of, So .in the middle of the night by himself He plays the komun-go.

Striking the string for low tune Peace comes to the heart, But then on a high note burst out all words. They are never of sorrow, But what should I say of this parting?

Two years later when the poet was 44, he had a chance to travel through the scenic mountainous district in Kangwon-do on his way to assume his duties as the provincial governor. He was fascinated by the outstanding beauty of scenery around Mt. Ki:imgangsan, from which resulted his greatest masterpiece, Kwandong Pyolgok (Song of Kangwon Scenes). He took a retreat at Songsan once again following his tentative retirement from public service at 50. This led to the creation of one of his more pupular lyrical pieces, Sa Mi-in Kok (Mindful of My Seemly Lord) and Sok Mi-in Kok (Again Mindful of My Seemly Lord), both metaphorically depicting his unchanging loyalty to the king despite his unfortunate personal circumstances and the idea of love (mi-in in Korean means 3 beauty). In both these songs the poet employed

love for a beautiful woman from whom he parted as his direct motif. These lyrics are not only prominent literary masterpieces but they were popular songs widely enjoyed among the Iiterati of the Choson period. A great number of noblemen had them copied and taught their household entertainers how to sing them.Âˇ There are various records attesting to the popularity of Chong's lyrics: "Among all Korean lyric songs, Sa Mi-in Kok by Chong Songgang are among the most well-known. I have heard that Kim Ch'ong-i:im loved this song so much that he instructed all slaves in his household to learn it. Ch'undae, an old slave in my house, once stayed at Kim's. She learned the song at the time and still remembers it." - From Pukhonjip (Anthology of Pukhon) by Kim Ch'un-t'aek (1670-1717). "Kwandong Pyolgok, written by Chong Ch'ol whose pen name is Songgang, is characterized by exquisite expressions of words and music is also very beautiful." - F\om Tongguk Akpo (Music of 61

An inscription in the Songgang-jong Pavilion where Chong Ch'ol is believed to have composed his two masterpieces, Sa Mi-in Kok and Sok Mi-in Kok.

Korea), Anonymous. "Kasa are the lyrical songs written in Han-gul (Korean alphabet)." Songs by Song Sun and Chong Ch'ol are the most excellent of all those written in recent years, but regretfully, they have only been passed from mouth to mouth ... "Kwandong Pyolgok, Sa Mi-in Kok, Sok Mi-in Kok and Changfin Chusa (Drinking Song of Changjin), all by Chong Ch'ol, are very popular... There are many songs like these that people enjoy." - From Chibong Yusol (Topical Discourses of Chibong) by Yi Sugwang (1563-1628). "Maehea and Ch'unmae (both the names of entertaining women) sang Kwandong Pyolgok on a stage lighted with lanterns hung on both sides. Their voices were high and clear, and it was much more wondrous than hearing them sing at home.. ." - From Wayudang Ilgi (The Diary of Wayudang). As mentioned in these records, the kasa lyrics by Chong Ch'ol enjoyed wide popularity among the educated aristocrats of Choson. The popular-

ity continued toward the last days of the dynasty. It needs to be further pointed out here that Chong and another distinguished poet of his time, Song Sun (1493-1592 : pen name- Myonangjong), were two leaders of the societies of art-loving gentry in the southern Cholla-do province in the late 16th century. These societies, called kadan, or the song circles, and similar to salons in the West, were composed of scholars and artists of upper classes who gathered together to enjoy and discuss arts and literature. Chong was a central figure of the Songsan Kadan, while Song Sun led the Myonangjong Kadan (after his pen name). The Song circles in Cholla-do province tended to favor romantic and lyrical songs in contrast to those in Kyongsang-do province which preferred songs of didactic and moralistic contents. It was a kind of fashion among the art-loving aristocrats at this time to train their household entertainers and slaves in the kasa singing. A fashionable mode of entertaining guests at the time was for the master to accompany his kabi, or the singing slave, perform-

ing the kasa songs with a komun-go. Some of these slaves achieved reputations with their outstanding musical talent. Changjin Chusa , a drinking song in the ot shijo form, a variation of the shifo format with extended lines, is assumed to have initiated a new style of shijo singing that further developed into ballad music in the late Choson period. This long verse is also expressive of the poet's wish to be relieved of the pains and conflicts he was experiencing as a politician in exile under the influence of alcohol: Let's drink, let's drink Counting the glasses with flower petals, Let us drink and drink with no end. Once I die, whether my body Is carried on an A-frame, tied and covered with straw matting, Or 9n a palanquin of frilled silk, revered by all, Once gone into the woods of grasses and trees, The yellow sun, white moon, thin rains, Heavy snowflakes and the chilly winds, Who will ever offer you a drink?

And what will ever be the use of regretting . When ripply breezes blow over your grave? Even if we live for a hundred years, Life is but fretful. With what impatient plans for this ephemeral life, Do you refuse the drink I offer? In spite of his rich ourput of excellent lyrics, some of them even possessive of innovative quality going ahead of time, Chong Ch' ol never voiced his particular theory of music or the arts in general. There is only one short writing available, a verse which is known to have been composed while playing komun-go at Paekch'on, in which this distinguished statesman-scholar-poetsongwriter expressed his view of music. For a man who described the glories of nature in such an exquisite language with romantic overtones and urged his friend to drink in such a carefree mood, however, his view of music was disappointingly confined to the general attitude of the Confucian-oriented aristocrats of medieval Korea. He regarded music as a means of cultivating their character rather than a medium for aesthetic pleasure. From the following poem, we can grasp that he did enjoy music, but without violating the medieval order of aesthetic value. Turning my back on the world, I am hiding my lofty being in nature of unworldly beauties. Surrounded by mountains upon mountains Waterfalls drop like pouring jades. In a deep, tranquil valley, I pluck my komun-go ... As they all like lewd sounds, I wonder who will listen to the sound of my komun-go However skillful my playing is. With no one to appreciate my music, I would rather retire and play to my own inner wishes ... With pictures at left and books at right, . Looking up to the heavens and down on the earth, I can enjoy myself. But what else is better than music For cultivating one's character? So I looked for a piece of fine paulownia wood And carved a komun-go out of it. I sing songs by ancient sages and respond to them With the sound of my komun-go ... - From Songgangjip (Anthology of Songgang).

The PuyongÂˇdang Hall located beside the Shigyong-jong Pavilion in Songsan.

There is no doubt that Chong handled his komun-go with the delicate sensibility of a fine musician, and it is little wonder that he did love music as a popular songwriter who produced one hit song after another widely enjoyed by the literati of the mid-Choson period. Nevertheless, it remains a great regret for us today that no music for his kasa lyrics is handed down to show us its popular style. The poet himself made no mention of the musical aspect of his prose-poetry in any of his books. It certainly would have been the interest of the writers who left records about the popularity of his kasa songs as well as the household entertainers of noblemen who actually performed them. We just can

guess that the kasa lyrics by Chong Ch'ol were sung in a recitative style, rather than a full-fledged vocal music, with some influence from the folk songs of Cholla-do province, where he spent much of his lifetime.+

The writer is a music critic

HERITAGE

COTTON WEAVING AT SAETKOL VILLAGE By Lee Kyung-hee hortly after passing by Naju-up which was recently merged to Kumsong City, the national road connecting Kwangju and Mokp'o cities in Chollanam-do Province makes a gentle curve to the west toward Hamp'yong. Along this road stands a small, single-story brick structure used as the Tashi crosscountry bus station. A few taxis are usually found waiting for clients in front of this shabby building. All cabbies there know the "house of the living cultural treasure" where they will gladly take you for 3,000 won (about US$4.50). Or, for those who are not under any time pressure, to walk along the muddy countryside road stretching toward the Yongsan-gang River for about 30 to 40 minutes, enjoying the fresh air in the open fields is recommended. Near the embankment of the Yangsan-gang River, the visitor will find a small village crouching at the far end of a long paddy lane. A big Chinese nettle tree, a centuries-old object of worship as the guardian spirit of the village, looks prominent among small houses with more thatched roofs than tiled ones. Mrs. No Chin-sam, 49, who

inherits the age-old skills of weaving the famous fine cotton fabric called "Saetkolmok;' or the cotton from the Saetkol Village, lives at one of these typical southern-style thatched huts, which looks at least 200 years old. Her house, an earthy and humble affair built with stones and mud, has been the home of the finest skills of spinning and weaving handed down through women of many generations. Mrs. No has to wait one more year to be formally designated a "living cultural treasure" because the government regulation fixes the minimum age for all designated experts in traditional arts and crafts at 50. But she has been considered a de facto matriarch of the disappearing home industry since her mother-in-law, Kim Man-ae, who was a "treasure;' passed away two years ago. Spinning and weaving, traditionally the chores of women, was often mentioned in early romantic tales. The rough hands with big knuckles of Mrs. No, however, seem to tell more of painful toils than romances. As a guardian of a dying tradition, she obviously seems to have experienced many hardships in supporting her family. The recognition given to her in recent years 65

Most families in Saetkol Village have kept their looms and spinning and weaving the "Saetkolmok" has remained an important part of their lives.

as the producer of the finest handwoven cotton cloth has been a remarkable psychological compensation for the long days and nights she spent before her loom, which was an important object in her wedding dowry, though accompanying financial rewards were not so great. Since prehistoric times, the arts of spinning and weaving were practiced chiefly by women in Korea, who thereby contributed significantly to the rural economy. Historic records note that hemp was the principal material for clothing from the ancient Samhan (Three Han States) period some 2,000 years ago, though silk and ramie were favored by women in their homes. The cultivation of cotton began when Mun lk-chom, an official of the Koryo Kingdom, brought back some cotton seeds from Yuan China in 1366. He gave the seeds to his father-in-law, Chong Ch'on-ik, who not only succeeded in growing them but also devised a cotton gin and built a spinning wheel as well, giving rise to a major revolution in the nation's textile industry. Folklorist Yi Ni:ing-hwa made an interesting account of the role of 66

women in ancient textile production and changing trends in the modern period in A Study on the Life of Women in Chason (1918) as follows : "Women have worked harder than men since ancient times and particularly, women played an important role in Chason's industry as no textile was produced without their labor. In recent years, they don't think of spinning but weave with the mechanically produced yarn imported from abroad, because it costs much less. And recently, they succeeded in cultivating a select breed from the United States in the Mokp'o area, which is twice as profitable as the native breed. This imported breed has spread across the country, so it i,s feared the local breed, which was brought back by Mun Ikchom from China, will be certainly exterminated." In the early 1920s, women in farming villages began to distance themselves from their looms. It was not because mechanized textile industry was emancipating the heavily burdened rural women from their traditional chore of spinning and weaving, but Japan's colonial policy was destroying the nation's textile production. Japan

bought raw cotton from Korea at low prices, and sold its manufactured products like cotton yarn and cloth here at high prices. Machine-woven muslin from Japan was a popular merchandise at Korean markets while an increasing number of women considered it a fashionable material for their dresses. It was about this time that Mrs. No's mother-in-law, Kim Man-ae, married a boy from Saetkol, or Tongdang-ri as it is known by its administrative name, and moved there at age 17. In spite of the ever-growing popularity of the manufactured fabrics throughout the country, most women at Tongdang-ri were still busy at their weaving looms. It was not solely because they could not afford the expensive, factory-manufactured fabrics from Japan. Nobody at the village underestimated the fine quality of their hand-woven Saetkolmok which had been pleasing the most fastidious customers for many years. Most families kept their looms and spinning and weaving remained an important aspect of their life. Before the local market days, in particular, women would often gather at each other's

Operating the traditional spinning wheel or mullye requires patience, experience and skill.

houses and work together through several nights to produce as much of the popular Saetkolmok as possible, which was their major source of income. According to A Study on the Manual Textile Industry at Rural Villages in the Late ChosiJn Period (1969) by Prof. Kwon Pyong-t'ak of Youngnam University, cotton weaving at private households quickly declined after the 1910s in the Naju area in Chollanam-do Province, where it has long flourished as a rnajor home industry. The book says that some 76 percent of all farming households in the area produced more than 20 rolls of cotton cloth each year during the period from 1875 to 1905,but from the 1910s to the 1960s, there was not a single farrning household producing that much. Prof. Kwon explains that cotton weaving in the Na ju area, that once was even more flourishing than the hemp weaving at Andong, Kyongsangbuk-do Province, was niuch faster in disappearing under the influence of industrialization in the present century. In the 1960s, he claimed, Tongdang-ri was the only village which was still producing handwoven cotton cloth in traditional ways.

Tongdang-ri's only surviving weaver was the late Mrs. Kim, who, from her faint memories, gave important information for Kwon's survey on the cotton manufacture in Korea in the early 20th century as a clue to the rising capitalism. Regardless of changing times and fads, she told Kwon, she kept her habit of spinning and weaving which had been her hobby and greasest pleasure of life since early childhood. She thus came to be known as the sole performer of the centuries-old skills of weaving the fine Saetkolmok cotton and, on February 9, 1971, she was designated a "living cultural treasure;' the highest honor given to those who practice traditional arts and crafts. She died of liver cancer two years ago, bequeathing her prized skills to her only daughter-in-law. "My mother was a diligent weaver; she used to work till very late at night and honestly speaking, I hated the sound of her loom. When I was very young it would often wake me up in the middle of the night;' recalled Mrs. Kim's son, Ch'oi Sok-po, who himself is a good weaver now. "And then, my wife brought that loom when she married me. Aside from the fact that she didn't look pretty, I wasn't too happy about her weaving. But now I hope that at least one of my two sons will marry a girl who would like to learn weaving." Cotton production at Tongdang-ri begins with sowing seeds late in the lunar month of March. Seeds are dipped in urine for a while, covered with ash, rubbed and then dried in the sun before sowing. Cotton grows better on night soil than chemical fertilizer, so before the seventh lunar month when the big cotton flowers bloom, night soil is applied a few times and chemical fertilizer just once. The flowers require good care so as not to rot during the rainy season. They are picked after the 15th of the eighth lunar month. The cotton flowers are spread on a straw mat covered with a piece of cloth to be dried in the sun prior to separating seeds from their fibers, carding and spinning, the three preparatory stages before weaving. There are two different theories as to the origin of the cotton gin used in Korea, which is called ssi-atul. One theory claims that it was devised by Chong Ch'on-ik, the father-in-law of Mun Ik-chom who brought ten cotton

seeds in ~ brush lid on his way back from an official trip to China in the 14th century, while the other theory asserts that it was brought back from China by a man named Yi Ki-yang. Whatever its origin, ssi-atul is almost as efficient as the saw gin invented by America's Eli Whitney in 1793. A Korean woman can remove seeds from some 7.2kg of cotton by using the ssiatul for four hours, while Whitney's historic invention enabled the black slaves to separate seeds from some 7. 5 to 10 kilograms of cotton. Before his invention, one black slave took an entire day to remove the seeds from one pound of cotton flowers. The cotton fibers are then carded to be softened and seed hulls removed, and pressed and rolled around a bamboo roller as thick as a pencil. The hollowed cotton rolls are twisted and

Speed, rhythm and accuracy are essential if the weaver is to produce a higiHjuality fabric.

linked into yarn on a spinning wheel called mullye. The spinner has to be deft in controlling the speed of her hands, the left hand feeding the cotton rolls onto the distaff and the right hand turning the wheel. It requires a considerable amount of patience as well as experience and skills to spin the yarn in this way, so a woman working at the wheel was often praised as an embodiment of womanly virtues from the viewpoint of traditional ethics. Or, sometimes she even evoked poetic inspiration as she was regarded as containing in herself hidden sorrow or agony. The weaver has to undergo two preliminary stages before sitting at her loom: pulling and warping the yarn. Ten pieces of yarn are pulled together from a spool rack with the right hand, while the left hand places

the pulled yarn in a basket. There is no specific warping frame in a traditional weaver's workshop, but warping is done by a person holding the yam in the hand and walking around or zigzagging between the wooden stakes sunk into the ground. The movement of an experienced weaver combines speed and rhythm with amazing accuracy, which is essential for producing a fabric of excellent quality. Various folk songs for encouraging the weaver or keeping her in rhythm are handed down in each provincial area. When in the right mood while working at her loom, Mrs. No Chin-sam also sings an old folk song that she learned from her mother-in-law. +

The loom at work.

The writer, a f reelancer, is former vice-chief of the Culture Depa rtment at the Korea Herald.

REVIEW/ART

The Passing of aGenius t about 3p.m. Tuesday January 10, 1989 Korean time, Paris-based painter lee Ung-no died at his home in that famous city where he had lived for the last 30 years. There is no doubting that he was a genius and that his significant contribution to the world of art will only be fully appreciated in the years to come. It is also of significance that his works were on display in his native country for the first time in 13 years at the time of his death. lee's life, like those of many men of great creativity, was not lived without some controversy

and the politics of his tragically divided homeland cast their shadow on his reputation in the latter part of his life. Nevertheless, lee will be remembered above all as a great painter and as a man who through the 84 years he spent on this earth never ceased to develop his rare talent. lee was born in January 1904 in Yesan in Ch'ungch'ongnam-do Province and in 1923 began his studies under Korean painter Kim Kyu-chin also known by his pen name Hae Kang. During this period and throughout his 20s, lee Ung-no

A picture of the late Lee Ung-no in his Paris studio shortly before his death. Photo by Kim Min-suk.

followed the traditionalist style of Oriental painting in Korea. This foundation remained with him and even in his later years he continued to produce works influenced by classical Korean Oriental painting styles. However, in his 30s he turned to the exploration of natural objects in a realistic manner and in 1935 he went to Japan to study Western art in Tokyo. In 1939, his first solo exhibition was held at the Hwashin Department Store in Seoul and this marked the beginning of an active career which would see his works exhibited not only in Korea but

throughout the world. After the end of the Second World War, Lee began to rise to prominence in Korean art circles and in 1948, he took the position of senior professor of Oriental Art in Hongik University in Seoul. It was at this stage in his 40s that he turned to semi-abstract paintings expressing images of nature and facts. His artistic work in Korea continued during the difficult years of the Korean War and the years immediately following the devastating conflict until he went to France in 1958. In 1959, his works were displayed at the Municipal Gallery in Bonn in the Federal Republic of Germany. As he decided to stay in Europe to study Western art, it was natural that his studies would lead him to Paris, the capital of the art world, and it was there that he made his home for the rest of his life. Lee Ung-no's sojourn in Paris turned out to be more than a learning experience for he became a focal point for thousands of European and other Western students who desired to learn about Oriental art. The master artist not only became a teacher but a bridge between two art worlds. Even though it is said that he did not learn any French, some 3,000 students are estimated to have studied under him and he produced approximately 1,000 paintings during this period. This period a lso marked major developments in Lee's works and he began to turn to what is best called "image abstraction" in his 50s and later to "calligraphic abstraction." This abstract experimentation with ideographs which began in the 1970s shows some traces of the influence of Western painting as well as the basically Oriental motif of the content matter. In the 1980s, his works turned to the human condition as the basis for his motifs giving a haunting, totally contemporary and yet, unmistakably Oriental character to his works. Lee's works cannot be fully assessed without an appreciation of his character. His simplicity, warmth and joy in life were apparent to all who came in contact with him and his sense of humor spilled over onto his art works. Even in his eighties, there was a beautiful youthfulness

Masses of moving people are the subjects of many of Lee's later works such as this one painted using tradi!ional ink and paper in 1985.

about his life and in his openness to new styles and subject matter lay the secret of his creativity. Much credit also goes to the inspiration of his wife and fellow artist, 6Scyear-old Park ln-kyong, who runs the Oriental Fine Arts Institute in Paris. This institute has been the center of her efforts to bring together both Oriental and Western art. Their only son lee Yung-se, 32, is also a painter. The 130 works displayed in the Hoam Art Gallery in Sosomun in downtown Seoul from January 1 through February 26 were all produced at lee's Paris atelier overlooking Monmartre Hill over the last 30 years. As such, they give a definitive representation of the artists developing style throughout this period. Despite the fact that all the works on display could be subdivided into various styles dominant at certain periods, no two paintings are alike and all display the artist's freedom to move through the different motifs that characterized his work. Further, all the pieces possess a sense of movement and life even those that can be classified as "image abstraction." lee Ung-no saw three different underlying trends or inclinations in his works. Firstly, he composed scenes filled with a spirit of drunkenness depicting the joys and sorrows in the lives of the common people. Secondly, he identified the motifs of writing and dots drawn from the tradition of calligraphy. And thirdly, he dealt with the movement of people in his compositions. These three underlying trends can be seen in various measures in all his compositions and are even present to a certain extent in his Expressionist-like treatment of Oriental paintings depicting animals and landscapes. The refined tones of the Southern School where he began his artistic training in the 1920s have been abandoned in his later works for strong rugged strokes and heavy daubs that give his landscapes a forboding quality not seen in his more playful animal paintings. lee Ung-no's medium was essentially that of all other Oriental painters, white absorbant paper and ink in various shades of grey and black derived from hard aromatic tar-like sticks dissolved in water.

Moving figures in Chinese ink on traditional paper painted in 1987.

There is a naturalness about this medium and the strokes and daubs of the painter's brush start a dialogue between the paper and the ink giving a life to the artist's creation. This does not have the finality of oil on canvas presenting the image exactly as the painter intended, rather the painter is a co-worker with the medium through which he expresses his creation. The Oriental painting thus carries within it something of the yin and the yang, the opposites at the heart of all existence which are forever accommodating to

each other in varying degrees. Here it is the ink and the paper, the paper soaking up and presenting the ink which lives on the surface of the paper transforming it forever into a work of art. This idea also is central to the theory of calligraphy as art, lee Ung-no's abstract ideograms are more than a coded message or a random collection of distorted ideograms, they fit into a tradition that sees beauty in a painted word. This tradition sees a character as more than a representation of a sound that

has a meaning in the language of men, for the ideas themselves are in effect paintings that live and possess a power of their own. The painter's genius is more than in reproducing the exactness of the curves, it is in instilling the form with a life that gives it meaning. Abstract ideograms then simply go back to the power that lies behind the character and resides deep in the Oriental consciousness. All too often these images are only one step removed from nature and lee Ung-no's abstract images seem to cast away the veneer

of thousands of years of civilization to reveal the primitive messages of mankind's struggle to communicate that they contain. Thus we can see a link between the paintings of nature, the abstract images, the "calligraphic abstraction" and his later works filled with myriads of struggling and dancing human figures. These later works are particularly striking although they have their antecedents in pieces produced in the early 1960s. There is something about these masses of moving people that breathes the very

essence of life. In the movements of hunting, dancing and fighting there is something of the drunkenness which lee described as characteristic of his paintings. Likewise, there are the daubs and strokes of calligraphy and, of course, the movement of people. In these latter works all three characteristics come together and present the viewer with something extremely rare - a living work of art that literally reaches out and grabs you into its orbit. We are indeed fortunate that the artist's life culminated with such greatness. One of his last paintings was a scene of frenzied dance with various traditional Korean figures recognizable among the crowd. It is like the scene of the spontaneous explosion of dance that often accompanies the end of traditional Korean performances and indeed some performers are identifiable in the crowd caught up in the ecstasy that comes from the release of the spirits normally entrapped deep in our hearts. The dance could have been imprinted on lee Ung-no's memory of the Korean countryside and its depiction shows that he never lost touch with the spirit of his homeland which animated his works throughout his life abroad. In relation to the exhibition in Seoul which was to become his posthumous exhibition, lee Ung-no said: "My lifelong dream has been publicizing the Korean spirit and art to the outside world. I am glad that I can show to my people what I have so far done to that end." The full assessment of lee's impact on Korean art will have to be seen in time. But Korea is fortunate that an artist of such greatness was its ambassador at the center of the world's art capital for thirty years. Those in the West were also fortunate that they had such a devoted and gentle teacher in their midst for such a long time. In his passing through this world, lee Ung-no left us much to ponder on and refresh and inspire us. lee was buried on Monday January 16, 1989 after a funeral service at a public cemetry in Montereau on the southern outskirts of Paris. + (PM)

REVIEW/MUSIC

SAMULNORI vs MU

The Tenth Anni ersary of Samul ori By Ku Hee-seo

amulNori , Korea's most famous traditional percussion ensemble, celebrated its tenth anniversary in November and December of 1988 with a series of special concerts entitled "SamulNori vs Mu". The concerts were held in a number of cities around Korea , providing the stage for a vibrant encounter between Korea's traditional rhythms and internationally recognized jazz musicians. Over the last ten years of dedicated study and organization, SamulNori has become synonymous with traditional Korean ritual music and rhythms, reviving our music and giving it new meaning in modern times.

The "SamulNori vs Mu" performances can be seen as the most basic of SamulNori's recent collaborative concerts because this setting is most closely linked to the artists' fundamental doubts and questions about their very existence: What am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going? The sounds created by the samul (literally "the four instruments") The small and large gongs, the hourglass drum and the barrel drum are not relics of some long dead period of ancient history, but are rather the pulsating beat of the living history of today. SamulNori revives the rhythm and beat which flows from Korea's traditional

Wolfgang Puschnig and Linda Sharrock interact with the sounds of SamuiNori.

religion, morals and thought, giving them new life. The performers are both modem artists as \\-Bll as the descendants of mu, a spiritual link between man, nature., and the gods. The traditional concept of mu was based on the idea that man is the link between the heavens and the earth, and was expressed as a ritual revering these three elements as one. They believe that their music has emerged from the pious and sublime religious ceremonies of ancient times and they are the descendants of mu, priests of Korean tradition. By gathering musicians from around the world, these heirs to Korea's mu meet those from other cultures and create a mu for today's world.

Thus this concert was a kind of response to their own and others' music, an intricate reply to the question of where we are coming from aud to where are we going. Since its formation in 1978 at the Space Theater in Seoul, SamulNori has performed with many foreign and Korean musicians on stages around the world, collaborating with folk musicians, jazz and classical groups, and pop performers. The four foreign musicians who joined SamulNori for the "SamulNori vs MU" concerts have performed with SamuJNori and each other before. Founder of the Vienna Art Orchestra, Wolfgang Puschnig and the Vienna-based jazz vocalist Linda Sharrock joined SamulNori to perform at the Moers Festival in Frankfurt in 1987. The Brazilian percussionist Dudu Tucci first met SamulNori at the 1987 International Ethnic Percussion "Megadrums" tour, and Yamashita Yosuke, the world famous Japanese jazz pianist, began working with the Korean group in 1986 at Tokyo's Parco III "Dangerous Vibrations" concerts. These performers have all proven themselves as consummate musicians in their specialized fields within their own countries, and in the words of SamulNori's Kim Duk Soo, each possesses the elements of what we could call mu, the existence of humanity between heaven and earth and the meeting of East and West. In the "SamulNori vs Mu" concerts, SamulNori provided the basic rhythm and the other performers then added the voice of their own instruments to create a greater flow of sound. SamulNori provided a beat and the soloists joined in, and then the soloists would lead and SamulNori would interact with the soloists' creations - a wonderous symphony of the old and the new, East and West. The "SamulNori vs MU" tour started in Osaka and Tokyo and then stopped in Pusan and Taegu before its final performance in Seoul's Sejong Cultural Center. The final performance in Seoul was a modern day festival, a celebration filling the stage and auditorium with an emotional beat.

Soloist Linda Sharrock gives a vocal performance.

The program opened with SamulNori's performance of the Kyonggidodangkut or exorcism which purifies the stage, and then the subsequent introduction of the solo performances by the other musicians. In the second section entitled Ki-won or Prayer, vocal performances by Lee Kwang Soo and Linda Sharrock took center stage, the two performers interacting with the beat of the music. This section was much like the calling forth of the gods in a Korean kut or exorcism. The third section was based on traditional Korean ritual music and rhythms and entitled 01-lim (Ascension), an expression referring to one of the rhythms found in traditional ritual music. Dudu Tucci who has actively studied percussion music from around the world was joined by SamulNori's Kim Duk Soo at center stage for a succession of solos and duets integrating the unique rhythms of their two experiences. Part Two of the concert has a much stronger Western flavor. The

set opened with "Golden Bird in Flight" followed by a Brazilian folk theme in "If You Believe," a Korean blues number entitled "Basic Truth" which combined blues with Korean mudang music, and "More Than Ever;' a blending of Korean ritual rhythms and American rap. The "SamulNori vs Mu" concerts created a free flowing dialogue among accomplished musicians from five nations, each speaking in their respective idiom, but joining together without impediments, bringing to life a great spiritual ritual for people all over the world. Through this performance the audience could experience the complete openness of the musicians who, no matter what their language or medium of expression, joined together in an open, completely unrestricted and powerful dialogue through music. The interaction of the voices of Lee Kwang Soo and Linda Sharrock, deep and earnest like the rising wail of a deeply felt prayer, the marriage of the. rhythms of the drums of Kim Duk Soo and Dudu Tucci - they seemed like human offerings to the gods. These performers were not simply making music; rather they were the mu, the priests, the link between man and the gods, bringing us, the audience, closer to nature and the heavens in a baptism of music. Clearly SamulNori was successful in what it set out to express. Just like its name, SamulNori is a traditional Korean percussion ensemble. And, of course, their first priority has been the perfection of their technique in gathering and organizing Korea's traditional rhythms. But these musicians refuse to permit us to become too comfortable with that role - they are musicians living for tomorrow. They are musicians who seek to constantly test themselves through encounters with musicians from other cultures. In free and open dialogue they ask themselves: "Can we survive when we contend with other means of expression?" In these encounters, however, they always seem to reassure us with their suppleness made strong by their deep historical roots.+ The writer is an art critic special zing in drama who writes for the Daily Sports Newspaper in SeouL

REVIEW/DANCE

THE SONG OF CHONGOP

The Korean Woman's Soul Expressed in Poetry, Music and Dance

hursday December 29 and Friday 30 saw the winding up of 1988 on the extremely active Korean artistic scene with a dance presentation of the "Song of Chongup" at the main hall of the National Theater in Changch'ung-dong at the foot of Namsan Mountain in Seoul. Spurred on by the Olympic Arts Festival, 1988 has been an extremely active year for all forms of artistic expression in Korea and dance has been in no way excluded from this. The 80-minute piece in four acts was choreographed by Professor Song Soo-nam who is also a veteran dancer herself. In this piece she has sought to both present this ancient poem through the medium of dance while at the same time mediating it through the experience of modern Korean women. Such an attempt at dialogue with the depths of Korean tradition underscores the level of maturity that the Korean performing arts are achieving at this time. The Song of Chongup or chongup sa as it is known in Korean simply means a song of Chongup County which is situated in North Cholla Province. This area is right at the heart of what was the Paekche Kingdom and the poem is believed to be the only surviving example of a song from the Paekche period (18B.C. to A.D.660). The song which survived in Korean folk song tradition was collected along with other poems from the folk song tradition and given its present more classical form in the latter part of the Koryo period (A.D.918-1392). Thus it belongs with the "long poem" or changga tradition which is considered to rank with the hyangga of Shilla in its literary quality.

With significant archaeological finds and a deeper realization of Paekche's influence on the development of Japanese culture during the Nara period, research into Paekche's history and culture is undergoing a renaissance at this time. Paekche's fall really relates to a struggle between the advances of Tang China into the Korean peninsula in the 7th century and the expansion of the Shilla Kingdom. And while Shilla's victory ultimately insured the survival of Korea and development of Korea as a political and cultural entity, the demise of Paekche Âˇ obscured this kingdom's rich cultural advances. In this light, the presentation of the Song of Chongup is particularly appropriate and is a further contribution to a broadening understanding of the diversity of Korea's cultural heritage. For Professor Song the presentation is the result of accumulated research into Korean dance and Korea's literary traditions particularly into the expression of the Korean woman's soul. This, for her, is much deeper than the revival of an ancient literary composition as it demands looking again at the gestures and movement of Korean dance. A translation of the Song of Chongup is as follows: 0 moon, please rise high, And shine on far and bright. 0 dear moon, 0 shine on his way home.

Is he doing well in the market?

0 may he not step on swampy grounds 0 dear moon. Would he be safe?

Throw away everything and come back, My dear. 0 may night not overtake him on his way home. 0 dear moon, 0 shine on his way home. Traditionally this poem has been taken as a classic example of the concern of the faithful Korean wife for her husband's well being and on one level there is no reason to doubt this interpretation. However, for Song Soo-nam there is a further dimension to this piece in that it reflects the deep sense of pathos and regret or han that dominates the Korean consciousness and way of looking at life. There is no doubt that this feeling overshadows the Korean soul and various reasons have been given as regards its origin from the harshness of the Korean climate and the difficulties of winning ~ living from the mountainous terrain to the fact that the vast rna jority of Koreans were subject to their overlords and masters from ancient times until quite recently. Han therefore has been described as the common feeling of the ordinary people of Korea in the face of their condition as the objects and not the subjects of their destiny. Nevertheless, the feeling seems to be shared and appreciated by people of all classes regardless of their level of power and influence. This feeling of han, then, is a very strong element in the lives of Korean women and it is this element in the Song of Chongup that attracted Song and awakened her to the possibilities of this piece. However, all is not sorrow and regret and this dance also revolves around other central concepts. ~irstly, there is the idea of

mot which encompasses the concepts of style, graciousness and zest. This is not only extremely important in dance but expresses itself in the distinctly lively character of Korean women. A further concept is the idea of the dance itself or ch'um. Dance in Korea is a very vital element in overcoming feelings of sorrow and resentment and it is not uncommon to see middle-aged women and even grandmothers dancing spontaneously when the mood takes .them. These three ideas of han and mot and ch'um are central to both the Korean mentality and to Korean performing arts. The dance itself is arranged in the four acts centered around the movement of the poem and yet also moving out to express other areas related to its message, especially the dynamics of affection, attachment and separation. The script for the piece was written by Ch' a Bomsok, an experienced writer who has written the scripts for many other dance compositions. In this composition Ch' a strove to express both the beauty of the heroine and the conflicting emotions and sense of anxiety that engulfs her. This was further hightened in the music composed by Kim Young-chae who is currently professor of classical Korean music in the College of Arts at Chonnam University. For him the challenge of this piece was not only in conveying the sense of movement and the different emotions which this piece requires but also in conveying the sounds of nature which forms the background to the whole piece. A cast of some 32 dancers took part in the performance under the direction of Kim Hyo-kyong who has directed various dance pieces as well as many plays. The role of the husband was performed by Cho Hung-dong who in addition to being the most representative of all Korean male dancers is also active in the work of promoting and developing Korean dance. His accomplished performance acted as a counterbalance to that of the largely female cast. Song Soo-nam herself not only arranged the composition and choreographed the piece but also contributed a strong performance herself. For her, presenting the Song of Chongup in dance form

Song SooÂˇnam in the foreground performing in the "Song of ChOngiip."

involved a dialogue with the piece from the perspective of a successful Korean woman livmg in the latter part of the 20th century. Thus, for her, this composition was not simply a matter of presenting a beloved piece from the depths of Korean tradition but of grasping the essence of the Korean woman's experience and expressing it. To this end she strove to convey the sense of determination and struggle with life and enjoyment of life that typifies Korean women as well as their gentle, nurturing and accepting qualities. The sense of endurance that Korean women and all Koreans possess has both active and passive dimensions and the story, music and dance of the Song of Chongup reached fully into these different aspects overcoming the traditional depiction of women and their roles in society. The first act of the piece dealt with the beauty of love and endurance and began with the husband's departure on his journey. Included in this was also the sense of struggle between the mother and daughter-inlaw with the two women left behind in their homeplace. The second act dealt with sexual emotion and ecstasy and then this was followed in the third act with a focus on the male temperament and particularly showing the more direct and somewhat simple characteristics of the masculine approach to life and the emotions. The final act looked forward to a resolution of chaos and anxiety with the attainment of a state of order and peace. However,

the ending was left open refusing to submit to either the pessimism of the husband's failure to return or the optimism of their safe reunion. The production, thus, really moved from parting and remembered exhilaration through dispair, chaos and breakdown to restoration and hope in the future. The Song of Chongup was jointly sponsored by the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation and the Korean Dance Association. However, its real inspiration is due to Song Soo-nam herself. She is presently professor of dance in the Dance Department of Dankook University in Seoul and previously taught in Sookmyung Women's University but her career has in no way been limited to college circles for she consistently studied under various renowned dancers since 1953. Her active dancing career and her continued studies in education and dance have equipped her to become a respected innovator in the field of presenting and developing Korean dance. Her inspiration and the combined efforts of the dancers themselves as well as the director, the composer and the script writer and all the other people involved in the production contributed to making this a successful and memorable work. Further, the Song of Chongi:ip confirms that the advances in presenting a truly modern form of Korean dance drawing on Korean tradition that have come to the fore in 1988 will continue. + (P.M l

ART NEWS

Four Seoul Galleries Participate in the LA Art Fair Four art galleries in Seoul participated in the third International Contemporary Art Fair in iDs Angeles which started on December 10. The Four were Gallery Hyundai, Sun Art Gallery, International art Gallery and Jean Art Gallery. Gallery Hyundai chose four prominent Korean painters as their representatives at the fair, Ahn Young-il, Ahn Byeong-seok, Shin Seong-hyi and Kim Won-sook. Their works presented quite a w ide selection of styles and use of colors reflecting the variety of the contemporary Korean art scene. This year, Sun Art Gallery again selected California based Korean artist Kwak Hoon as their only representative at the fair. Kwak's reputation has grown considerably over the last number of years and his works have been featured in three solo-exhibitions in Seoul, iDs Angeles and San Franscisco in the last year,testifying to his popularity. Dispite the fa ct that he uses an abstract form in his works, his painting is distinctly oriental and possesses a power and depth which mark his works off as an original contribution to contemporary art. Jean Art Gallery, on the other hand, exhibited the paintings and sculptures of ll artists, thus giving visitors to the L.A. fair a chance to appreciate modern Korean sculpture as well as painting. Notable among their retune was 77 -year-old painter Nam Kwan, who was their choice to represent them at the L.A. Art Fair last year. He was represented by his oils and canvases depicting distorted human images in blue and yellow brown. The respected painter is well known in Korea and abroad and his works are included in the collections of many art institutions around the world including the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Paris and the Luxemburg State Museum of Art. The International Art Gallery

exhibited Oh Kyong-hwan's acrylics on canvas at L.A. Oh, who is a professor at Dongkuk University in Seoul, said his works demonstrated his understanding of space as a tangible reality. All these works helped in their own way to emphasise the vibrance and vitality of Korean art which which is becoming more appreciated and accessible to a wider international public than ever before. +

Cho Byung-hwa Becomes President of Korean Writers Association

At the 28th General Assembly of the Korean Writers Association held in the Press Center in Seoul on January 7, senior poet Cho Byunghwa was elected president of the association to replace novelist KimDong-ni. Poet Hwang Myong, novelist Ku In-hwan, poet Kim Sichol, essayist Won Chong-song and poet Kim Hae-song were the five newly elected vice presidents chosen by the 267 representatives at the

assembly. Cho vowed to do all in his power to achieve the goals of the association; improve national literary development; promote friendly relations among members; protect writers' rights; and internationalize Korean literature. Cho also promised that the 2,000 member government sponsored Korean Writers Association would work with the more progressive newly-founded Association of Korean Nationalistic Artists. Cho was born in Anseong in Kyonggi-do Province in 1921 and since he produced his first volume of poems in 1949 his output has been quite large with 32 volumes of poetry, 20 volumes of essays and three volumes of his own drawings. Cho has thought at several universities in Seoul and is presently a professor at Inha University in Inchon. A number of his works have been translated into English and he has won a number of prizes includ-

ing the Asian Freedom Literary Award in 1960, the Tufu Statue Award from the Chinese Academy of Modern Poetry in 1971 and the 3rd World Congress of Poets Award in 1976. Cho is currently a member of the Korea National Academy of Arts and the World Congress of Poets and it is hoped that his stature and vision will strengthen the Korean Writers Association. +

Chung Myung-whun Wins Best Conductor of the Year Award

Chung Myung-whun, the 35-yearold conductor of the Florence City Orchestra, won the Italian Music Critic Association's Conductor of the Year Award for 1988. The news was

lee Yang-ji wins Akudagawa Literary Award 35-year-old Korean-Japanese woman writer Lee Yang-ji was named winner of Japan's highest literary award, the Akudagwa Literary Award, in early January for her novel "Yuhee." The writer, who is a second generation Korean born in Japan, now lives and studies in Seoul and her novel deals with the conflicts encountered by a JapaneseKorean student who has come to study in her motherland. The novel was published in the November edition of the Japanese literary journal Group and its success was

announced in Rome in early December and marks the level of prominence which Chung has attained in international music circles. Chung, who was born and

brought up in Korea, studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. +

enough to win her the prestigious award.Following novelist Lee Hoesun in 1972, Lee is the second Japanese-Korean to win the Akudagawa prize. Winning the award is looked upon as the gateway to literary success and in the past it has been awarded to such authors as nobel prize winning writer Kawabata Yasunari. The prize, which is somewhat of an institution in Japanese life, is awarded biannually to a promising writer and this was the lOOth prize awarded since 1934. Lee was co-winner along with Japanese writer Keiji Naki. Lee was born in Yamanishi, Japan and her father was from Cheju Island off the south coast of Korea. In 1974, she entered Waseda University in Tokyo but left in 1975

without taking a degree. Ten years after first entering college, she went back to school, to the Korean Literature Department of Seoul National University with a scholarship from the Korean Ministry of Education. This period in her life became the basis for her prize winning novel and she acknowledges a great debt to Korea in her literary success. After graduation from Seoul National University; Lee decided to stay on in Korea and is curently studying the theory of Korean Dance at the graduate school of Ewha Woman's University. Lee has a deep love of Korean performing arts and in addition to dance has studied the Kayagum, a type of Korean zither, under master woman Kayagum player, Park Kwi-hee. +

ART NEWS

Pae Chung-hye Takes Charge of Seoul Metropolitan Dance Company After the resignation of Moon 11-ji from the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Company, leadership of this major troupe has been entrusted to veteran dancer Pae Chung-hye. Moon, who founded and headed the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Company, announced at the end of 1988 that she was resigning from her post and since has moved to the National Classical Music Institute. Her 43year-old successor Pae Chung-hae is one of the most active choreographers in Korean dance circles as well as being a consummate dancer herself. Pae, who started dancing at seven years of age, has been teaching Korean dance at Sunhwa Arts School and managing her own dance company Riul. Through her various activities, Pae has shown herself to be a gifted innovator in the world of modern Korean dance. A native of Seoul, Pae studied dance under various different dance masters as well as graduating from Sookmyung Womans University where she also completed her master's level studies. Pae has stated that she hopes to put her own stamp on the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Company and feature more pieces , both traditional and modern. +

Chon Sook-hee Reelected Korea PEN Chairwoman Chon Sook-hee was reelected chairwoman of the Korea PEN Center on January 9, 1989 for her fourth consecutive term. The 70-year-old writer was the only contender for the office of chairperson of the organization which was

established in Korea in 1954. Chon's reelection comes after the successful hosting of the 1988 International Pen Congress in Seoul last year. The writer who made her literary debut in 1954 wished to return to a more active literary career but was persuaded to take another term as PEN chairperson. Two rna jor items on her agenda are assisting the increasing literary exchanges between the Republic of Korea and the East bloc nations and arranging adequate translations of Korean literary works

into the world's major languages. The latter task is especially important as Korean literature is not well known in the outside world. Cho was born in the port city of Wonsan in what is now north Korea and graduated from Ewha Woman's College in 1938. Since 1978 she has been head of the Korean women's Literary Association and is also a member of the Korean National Commission for Unesco. In 1975, she was awarded the Order of Culture Merit by the Korean Government. +

Dance Festival of Korea to take place in October The 11th Dance Festival of Korea is scheduled to take place from October 11 to November 1, at the large hall of the Munye Theater in Tongsung-dong in Seoul. The fesival , which is sponsored by the Dance Society of Korea, is divided under three categories, Korean Traditional Dance, Ballet and Modern Dance. Entries to the festival are first judged

Korean Company to Take Part in Hungarian International Festival

by a preliminary screening committee composed of a panel of seven experts and then some lO to 12 entries will be selected to take place in the festival. The aim of the festival is to encourage the art of dance and creative choreography and each proposed entry must be an original work of less than 40 minutes which has not been previously staged. Concrete proposals for entry into the festival must be submitted before May. Following the success of the festival last year as an international event within the Seoul Olympic Arts Festival, dance troupes from Eastbloc countries, America and

Southeast Asia are being invited to perform. In addition, presentations from veteran dancers are espicially welcomed. Those who pass the screening stage will receive financial assistance to help defray the costs of the presentation. Various prizes are also being offered as part of the festival with a grand prize of 7 million won. The winners of the grand prize will also give performances at major cities throughout the country after the festival. A best choreography prize of 1.2 million won is being offered in addition to a best musical effects prize, a best stage setting prize and three best performances prizes, all at 600,000 won each. +

dance festival and he plans to incoperate a traditional Korean rhythm in this piece in which all the participants at the festival will take part. In the Korean presentation for the regular program, Kook will display such traditional Korean dances

as the farmers' dance and samulnori. Further, with the establishment of contacts between a Korean dance company and Kook's own troupe, joint performances by the two groups are envisaged in both Korea and Hungary next year. +

A 35-member dance troupe from the Republic of Korea is scheduled to take part in the International Dance Festival to be held in the Hungarian town of Szeged, south of Budapest, from July 20 to 30 this year. Korea's representative male dancer and one of the nation's leading choreographers, Kook Su-ho, will lead the troupe. The offer to participate in the event came about as a result of 41-year-old Kook's recent visit to Hungary. Kook's visit was at the invitation of Novak, cheif choreographer of the Havde Dancing Group, who came to Korea for the Seoul Olympic Arts Festival last year. In all, ten nations will participate in the festival under the theme of "Prophet" and along with Korea, there will be seven East European countries, the United States and Israel taking part in the event. The bi-annual dance festival is one of the largest held in Eastern Europe. Performances will be held on an outdoor stage and a seating capicity has been arranged for some 7,000 spectators. Kook has been chosen to arrange the 20-minute finale for the

BOOKS

Samulnori To celebrate the lOth anniversary of the Korean folk- percussion group,Samulnori, a 148 page book on the groups activities has been published by Art Space Publications in Seoul. The attractive large format book is full of pictures by Japanese photographer Ichiro Shimizu, who travelled with the group on their international tours to take these pictures. The text for the book is in Korean, English and Japanese and gives much background information on the group, its members, their instruments and Korean traditional music in general.In addition to their efforts to revive traditional Korean music and make it known in Korea and abroad, Samulnori has been engaged in a dialogue between its music and modern percussion music from around the world. This dialogue has attracted the attention of many notable jazz musicians who from time to time have come together with Samulnori to produce a sound that blends musical traditions from around the world into an unlikely harmony. The artists who took part in the 1987 International Ethnic Percussion Project "Megadrums" are

featured in this book including Austrian, Reinhard Flatischler, Brazilian, Dudu Tucci, U.S. singer Linda Sharrock and Aja Addy from Ghana. The book also features some of Samulnori's performances in Japan, where it has become quite popular as well as some glimpses of its successful summer workcamp which it held there last year. This book should not only prove to be a favorite with Samulnori's fans in Korea and abroad but will also prove to be an interesting reference on the development of Korean music in the 1980s. +

Korea and Korea, The Guide These two books on Korea,. both with photographs by French photographer Martine Aepli add to the increasing amount of books dealing with Korea that have been published to coincide with, or in the wake of, the Olympic Games. In a sense the two books compliment each other although they are both quite different. Aepli's photo-book, published by

Souffles in Paris, simply entitled Korea, is some 140 pages long and is full of rich and lively color photographs that give a thrilling glimpse at the variety that can be found in modern Korea. Aepli concentrates on the countryside and on country traditions which few foreigners get a chance to experience. While the end section of the book takes a quick look at Seoul. The book is not only attractive but its text is an informative commentary on Korean traditions and life. Korea, the Guide is also filled with Aepli's perceptive photographs and features a text by Bernard Festy that takes the reader on a journey thruugh most of south Korea. The book, which was published by Sous le Vent publishers in Paris in 1988, was translated into English by Helen Wasuk and aims to give the reader an insight into Korea as well as information on how to get around. The sections on Korean history, society and art provide quite a wealth of detail on things Korean. The part of the book entitled 'Discovering Korea' is especially helpful for those who want to discover the cultural riches of this ancient country. The book is highly to be recommended but should idealy be accompanied by a more practical travel guide for the business of travelling around the country. +

SAMULNORI

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