Koreana Spring 1998 (English)

ISSN 1016-0744

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BEAUTY OF KOREA

Kat

Of all articles of clothing, the hat has the most symbolic significance as it is worn on the head, the highest part of the body. The most representative type of Korean hat is the kat, a black bamboo and horsehair hat with a wide brim and a tall crown worn by government officials and literati of the Choson period (1392-1910).

The hat's round brim is woven from thin bamboo strands, as fine as human hair, while its tall cylindrical crown is made with woven horsehair. Cords attached to each side of the crown are tied under the chin when wearing the hat.

The making of a kat involves precisely 51 steps, all done completely by hand. The gentleman-scholar, or s6nbi, of old wore a kat to protect against the sun, snow and rain as well as to show dignity. Because air could flow through its fine strands of bamboo and horsehair, it allowed his head to stay cool.

The transparency of the kat, which subtly reveals the wearer's headband and topknot, or sangt'u, its concise form that aesthetically harmonizes straight lines with curves, its stiff crown and brim, and its noble yet austere black color personified the elegance of traditional Korean literati. +

KOREAN ART & CULTURE

Cover: This issue of KORE-

c

ANA focuses on Korean values, past and present, to show how traditional philosophies and religions continue to influence Korean life and thought today. Photographed is a student of the National Classical Music Institute performing a traditional line dance, ilmu, during the rites at the Munmyo Shrine (Temple of Confucius) in Seoul in deference to the ideological and spiritual values of Confucianism.

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Korean Values

Past and Present 4 ROUNDTABLE

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Applying Traditional Korean Values to Modern Korea

E

12 Life and Spirit of the Chos6n Literati by jung Ok-ja

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18 Chong Yag-yong's Theory of Livelihood

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by Ahn Byong-jick

24

s

Patrimonialism and Protestant Ethics

by Lew Seok-choon

28 The Beauty of Traditional Korean Motifs

by Lim Young-ju

34 ŠThe Korea Foundation 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the Korea Foundation.

The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily represent those of the editors of KOREAN A or the Korea Foundation.

KOREANA, registered as a quarterly magazine with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Registration No. Ba1033, dated Aug. 8, 1987), is also published in French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.

ON THE ROAD

Insa-dong

by Kim }oo-young

40 Hwang Chin-i: Folk Heroine and Poet

by Kevin O'Rourke

44 Olsukdo: A Mecca for Migratory Birds

by Yoon Moo-boo

52 TRADITIONAL ARTISAN

Ninth-Generation Crock Maker Yi Hak-su

by Lee Hyoung-kwon

Korea Foundation

Vol 12 . No l Spnng 1998

58 DISCOVERING KOREA

Ingenuity of Tungjan Design

by Kim Samdaeja

64 INTERVIEW

Hanbok Designer Lee Young-hee

by Kim Young-uk

69 MARKETS OF KOREA

Traditional Medicinal Herbs Market

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76 CONTEMPORARY ARTIST

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82 CURRENTS

Modern Korean Photography

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A New Angle on Folk Sculptures

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Korea on the Internet

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92 NEW PUBLICATIONS

Korean Cultural Heritage

by Suzanna M. Samstag

Symbolism and Simplicity of Korean Art

by Kai Kartio

94

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ROUNDTABLE

Applying Traditional Korean Values to Modem Korea

Now that Korea is going through a serious economic crisis, it might be a good time to reflect on the values that have traditionally sustained Koreans. During the past several decades, Koreans have tended to charge straight ahead, achieving (or not achieving) their aims in dramatic fashion.

In this context, a roundtable discussion was held in order to look back at the spirit of the sonbi (gentlemen-scholars) and Confucian culture, probably the most fundamental driving force behind the Korean value system, and to broadly define Korean values. We examined which aspects of Korea's spiritual heritage should be preserved and which might be discarded in an effort to suggest a direction for the future.-Ed. Choi Bong-young Professor of Korean Studies, Hankook Aviation University Choi Joon-sik Professor of Korean Studies, Ewha Womans University

Hahm Chai-bong Professor of Political Science, Yonsei University

KOREANA The topic of today's discussion is "Korean Values-Past and Present." It is a vast subject, but we can narrow it down as we talk How about starting with the "value system"?

Choi Bong-young The concept of a value system is so vast that the question arises as to how we can limit it. No culture exists without a value system.

And, though values are manifested differently by different cultures, it is impossible to identify monolithic values applicable only to Koreans. Values are universal in nature.

Choi Joon-sik That's right. Every society has a value system that is determined by a religion. That's because religion plays a central role in culture. Take, for example, a one-hundred-meter track event. Such a sporting event could not have originated in the East but is possible from the temporal view of Western Christianity, which espouses a beginning and an end. Changes in religion bring about changes in value systems.

In my view, Confucianism and shamanism have influenced Koreans the most.

Choi B. Y. I believe that the value system held by those in power in any society forms the nucleus of its culture.

During the Chason Dynasty, the values held by Confucian scholars formed such a nucleus and even influenced shamanism. In fact, when we listen to the chants of shamans when they perform rituals, most of them have to do with variations of Confucian values. I believe that the largest portion of today's Korean values derives from the Confucian culture that developed during the 500-year Chason Dynasty.

Choi]. S. But shamanism was endemic; it existed from the beginning of Korean history, before the introduction of Confucianism and Buddhism. Of course, it is true that Confucian influences were great, but it is hard to deny the social structures and value systems the masses have always carried with them.

Hahm Chai-bong I think both of you are right. Whether one was from a lower class or from the yangban class,

Hi

shamanism and Buddhism provided

civilization covers it all with a thin veneer, like a sugarcoated pill. Of the many religions, two directly influence World or existential problems. And isn't Koreans: Confucianism and shamanism. it true that the lower class embraced Confucian values when it came to poliIt is true of Korean Christianity as well.

I think Korean Christianity is more tics, economics and family? Now influenced by Confucianism and Western individualism has arrived to shamanism than by Western Christianplay a role as well. There are many culity. tural forms derived from these pheHahm C. B. That is why Korean nomena. In a culture that undergoes Christianity is easily misunderstood by constant change and coexists with Westerners; they approach it with other elements, the value system provides the guidelines by which people Christian preconceptions. Koreans understand the changes. But what is a might look westernized, but whether value system? Simply, it means Christian or not, they rely on their own thoughts, and when it comes to traditions when it comes to ways of Confucianism, it starts with what has thinking and values. been written in the classic texts, includChoiJ. S. Then it looks like we have to talk about the Korean value system, ing Confucius's sayings. particularly its "Confucian" aspects. I Choi J. S. The people accepted the think the ethics that guided the five carteachings of the classics, and most members of society shared the same dinal human relationships of ancient view of life. This should be considered Confucianism, among which "there is an order between the elder and the a value system. Because most people younger" and which instruct patriarchal shared it, it didn't change easily. "filial piety," are the Confucian cultural Choi B. Y. I feel that the relationship elements that have affected Koreans between a religion's worldview and its value system should be defined. If the most. I believe that from "filial piety" came the patriarchal group-orispace, life, eternity, good and evil are ented mentality, and that the "order the premises of what is called a worldbetween the elder and the younger" view, a religion provides a basis for the worldview. Supported by the worldresulted in an authoritarian mentality, the two pillars of Korean culture. view, the value system provides conHahm C B. I believe that the terms crete principles that are needed in the course of everyday life. I'm bringing we us~ when speaking to one another this up because Korea is a society of reveal the nature of Confucianism in Korean society. In the United States, sibmany religions. Were the religions to have different value systems, social lings call each other by their first name unity would be impossible. Koreans and in some households, children call practice different religions, and theretheir parents that way, too. It is because fore their worldviews are partially difthey place more importance on the ferent. Nevertheless, their everyday individual than the relationship. On the other hand, Korean college students use value systems are quite similar.

Therefore, I don't believe that we can terms such as "elder brother" for stutalk about the Korean value system as dents a year ahead. Koreans are pertaining to a specific religion. equipped with an automatic device that Choi J. S. Of course, Korea has many ¡ transforms a stranger into a member of religions, but in the area of human and a family; whenever Koreans meet social relationships, Koreans are strongsomeone new, they inquire about each ly influenced by Confucianism. If we other's age or their school associations to establish "the elder" and "the go a little further, there is an underpinning of primitive shamanic impulses. younger" in order to use the proper On top of that, Western individualistic honorific terms, body language and

~ guidance in thinking about the Other

Choi]oon -sik

Korea has many religions, but in the area of human and social relationships, Koreans are strongly influenced by Confucianism. If we go a little further, there is an underpinning of primitive shamanic impulses. On top of that, Western individualistic civilization covers it all with a thin veneer, like a sugarcoated pill.

Of the many religions, two directly influence Koreans: Confucianism and shamanism.

deportment. By this example, it is evident that the Confucian value system has affected even the most routine behavior.

Choi J. S. In Korea, the terms for referring to an older sibling are minutely developed. They depend on the gender of the speaker and the listeneroppa, 6nni, hy6ng and nuna. But for referring to a younger sibling, there is only one term: tongsaeng. From these terms, we can surmise that Korean society has an authoritarian value system in which people treat elders with deference, and those who are younger than themselves with disregard. In the West, the relationship between husband and wife is emphasized in the family system, whereas in Korea, the relationship between father and son is emphasized.

Choi B. Y. To compare the moder_n individualism of the West and the family-oriented attitude of East Asia , Westerners put more emphasis on self, whereas Koreans put more emphasis on family. It is common for Koreans to say, "study hard, become an expert and then a master." In the past, the apex of self-respect was becoming "a great politician." Koreans' concept of self derives from "family" or house. One of the reasons foreign Christianity could take root in Korea was that the Christian God was understood as the Father. The universe is the house and the Father, God, takes care of his house.

In Korean companies and schools, employees and students are called "family" to promote unity. In this way, Koreans understand self-respect in the context of the family or extended family relationships. The same is true in China and Japan.

ChoiJ. S. There are similarities among group-oriented societies. In such societies, there is rarely an encounter between individuals.

Choi B. Y. I will veer a little to a different subject. The West is said to be a culture of rationalism. I think Korean culture is characterized by submission to norms. Koreans believe they should live according to certain norms of

behavior. The Unity of Principles refers to something objective that exists outside the self, while the Following of Principles is something that involves the self and the things that are shared simultaneously . For example, in Tonghak (the School of Eastern Learning), it is said that "humanity equals Heaven." This doesn't mean that human beings are Heaven, but that the two share the same principles. Koreans live by submitting to norms of thought and behavior; that is, they need to follow inborn principles.

Choi]. S. That sounds like a very ethical interpretation. That is a moral concept of principles.

Choi B. Y. Koreans think of the existential principles that each persori has, rather than the concept of principles, as a form of logic. Westerners differentiate between Idea and Phenomena, right?

Idea is perfect and Phenomena are imperfect, and there is no common meeting ground for the two. But we think principles (ideas) exist in the things that represent those ideas. In particular, the shared principles are themselves perfect, and all human beings have to do is to follow them to reach the level of sacredness, of Heaven. That is why Koreans place such great importance on self-discipline and mental training.

In traditional Christian society, sin was considered an inevitable human condition. But in the East, because human beings are believed to have the potential for perfection, sin is considered secondary. Instead, a sense of shame is important. Here, fundamental ethics are not about sin but about selfdiscipline, the "Way" and manners.

When these are not pursued, a sense of shame results. As the West transformed into a modern individualistic society, people began to deny the concept of original sin and rationalize individual needs. Laws and boundaries were established so that people would not infringe on the freedom of others, and the standard of sin w as reduced to whether one broke the law or not.

Choi Bong-young

No culture exists without a value system . And, though values are manifested differ- . ently b y different cultures, it is impossible to identify mo,nolithic values applicable only

to

Koreans. Values are universal in n ature.

Hahm C. B. That's right. Western law views all problems as individual conflicts. On the other hand, Koreans see all problems in light of the relationships among family members. There are five cardinal human relationships, and when meeting someone, one must act in a way appropriate to whichever of the five relationships applies. If a person's manners appropriately conform to the relationship, he is considered a person of integrity. In the past, society was organized so that the five relationships could function well.

The traditional Korean village, one in which the inhabitants all shared the same surname, came into being during the Chason Dynasty when the large administrative divisions of the Koryo Dynasty were reduced in size. A typical village had about a hundred houses and an ancestral shrine, which trans-

formed the village into a clan-centered community, much like the ideal town envisioned by Lao Tzu. It was a village from which people didn't need to venture out, even if dogs barked ferociously in the next village. Based on these same-surname villages, Chason created an ideal society whereby the nation was united by the Five Ethics of NeoConfucianism compiled by Zhu Xi. This was the society that Chason was intent on creating.

Until 30 years ago, 90 percent of the Korean population lived in such ordered villages. With the advent of industrialization, most people began moving to high-rise apartment complexes. They don 't know who lives next door, but they'll go to any length to attend a family gathering at the other end of the country. Although they live in cities, their hearts are still

linked to their same-surname villages.

Choi]. S. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Before, a Korean lived three lives-as a member of a family, a member of a village, and a member of the nation. There were religious rites that unified the three. In the family, ancestral ceremonies served to unify the three. But if clan ties were overemphasized, different clans could turn hostile to each other and act exclusively, even in the same village. To ensure this didn 't happen , each village held an annual communal rite that promoted a sense of community, helping people feel they belonged, regardless of their surnames.

At the national level, the king had a symbolic role: He was the father and the people were his children. This gave the people a sense of unity as the children of one father. But now, only one

of the three units remains, the family.

Aren't the ancestral ceremonies strongly adhered to even today? Korean national holidays such as Ch'us6k and Lunar New Year's can be thought of as "family-centeredness reinforcement days." We are sorety¡in need of a celebratory rite that can bring people together as members of society. For example, Liberation Day or National Foundation Day should be such a day, but these holidays don't have any significance for Koreans, do they?

I believe that for Korean society to be able to function properly in the future, a principle or symbol of unity is required in order to unite Koreans socially. But how can we create such a symbol?

Hahm C. B. I believe that Korean Confucianism can provide a clue. It goes back to what you said about ritu-

als; it goes back to Confucian manners and etiquette. When someone dies, all the villagers gather to share their ideas about what should be done. That people share rituals is evidence that they are Koreans, and that is homogeneousness.

People used to refer to the Chos6n Dynasty as the "Royal Ancestral Shrine and Shrine for the Gods of Earth and Grains" for a reason. The Royal Ancestral Shrine was the royal family's shrine, like the family shrine in every same-surname village. But the king's role was different from that of ordinary family elders in that he performed rites in the shrine for the gods of earth and of grains. Because Koreans performed rites as a group, Korea came to be called the "Country of Manners in the East," or the "Small Middle Kingdom." Koreans prided themselves

on having an advanced civilization.

Performing rites was one of the most important roles of the state, but as we entered modern times, the elite, such as the royal family and the yangban class, disappeared, and rituals stopped being handed down.

I believe the breakdown of these rituals is tantamount to the disappearance of the central core of the Korean identity. That is because we judge whether someone is Korean or not by the way he or she acts, by his or her use of the proper etiquette. Whether our use of respectful forms of address or even our trivial gestures, we all share a certain etiquette. We are in need of rediscovering our identity, but the question is which traditions and conventions should be revived, which people can all agree on.

Choi B. Y. Rituals are what are

revealed as phenomena. They are how people live, abiding by manners and etiquette, and as such, they should become part of one's human psyche. If this significance of the rituals has been severed, it should be reconfirmed.

For example, these days it is considered a virtue to put practicality before dignity, but this is a frivolous way of understanding life. In order to live like a real human being, one should treasure dignity. If you teach people that a life led in an inhuman way is somehow appropriate, who will pay attention to manners and etiquette? In a society where many different people live together, manners and etiquette are a means to determine who another person is in chance encounters.

Because manners have disappeared, people don't know each other anymore.

In terms of law, it is true that people should live according to the rules, but to Koreans the perfect way to live is according to their own discretion .

Koreans still use the expression, "he's the kind of person who can live without law ." As Confucius said, if too much emphasis is placed on laws, people will only try to avoid and not honor them ; they lose a sense of shame and that is detrimental to character development. We should think about how we can strike a harmony between a life that abides by the law and a life that doesn't require laws.

KOREANA Korea's economic and social environment has changed a great deal since the Chos6n Dynasty. Don't we need some solutions from a modern point of view?

Choi B. Y. When the modernization process began, Korea's traditional cultural environment should have been adjusted to accommodate the changes.

For example, among traditional values there are those that may have required a complete makeover, those that may have required revision, and those that may have required no revision, but our predecessors discarded everything, considering all these traditions to be of no 10

worth. If we liken culture to the human body, and value systems to the body's parts, these changes were like amputating an arm because it had a boil and transplanting someone else's arm in its place. But at the same time planners made no efforts to graft foreign value systems onto the Korean body. Can modernization be achieved just by adopting systems and laws in the absence of cultural values?

In this context, intellectuals can be divided into culture adherents and system adherents in a somewhat simplistic manner. Unfortunately, Korean intellectuals were mostly system adherents.

From the colonial period, they didn't ponder how best to adapt foreign ideas to Korean life and culture; they were too engrossed in matters of immediate practicality.

KOREANA Then why was Korean culture cut off so suddenly? Are there some values that can be revived at this point?

Choi B. Y. Let me boast about the cultural level of the Choson Dynasty.

It was the only nation in the world where the ideals proposed by the philosopher-statesman Plato were attempted. King Chongjo was a representative philosopher. If you look at the Collected Works of Hongjae (King Ch6ngjo), it is evident that the king was more conversant with the classics than his officials. He made an effort to establish an ideal nation, applying his knowledge to administration and governance. And where else in the world did a king study together with his servants three times a day? In world history, no other country has implemented Neo-Confucianism, that complicated and vast system, to such an extent.

Although Korea fell behind the Western countries in terms of technological development, the brilliance of Korean culture was at an impressive level.

Modern capitalism is engaged in awkward experiments in the effort to justify human needs.

Hahm C. B. Westerners experienced

capitalism directly, so they know how harmful it can be. Didn't welfare states in Europe attempt to mitigate its harmful effects by introducing the theory of class, thus reaching a compromise? In the United States, the spirit of Christianity, in its own way, alleviates the problematic aspects of capitalism. In this way, the culture of each country determines how to accommodate capitalism, and in our case, Confucianism, our traditional culture, can play a key role. The question is how we can make use of our cultural resources positively to attain the ideal society Confucianism points to.

Choi J. S. I agree that capitalism can be mitigated through Confucianism.

During the Chos6n Dynasty, didn't irrational shamanism have a complementary relationship with rational Confucianism? The rational part of culture has broken down, and now only shamanic impulses and Confucianism dominated by "family-centeredness" are prevalent. Rational Confucian culture has to be revived, but we don't even know what our ancestors did in the past. There is no foundation . To discover the foundation requires research. A thorough study of Korean cultural traditions should be undertaken.

Choi B. Y. I believe it is acceptable to discard Confucianism as a religion, but academic studies of Confucianism should be carried out in a thorough manner. This is because the Confucian culture of the Chos6n Dynasty is the root of Korean life. And today's intellectuals should embrace the spirit of the Confucian scholar. We have a strong tradition of literary scholarship.

It would be unfortunate to lose such a heritage.

KOREANA What is the nucleus of the spirit of s6nbi, the gentleman-scholar or Confucian scholar?

Choi B. Y. In the first place, the scholar has been defined as a person who "disciplines himself, governs his family wisely, rules the country and pacifies the world." He starts with him-

self, realizing his intentions and taking responsibility for the world around him. The most basic aim of the scholar is to become an example for others, so that all people can live in posterity.

There is an expression, "rise in the world and achieve fame." What does achieving fame mean? To maintain their fame, the Confucian scholars imposed a tremendous restraint on themselves.

During the Choson Dynasty, the Confucian scholars' authority was immense. They had to be socially responsible and maintain their identity as moral leaders. They had to be righteous, but they were never supposed to look for gain. When a scholar sought opportunities for personal gain, that meant the end of him. For scholars, there were prescribed norms for being socially responsible. For exam pie, stretching out in the daytime to take a nap was an egregious error.

Hahm C. B. In a word, scholars led an abstinent life. It was like living a Western monk's life amid one's family members.

Choi B. Y. So they were secular priests. During the Choson Dynasty, scholars were academics, bureaucrats and priests. They imposed strict norms on themselves in order to establish their own identity. And the Choson people looked up to Confucian scholars. Because they were exemplary role models, the Choson Dynasty was able to last for five hundred years.

Hahm C. B. Western law is designed to protect the privacy of individuals. In contrast, Confucian society viewed people as social beings who are meant to be among others at all times. There is no privacy. Didn't they say that scholars should refrain from being alone? They always had to be among people, to serve as living examples of propriety. You can imagine how difficult that life was! The scholars prescribed manners and etiquette to follow, and those who endured the greatest difficulties to practice them to the letter received the most respect. So it is

easy to see how different that society's fundamental spirit was.

Now it is said that absolute respect for Confucian scholarship is crumbling, but this is not necessarily true. In my view, a moral consensus is surprisingly strong among Koreans. Look at how people have responded to the current situation, to the IMF bailout. People have willingly cut back their consumption, and new values seem to be emerging.

Choi B. Y. When certain circumstances result in a historical summons to act in some extraordinary way, Koreans tend to jump right in; they are eager to become willing participants and examples for others. A persuasive plea that will awaken the Korean ¡soul is: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we should become examples for the world. We should be remembered by history."

Choi J. S. As I said earlier, to revive ethics is what is important. We should look for ways to reach back to our roots. Research should be conducted first. Then what should come next?

Hahm C. B. A driving power based on an academic consensus should emerge to revive Korean culture.

When we look at the founding of Choson, it is surprising that people who shared the same worldview and who were equipped with learning and an ability to govern got together from such a small-scale society and built a nation based on conviction and their own talents. I think such a leading power should appear naturally. It looks like we finally have some latitude in this regard. During the colonial period, Korean culture was hewed down, and afterward it was difficult to revive because of the need for economic development. It has been fifty years since the founding of the Republic of Korea. I feel that the time is ripe for a fresh power to emerge to lead a new nation.

Choi J. S. That will be the second founding of the country.

KOREANA Thank you for your insightful comments. +

Hahm Chai-bong

Koreans see all problems in light of the relationships among family members. There are five cardinal human relationships, and when meeting someone, one must act in a way appropriate to whichever of the five relationships applies.

If a person's manners appropriately conform to the relationship, he is considered a person of integrity. In the past, society was organized so that the five relationships could function well.

11

Life and Spirit of the Chos6n Literati JungOk-ja Professor of Korean History Seoul National University

area's intellectual class during the Chason Dynasty (1392-1910) was composed of s6nbi, Confucian literati of yangban descent who devoted themselves to classical studies. The image of the Chason gentleman-scholar, characterized by integrity, uncompromising principles, dauntless spirit and an astute mind, stirs a deep sense of reverence in the minds of many Koreans who are disillusioned by the chronic weaknesses and vacillating behavior of modern intellectuals of the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) and more recent times. When the modern breed of intellectual is compared to that of older eras, the spirit of the sonbi of Chason certainly seems worthy of emulation.

Throughout history, intellectuals have played a pivotal role in the social and political development of Asian countries. Virtually all of the philosophical ideas the human mind is capable of were unraveled by the "Hundred Schools" of scholars that flourished in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (6th-3rd century B.C.). Of the hundreds of theories and philosophies expounded by as many sages at the time, Confucianism emerged as China's governing ideology. One of the reasons for its prevalence was its characteristic view of history, "to understand the present by understanding the past," which was a foundation for stability.

Civilization evolves through a continuous repetition of trial and error. It is

K

12

thus essential to understand the events of the past so as not to repeat the same errors. This led Confucian scholars to place great importance on the study of history. They understood humanity as a fabric woven with the unchanging truth of the classics as the warp and the compounding history of passing time as the weft. For example, such universal concepts as goodness, beauty, truth and filial piety never change with time, but the methods humans employ to attain them are bound to change from one era to the next.

An attempt to comprehend the human fabric through the relationship between philosophy (classical studies) and history became the foundation of Oriental civilization, which enriched the spiritual development of its cultures. With slight modifications here and t4ere to accommodate the changing times, this spirit functioned consistently through the various eras that unfolded with the flow of history.

To take an example from recent Korean history, this was the basic thrust of the philosophies of the scholars of the 18th century Northern School (pukhak) headed by Pak Chiwon and the scholars of the School of Enlightenment Thought (kaehwa sasang) active in the 19th century.

Whereas the Northern School sought to reform the country in line with the superior systems of Ch'ing China by "studying the old to create the new," the scholars of the School of Enlightenment Thought proposed to reform the closed nation by "grafting

Western science and technology onto the established Korean ways." These ideas were in truth native endeavors to counter Western encroachment, but they were all swept aside by the imperialism and modernization that surged upon Asia's shores in the 19th century, when Asian countries became arenas of contest for Western ideologies, a situation that lasted for nearly a century.

It is this spirit of mtegrating philosophy with history that needs to be revived today, when Asian societies are about to emerge from a long tunnel of confusion. This will necessitate in-depth research into the history of the Chos6n Dynasty up to its colonization by Japan and also of NeoConfucianism, which was the prevalent philosophy at that time.

S6nbi, "gentleman-scholar," is a generic term for Chos6n-era intellectuals who were devoted to Neo-Confucian studies. They were yangban or upper class in their social standing and landed gentry in their financial standing. They first disciplined themselves in Confucian teachings and then sought to elevate their learning and character to a stature capable of governing the populace; their ultimate goal was often to become a successful scholar-official.

A s6nbi's training began with a thorough drilling in the teachings set out

by Sohak (The Learning for the Young), a primer in moral training for children of elementary school age. This primer contains the most basic principles of conduct such as how to straighten one's room, fold and stow away one's own bedding, and clean up after oneself; it also prescribes step-bystep how to properly respond to one's seniors, ask for the favor of teaching, politely welcome and escort visitors into one's home-in general, how to carry oneself. Moral training was pursued by all social classes but was ardently undertaken particularly in upper-class yangban families. It was only natural that Chos6n society, in which Neo-Confucianism was a state cult, should adopt Sohak as a textbook

The intellectuals of the late Chosi5n period liked to travel throughout the countryside to nurture their love for their country. A byproduct of their leisurely wandering was the emergence of realism in landscape painting.

The leading advocate of this trend, which replaced the bnaginary landscape painting long influenced by Chinese painting, was Chong Son. Shown here is Chong Son~ painting of Manp'okdong in Mt. Kiimgangsan.

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Yi I developed Neo-Confucian scholarship to the extent that there emerged an entirely independent school of thought that is classified as Korean Neo-Confucianism to differentiate it from its Chinese precursor.

The development of Chos6n society thereafter can be accurately described as the process of putting the ideals of Korean NeoConfucianism into practice.

SOdang (Schoolroom), a painting by Kim Hong-do (1745-1814?); the tearful schoolboy must turn his back to the teacher so as not to see the textbook while he tries to recite, and the other students try to suppress their mirth.

for teaching basic morals to its children.

A more specific, down-to-earth textbook for children's moral training emerged in the late 16th century.

Kyokmong yogyol (The Secret of Striking Out Ignorance), written by Yi I (Yulgok, 1536-1584), a champion of Neo-Confucian studies, begins with a call for children to determine their purpose in life at an early age. It then proceeds to prescribe in detail the standard manner of deportment, dividing the body into nine parts such as the hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose and mouth, and prescribing the nine-point precepts for 14

coping with various incidents one encounters in daily life. The text is so detailed and specific that one can vividly imagine the schooling of the young gentlemen of Chason.

Later education included a thorough reading of the Chinese classics, sweepingly referred to as the "Four Books and Three Classics." Taehak (Great Learning), which is representative of them, presents social and political precepts and urges the scholar in a stepby-step manner to cultivate his personal life, regulate his family, order the state and eventually bring peace to the

world. The rest of the classics can be described as ideological manuals for putting the precepts of this book into practice.

Neo-Confucian teachings were so ardently studied and followed in Korea that by the late 16th century it was no longer a philosophy of foreign origin but an entirely naturalized one. For example, Songhak chibyo (Essentials of the Studies of the Sages), a Korean version of the Great Learning, was used as a guide for statecraft. Yi I developed Neo-Confucian scholarship to the extent that there emerged an entirely independent school of thought that is classified as Korean Neo-Confucianism to differentiate it from its Chinese precursor. The development of Chason society thereafter can be accurately described as the process of putting the ideals of Korean Neo-Confuc;ianism into practice.

Three Mandatory Subjects While studies in history and the classics were valued as the core of scholastic activities at the time, the importance of literature as a means to record scholarly developments was not overlooked. Intellectuals considered the lessons gleaned from history and the classics to be the "Right Way," and literature, or the art of writing, to be the vessel to accommodate them. Although the vessel sometimes tended to receive far more attention than the object it was supposed to hold (becoming overly elaborate and superficial), history, philosophy and literature were three mandatory subjects scholars had to pursue with equal dedication.

The aim of Neo-Confucian education was the maximum cultivation of the mind through "investigating things and refining one's knowledge to perfection." Students were required to observe, experiment and research until they truly understood the subject of their study. By following this method, scholars were able to comprehend the workings of the universe and elevate themselves toward perfection through

candid self-examination.

Rationalism alone, however, was inadequate for cultivating persons of perfect virtue, and thus training in poetry, calligraphy and painting was also encouraged to promote aesthetic sensitivity. The fabric of scholarly life could easily become dry and onedimensional, and thus students were enriched through involvement in artistic activities such as poetry and brush painting gatherings. The mandatory curriculum of literature, history and philosophy was thus complemented with poetry, calligraphy and painting to develop ideal gentlemen-scholars who were emotionally and rationally well balanced.

The ideal Choson intellectual could harmonize compassion, a manifestation of emotional sensitivity, and righteousness, a fundamental human value. Too much compassion could obscure one's standard of judgment and result in corruption, whereas too much righteousness could sterilize life itself. The two were well balanced in the ideal sonbi; he was kind-hearted but uncompromising at the same time. Though this balance may appear contradictory or ambiguous to the rationalistic intellectuals of today, it represented the norm at a time when the golden mean was held in the highest regard. "Obdurate," "hard-headed," "narrow-minded" and other similar adjectives often used today to describe the Choson sonbi are the result of the self-derogation and public prejudices that emerged in the aftermath of the downfall of the Choson Dynasty.

Gentlemen-scholars usually entered public service through a series of state civil service examinations or through special appointments after they had established their reputations as dedicated scholars. The appointed scholars were called sallim, or rustic literati, because their scholarly activities were centered around their homes in the countryside instead of the capital.

Often leaders of schools of thought they had developed themselves, these

scholars became notably active in the politics of the central government during the national crises of the 17th century. They contributed greatly to the reconstruction of society by establishing basic national policies and providing a rallying point for the populace when the country lay in ruins in the wake of the 1592 and 1598 Japanese invasions and 1636 Manchu invasion.

The 17th century is called the "age of sallim" because of the leading role these scholars played in state affairs.

Some were appointed to public

office on the merits of illustrious forebears, but such appointments usually involved inconsequential posts. Many men who became public officials in this manner often found their situation so embarrassing that they chose to take the state civil service examination to recover their honor. Some gentlemen-scholars did not seek public office at all. This option was popular during turbulent times, when adding another theory or idea could only further aggravate an already inflamed political situation.

A siJnbl's training began with a thorough dr1111ng in the teachings set out bySohak (The Learning for the Young), a primer in moral training for children of elementary school age.

15

Whether active in public office or secluded in the countryside, the sonbi were largely politically minded. It was an accepted premise that they should endeavor to attain achievements and to contribute to the development of the nation and society through political activities. The point of emphasis here was a sense of civic responsibility. The awareness that they were of the leading class of society made the sonbi extremely serious-minded, never sarcastic or evasive of their social obligations. Their greatest concern was the realization of public justice, which was the key to making the world livable, and the short and straight path to attaining it was compassion and righteousness. Everyone would enjoy a better life when these two elements were in balance.

The sonbi's first motto was thus "Practice what you have learned," for virtuous words are of no use if they are not put into practice. Those who did not practice what they preached were despised for being hypocrites.

The next most important motto was "Be severe to yourself and generous to others." Frugality and thrift became a natural way of life for the sonbi so that they had the means to help others.

They knew they could not be generous to others if they were generous to themselves first. Scholar-officials practiced austerity in their public life, as evidenced by the abundance of "model officials" cited for their integrity by the government during the Choson period.

Model Officials To consider the careers of a few model officials, we can examine the reign of Sejong (r. 1418-1450), the halcyon days of the Choson Dynasty marked by creativity and social justice.

The king is famous for surrounding himself with officials of true integrity.

Without them, Sejong could not have become as great a king as he was.

Representative of the king's men were Hwang Hui, Maeng Sa-song and Yu Kwan, close friends who shared the 16

goal of assisting the king in his endeavors to bring peace and development to the country.

Hwang Hui served in all six ministries consecutively and eventually served as prime minister for 18 years.

His upright conduct as a model official throughout his prolonged public life was legendary. When Kim Chong-so, the minister of public works, invited Hwang and other ministers to a simple party of wine and cookies prepared by his ministry, Hwang, who was then the prime minister, reprimanded Kim in no uncertain terms for having abused the official budget for personal use. On another occasion, Hwang attended a cabinet meeting in a threadbare, mended uniform of coarse material; the next day, his sobered subordinates all appeared in their old uniforms. Hwang Hui was able to persuade the extravagant officials to shed their expensive uniforms without uttering an unpleasant word because he lived what he preached.

Once, when his wife served him a meal of freshly harvested rice, Deputy Prime Minister Maeng Sa-song asked her where she had gotten the new rice.

When she told him she had borrowed it from their neighbor because the rice the government had provided as his salary was too stale, he scolded her: "Stale or not, we are going to eat it if it is what the government gave us. Never borrow from our neighbor." There is also a report by the minister of war stating that he was shocked to find Maeng's house in worse repair than his own servants' quarters.

Yu Kwan , another deputy prime minister, also led a frugal life. He wore hemp clothes and straw shoes and lived in a small thatched house. When his roof leaked during the rainy season, he had to use an umbrella inside the house and worried, "How can those who don't have an umbrella manage?"

Whereupon his wife replied, "They have some other means, I'm sure." Both Yu and his wife knew that most government officials did not need to use

umbrellas inside their homes but they looked at their own self-imposed poverty with humor. Like husband, like wife.

A grove of gingko trees under which the three men often gathered to renew their friendship still stands in Onyang, Ch'ungch'ongnam-do province. There, the lifetime friends who were as one in their sense of dedication to the country must have found moral support and encouragement from each other.

Maybe they even wagered as to who could outdo the others in their austerity, an assumption not totally unlikely given their rich humor and generous, unaffected attitude toward life.

Gentlemen-scholars placed public causes ahead of personal ones in their conduct of public affairs; they discouraged the powerful and supported the weak Though fervent and unr~lenting in upholding their faith and loyalty in times of crisis, they were immensely generous and gentle in private life.

They were pleasant and courteous in appearance, but strong-minded within.

Their ultimate goal was .to bring the world into an ideal state of propriety by overcoming self-centered, personal desire. They believed that propriety was the foundation upon which humankind could live together harmoniously. Harassment and abusive relationships were believed to derive from extreme selfishness, and thus practicing self-restraint and propriety was the key to the rehabilitation of human relationships b ased on love and mutual respect.

The sonbi believed that consideration and respect for fellow humans would lead to the creation of a hospitable world, and this in turn would ultimately extend to the supreme state where Heaven comes into unity with humankind. Heaven here does not indicate an absolute being but rather the order of nature. The harmony of humans within the order of nature would bring about an ideal world where peace could reign. Gentlemenscholars were idealists who were con-

vinced of the possibility of such a world; they dedicated themselves to promoting efforts to realize this ideal world.

Their frustration was as deep as their ideals were lofty. In a society where moral justification was vindicated with ruthless persistence, the sonbi became objects of fierce criticism and censure by other officials if they were unable to logically justify their righteousness.

Scholar-officials often found themselves forced to submit their resignation to the king at the behest of the lofty Neo-Confucians. Worse still, they were exiled or even forced to end their life with poison provided by the king. If an official's plea for resignation was granted, however, he usually returned to his hometown, where he had a social and financial foundation that would enable him to renew himself with self-discipline. He would resume the classical studies he had neglected during his public life and educate his followers.

When in exile, officials contributed to the cultural and academic development of their region by devoting themselves to scholarly activities and educating local youth. Their dedication was often comparable to acts of penance by ascetics. Even when ordered by the king to take poison, they did so with extraordinary calm and poise. Such stoicism is believed to have originated from the mature self-confidence they had trained hard to attain from childhood.

The assiduous pursuit of uprightness and austerity notwithstanding, the life of the gentleman-scholar was not entirely bleak and unpleasurable. They could always immerse themselves in the world of scholarship, and they had a space of their own in their house, the sarangch 'ae, where they could enjoy the companionship of their fellows in spirit. They enhanced their space with simple, tasteful furniture, quality stationery accoutrements and elegant ceramics. The more affluent had scenic gardens with lotus ponds and pic-

turesque pavilions and led an idyllic life, inviting friends to poetry, painting and calligraphy parties.

The sonbi's idea of an elegant life entailed equal devotion to scholarship and the fine arts. Painting and calligraphy for them were not shallow, technical arts but fragrance and creative ener-

gy flowing from their reading of thousands of books. This was in line with another Confucian teaching, that the learning of philosophy and writing should go together because writing is not a simple parade of impressive words but a medium for conveying philosophical messages.

The intellectuals of the late Chason

period liked to travel throughout the countryside to nurture their love for their country. To keep an open mind, they needed to spend time in a natural setting as well as study the requisite subjects of literature, history and philosophy and artistic pursuits involving poetry, calligraphy and painting. A byproduct of their leisurely wandering was the emergence of realism in landscape painting, an artistic trend stemming from a newfound pride in their native land. The oft-quoted description of Korea as "a silken country embroidered with rivers and mountains over three thousand li " was penned at this time. Such ideas were related to the "Chason Culture First" thought, which prevailed in the 18th century as a result of the recovery of national pride following the successful rehabilitation of the country after the devastating Japanese and Ch'ing Chinese invasions of the 17th century.

The gentlemen-scholars were at the core of Korea's national development.

They not only promoted national pride but also proposed importing advanced features of foreign cultures to enhance the native culture. For example, the Northern Learning School ¡ energetically advocated the import of the rapidly developing technology of Ch'ing China to supplement the limitations of the Korean economy and culture. This was a search for a new course for the nation, a kind of globalization policy, at a time when Korea was in transition from a self-sufficient agrarian way of life to an industrial society. Such policies advocated the adoption of Ch'ing's modern, advanced technology, as well as bibliographical approaches to the Chinese classics as a means to promote the virtues of Chason's Neo-Confucianism, which entailed the relentless search for the right way for all humans to live. By expounding globalization without compromising national identity, this approach provides much food for thought when compared to the empty globalization slogans of today. + 17

ChOng Yag-yong's Theory of Livelihood Ahn Byong¡jick Professor of Economics, Seoul National University

hong Yag-yong (1762-1836), whose pen name was Tasan, was born into an established literati family. He passed the national civil service examinations in 1789 at the age of 28 and rose through the government ranks, assum-

ing increasingly influential positions in the central and local governments, such as the third minister of the Ministry of War and also of the Ministry of Punishments and town magistrate of Koksan.

Most importantly, he assisted the king in close quarters as the third royal secre-

Charin-gobi, meaning "an offensively stingy person," is a sarcastic expression for a skinflint. ln stories, he might be a learned gentleman who hangs a salted fish from a ceiling beam, ordering his family members to look up at the fish and imagine its taste every time they eat a spoonful of plain rice. In Korea, these types of stories are commonplace. Koreans used such stories, even though they were meant to be humorous, to teach a lesson in diligence and frugality, which they considered important virtues.

tary and the second royal secretary, initiating various reforms with the king's full confidence.

However, ChOng became an object of jealousy, and his opponents took advantage of the Catholic Persecution of 1801 to have him banished to Kangjin, Ch6lla-

Koreans of past eras had a balanced sense of economics; they sought to do their moral duty but at the same time did not want to miss a chance for material gain. Merchants in the KaesOng area were long renowned for their business acumen from the Kory6 Dynasty (918-1392); they devised a system of bookkeeping 200 years before their Western counterparts. Kaes6ng merchants demonstrated a patriotic spirit during the Japanese colonial period (191Q-1945) by preventing Japanese merchants from opening shops in their city.

Songdo sagaech'ibu, a book about the accounting methods of Kaesdng merchants (above); the merchants In the Kaesdng area were long renowned for their business acumen and devised a unique system of bookkeeping.

18

do province. Making the best of this adversity, he devoted himself to studying the Confucian classics and Shirhak (Practical Learning) during his 18 years in exile. He expanded the branch of learning that examined the promotion of commerce and the development of technology, which was initiated by Yi Ik, and approached Practical Learning in the most comprehensive manner.

Chong's studies consisted of systematically researching classical Confucian studies and Practical Learning in a way geared to establishing a wealthy state with a strong army. Compared to his theories on the classics and government administration, his theory on livelihood dealing with individual households might appear secondary, but this theory occupies an important place in his thought.

In his major work, Admonitions on Governing the People, ChOng defines the class of small and mid-sized landowners as the driving force for agricultural development, and this class, dubbed the "poor scholars," was the object of his theory of livelihood.

Tasan Ch'odang, the house where scholar Chong Yag-yong had academic discussions with other scholars (top).

A rock carving made by Chong Yagyong near the house where he lived As the two characters together mean "the place where medicinal water falls," he was perhaps eluding to the Taoist notion that the ideal way to live is to emulate flowing water (above).

Although they were called "poor" scholars, they were in fact a new class of literati who were farmers or minor landlords. In other words, because the small and mid-sized landlords addressed in Admonitions on Governing the People constituted a new class of literati, they played an important role in implementing state reforms as well as initiating agrjcultural advancements.

In his theory of livelihood, ChOng proposed the means by which rural intellectuals, who were numerous but who could not participate in the responsibility of governing, could earn a living.

He covered various matters including the farming methods of the literat~ the economic moral principles in agriculture, and the application of the knowledge gained from agriculture to Confucian studies. What is important is that his theory suggested advanced farming techniques, new economic ethics and a fresh direction for Practical Learning.

Therefore, if his theory of livelihood is interpreted as being also a theory of agricultural management, professional 19

ethics, and learning, not just instructions on how to earn a living for the unfortunate who failed to obtain a government position, it can be understood as an important historical development in the late Choson Dynasty.

Farm Management and Commerce In the early Choson period, the scholar-bureaucrats (sadaebu) were a ruling class of people, who entered into government service only after an arduous study of the classics. When they became government officials, they did not have to worry about their livelihood because they were entitled to remuneration and the right to collect taxes on the government-owned land that was distributed to civil servants.

Even when they were between positions, they were still entitled to their share of tax -collectible land.

Therefore, during these interim periods they could while away their time reciting poems about the bright moon and the clear wind, amusing themselves with their friends. But toward the end of the dynasty, the Land Tax Law broke down and tax-collectible land was no longer available to all government officials; the numbers of newly emerged literati outside the government grew greater as well. The literati had no choice but to search for a means to make a living. Otherwise, they couldn't maintain their comfortable lifestyle.

In the meantime, socioeconomic conditions had changed dramatically over time. Commerce, heretofore almost nonexistent, had developed tremendously, and consequently a system of landlords evolved. Among the newly emerged literati, some were able to accumulate land and become landlords, whereas others put their servants to work in commercial activities or usury.

Chong was vehemently against the idea of making a living in this way because it unjustly exploited people. The reality was that amassing wealth through such means almost always led to family members overindulging in drinking, womanizing and gambling, ultimately 20

ruining the family. Yet the learned class would not engage in grain farming because this activity was too strenuous and there was little profit to be made.

Chong divided agriculture into several categories-grain farming, horticulture, cash crops, orchards, sericulture, livestock and fish farming. Grain farming was a traditional branch of agriculture that required sturdy farmers but that made little profit. He believed that grain farming was an injudicious activity for scholars, and that in a Confucian scholar's household such work should be left to slaves or servants. Horticulture involved the farming of vegetables, herbs and ginseng; cash crops, cotton, tobacco and indigo; and orchards, fruit trees and timber.

Among all the options, Chong emphasized horticulture and sericulture (the raising of silkworms), because they were not only manageable for the literati but also suitable because they required advanced skills. Horticulture products included various vegetables such as cabbage, radishes, garlic, chili peppers and green onions as well as herbs and ginseng. To achieve a successful harvest of these labor-intensive crops, careful management was imperative; much labor was poured into a small patch of land. Because these were cash crops, large-scale cultivation was favored in areas close to fortresses or large towns where there was easy access to markets.

Because these products could generate an income 10 times greater than grains, Chong believed that a learned man who did not own a large piece of land could easily earn his livelihood. He also mentioned that whereas ginseng could be grown on a large plot of land up to several ky6ng in area (one kyong is approximately 10,000 square meters), such was beyond the means of most farmers other than a handful of major ginseng merchants in Kaesong; it appears he was merely citing an agricultural example in this particular case.

ChOng recommended that the literati concentrate on sericulture as a kind of

specialty farming. He recognized silkworm raising as a new agricultural activity in an environment where agricultural products other than grains were limited, giving as an example an affluent farming family in the region where he was exiled who owned 360 mulberry trees and three silkworm chambers equipped with cross paths and seventier platforms.

He also noted that growing mulberry trees would increase profits because these trees tended to put out more branches, right down to the ground, and selling the mulberries could generate additional income. He emphasized the importance of sericulture because women could actively participate in this kind of agriculture and he recognized that women should contribute their labor to the utmost.

Diligence and Frugality It is well known that diligence and frugality are the fundamental economic moral principles of Confucianism. As Chong was a Confucian scholar, it goes without saying that he embraced diligent and frugal economic practices; he considered them as a mark of character.

For a time, ChOng lived in a thatchedroof hut, raising fish and growing watercress. He claimed that his motivation in adopting such a lifestyle was to satisfy his personal inclination, not to save his wealth so he could pass it on to his children. In other words, he believed that diligence and frugality were personality traits, and at the same time a goal to be strived for.

Perceived this way, literati families were expected to put these virtues into practice. To promote diligence, ChOng emphasized that labor should be divided among family members depending on their age and gender. He taught that no one in a farming family should be idle; whether a five-year-old child or an elderly person, everyone should be responsible for certain chores. Long before, in Changgi, Kyongsang-do province, to where he had been banished, Chong had observed that his host family

I

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> A letter written by Chong Yag-yong; his letters reveal much about his thoughts on Practical Learning, farming and other subjects.

enjoyed a comfortable life, though they all worked constantly; the five-year-old child shooed away birds, the old man twisted arrowroot vines into ropes and the old woman was always busy with one chore or another, even taking along a spool to wind when she paid a social visit to a neighbor.

ChOng of course was addressing his discussion of diligence to the literati. But the labor in question was not intellectoriented, the proper pursuit of the literati; it was physical labor. Therefore, in his concept of diligence, ChOng made no distinction between mental and physical labor in the domain of agricultural work. Then what did he think about labor for commerce and handi-

crafts? He was naturally averse to seeing the literati employed in commerce or handicrafts. In sum, Chong's perception of diligence was limited to that of farming and the literati.

Chong emphasized that frugality was no less important than diligence for achieving affluence. Without being thrifty, prosperity was not possible. He had a formula for economizing: First, calculate annual income and divide it into 12 equal parts. Then divide the amount of monthly expenses by the number of days in the month to obtain a daily spending amount. Stay within the limit of that daily allowance, and if the next day's allotment had to be used for an unavoidable reason, make it up

the next day even if it means going hungry. In this way, a surplus would result after a month, and by the end of the year, one would have accumulated a sizable surplus.

As for the rules of spending money, he advised spending large amounts when necessary, while always minding small sums. He said that if small expenditures were neglected, money couldn't be saved. On the other hand, he said that large amounts should be spent on important occasions; otherwise, important projects couldn't be undertaken. He therefore believed that if a poor scholar wanted to lead a comfortable life, diligence and frugality should be adopted as economic moral principles.

In his theory of livelihood, Chong proposed the means by which rural intellectuals, who were numerous but who could not participate in the responsibility of governing, could earn a living He covered various matters including the farming methods of the literati, the economic moral principles in agriculture, and the application of the knowledge gained from agriculture to Confucian studies. What is important is that his theory suggested advanced farming techniques, new economic ethics and a fresh direction for Practical Learning 21

Kwonbun-gi, a record of donations made by wealthy landlords for the benefit of

thedestituteina village

Chong's theory of livelihcxxl was proposed as a means of maintaining the economic status of the new literati outside government service as they continued their Confucian studies.

He recommended that they take up farming in order to earn a comfortable living, but they had to continue their studies along with farming Practical Learning Chong's theory of livelihood was proposed as a means of maintaining the economic status of the new literati outside government service as they continued their Confucian studies. He recommended that they take up farming in order to earn a comfortable living, but the "poor scholars" were not expected to be satisfied with merely living comfortably. Although it was not easy for them to obtain a government position, they were expected to be read y to accept one should the opportunity arise, which meant they had to continue their Confucian studies along with farming.

Then how could agriculture and Confucian studies coexist? Confucian studies always included classical studies and was never limited to Practical Learning, but Practical Learning was considered a part of Confucian studies.

When scholars devised original farming methods based on their own experiences, they contributed this knowledge 22

to the body of Practical Learning. In particular, when the literati engaged in agriculture and devised more efficient farming methods, not only did agriculture become compatible with Confucian studies, but the literati's labor in the fields was deemed many times more valuable than that of ordinary farmers because of the literati's tendency to innovate.

A letter Chong wrote his son reveals his thoughts on farming and Practical Learning: "I heard you are raising chickens. Poultry farming is indeed good. But in this particular activity, there is a distinction between refined and awkward, between clear and murky. Read agricultural books carefully and choose good methods and test them, be it classifying chickens into different colors, changing perches to raise fatter chickens than other farmers, or even composing a poem about a chicken yard as a way of dreaming up better methods. Such is poultry farming for those who read books. If you only see profits and don't

see righteousness or the delicious taste of chicken and don't understand moods and sentiments, if you frequently fight with neighboring farmers, then you are raising chickens in the manner of a despicable country bumpkin. I don't know where your heart is as you raise chickens. Study the works of scholars on chickens. Summarize and classify them and then write a book of your own on chickens, in the fashion of the Book of Tea by Liu Yu or the Book of Tobacco by Yu Hye-pung. That would be admirable. It would be a good way to instill nobility into secular affairs."

Chong's recommendations didn 't remain mere recommendations. Like the families of many scholars engaged in the school of Practical Learning toward the end of the Chason Dynasty, Chong's family members practiced his theories.

He wrote numerous books on farming methods, too many to list them all. His eldest son, Chong Hak-yon, wrote A Compilation on Forestry and Animal Husbandry, and his second son, ChOng Hak-yu, wrote A Monthly Calendar for Farmers. Chong's family members not

only occupied themselves with agriculture and Confucian studies but also wrote notable books on their agricultural methods and innovations.

The late Choson Dynasty was different from earlier periods in many ways.

With .the spreading practice of rice transplanting, agricultural productivity increased, which led to the development of the commercial economy, which in turn made it possible to commercialize agricultural products. As a result, farmers became more independent. In addition, a new breed of literati emerged during this period who found it difficult to enter the government hierarchy. Some of these scholars lived in rural areas and, while continuing to study Confucian classics, engaged in farming and devised new agricultural methods. This was a new phenomenon, and by no means a widespread one.

In terms of the developmental level of commerce and commercial agriculture, advanced farming methods were

still the exception, as can be seen in sericulture or ginseng cultivation. In other words, agricultural management was at a stage where cash crops had just been introduced, and local economies had not yet developed to a level at which handicrafts had become commercial products as well Nevertheless, it can be said that advanced agricultural management reached a multifaceted stage during this period. The displaced literati had little chance of government service and so they were required to find new ways to sustain themselves, while simultaneously readying themselves for the remote possibility of government service. ChOng's theory of livelihood proposed such new ways of sustenance, suggesting advanced agricultural methods, new professional ethics and a fresh academic direction. Although not a modicum of capitalism can be readily detected in this new trend, as some scholars have claimed, it seems true that the foundation was being laid for the acceptance of capitalism, which would later challenge the nation.

Recently, capitalism in East Asia has been termed "Confucian capitalism." But no one has yet suggested exactly what Confucian capitalism entails. For this reason, it is difficult to discuss the matter, but one cannot conclude that East Asia's capitalism originated from Confucianism, because capitalism in East Asia was transplanted from Western capitalism.

Then what is the role of Confucianism in Confucian capitalism? Although capitalism is not derived from Confucianism, it seems apparent that there is a compatible relationship between the two systems.

In a word, the substance of Confucian thought differs from epoch to epoch and from region to region. Therefore, discussing the overall compatibility between the two might prove futile. Yet wouldn't it be possible to advantageously discuss a relationship between a certain era and a local branch of Confucianism? In this regard, ChOng's theory of livelihood presents itself as a worthwhile topic to study. +

A bronze statue of Chong Yag-yong in Kangjin, where he spent 18 years in exile 23

Patrimonialism and Protestant Ethics A Process of Rationalization Lew Seok-choon Professor of Sociology, Yonsei University

ne of the fundamental themes that has been repeatedly raised by Western social scientists is the concept of a universal history. Max Weber, the 19th century German sociologist and economist, was no exception. This is evident in his introduction to The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which begins: "To what combination of circumstances should the fact be attributed that in Western civilization, and in Western civilization only, cultural phenomena have appeared that lie in a line of development having universal significance and value?" His conclusion was, without a doubt, "the process of rationalization," which resulted in the most fateful force in modern civilization, capitalism.

To verify this conclusion, Weber investigated the relation between religion and society from a broad perspective. By comparing the ethics of several religious doctrines, he sought to show that some had an accelerating effect and others a retarding effect on the rationality of economic activity. The ideal-type mentality, which Weber attributed to the origin of modern capitalism in the West, was the Puritan ethic based on worldly asceticism.

Thus, Weber explained: "One of the fundamental elements of the spirit of modern capitalism, and not only of that but also of all modern culture, [is] rational conduct on the basis of the idea of ca lling ... born from the spirit of

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Christian asceticism."

However, Weber did not give any fuller explanation for why one civilization should be more intelligent and rational than another. Rationality can vary not only from one culture to another but from one social group to another, depending in each case on the ends and means of that group. In other words, there can be different versions of rationality depending on different socioeconomic conditions. Certainly, there is evidence that Weber puzzled about this point, especially when he encountered Asian societies whose social structure he found to be qualitatively different from that of Western societies. Weber labeled these Asian characteristics "patrimonialism ," as opposed to the Western "feudalism," which is the point of departure of this article.

According to Weber, patrimonialism is an extension of the ruler's household whereby the relationship between the ruler and the members of his staff is based on paternal authority and filial dependency, whereas feudalism replaces the paternal relationship with contractually fixed fealty based on knightly militarism. In patrimonialism, the staff is exemplified by the ruler's personal assistant, who helps with administration. His status is dependent on the ruler's favor and is exposed to his arbitrary demands. Any attempt by independent status groups to establish a monopoly of offices is prevented by

appointing hereditary dependents, or outsiders who are completely dependent on the ruler.

However, in feudalism, the ruler's staff predominantly consists of warriors who identify their own honor with that of their ruler. They arm themselves with weapons they have been trained to use so as to serve their lord's interests, which are identical to their own.

The vassal's characteristic qualification of warrior proficiency led to the development of the military notion of "status honor" among themselves, and provided the basis for the contractual relationship of reciprocal rights and duties between the ruler and his staff members.

Weber furthers his typology when he describes how the ruler pays the members of his staff. The keys are "prebends" in patrimonialism and "fiefs" in feudalism. A prebend is a lifelong but not hereditary remuneration for its holder in exchange for his real or presumed services, and the remuneration is an attribute of the office, not of the incumbent. However, a fief is the vassal's personal property for the duration of the feudatory relationship, and it remains inalienable since it is tied to a highly personal relationship, and indivisible since it is intended to preserve the vassal's service capacities.

Thus, Weber noticed the typological difference in social structure between European society and Asian society. In the West a decentralizing tendency, encouraged by the appropriation of fiefs, the contractual relations between rulers and their vassals, and the notion of status honor that accompanied knighthood, prevailed and helped the rise of the landed class, who possessed power and wealth independent of their rulers. These cardinal characteristics of European feudalism are highly suggestive in the sense that they paved the way for modern competitive capitalism; borrowing Marxist terms, feudalism contained the seeds for class struggle. In other words, feudalism, because of its structure, allows for

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Koreas patrimonial ruling structure also played a particularly prominent role in the country's recent rapid economic development Of course, the scope and degree ofgovernment intervention in the market has varied during these decades ofgrowth, but it was fundamentally based on the premise that the government would play the role of the superior and private industry that of the subordinate.

competition between social groups. It has the buds of a pluralistic society because it provides opportunities for other groups to be independent from the ruling group.

In contrast, in the East, the inherence of patrimonial authority prevented the decentralizing tendency and favored centralized control. However, a patrimonial ruler was not free from power struggles with the members of his staff.

As the ruler's domain expanded beyond his direct control, he was forced to provide for a large administrative officialdom, which put him in a dilemma. The absence of a supreme officialdom could bring about the disintegration of the regime. But the existence of such an officialdom could endanger the ruler's supreme authority, especially if the officials as a group succeeded in enlisting the loyalty of the ruler's personal dependents and political subjects, thus undermining his 26

authority through group consolidation.

In order to counteract this tendency toward decentralization, the patrimonial ruler only grants privileges in exchange for the duties he imposes.

Hence, prebend or benefice, not fief.

The official's prerogatives are always at stake, dependent on the confidence of the ruler. The patrimonial ruler does not allow any possibility for independent group consolidation of power and wealth. Hence, no independent standing army, no independent landlords, and no independent bourgeoisie can form . If such groups are needed for any reason, the ruler organizes them compulsorily under the control of patrimonial officialdom. Thus, patrimonialism is structurally closed to any group competition. There exists only one all-powerful social group, the patrimonial officials, which stands above all other social groups (such as landlords, warriors, peasants, merchants and arti-

sans); yet they are unable and unwilling to unite against the ruler. Competition for the ruler's confidence has been atomized, and officials must secure their prerogatives individually.

This typological distinction of Weber provides the possibility for a different process of rational development. He touched on it in his The Religions of China: "Confucian rationalization meant rational adjustment to the world; Puritan rationalization meant rational mastery of the world." However, Weber was too preoccupied with seeking the mental origin of rational capitalism in history to refute Marx's materialistic determinism, thus attenuating the significance of social typological structure.

Weber, in The Religions of China, devoted much space to describing the social characteristics of patrimonial China, as opposed to feudal western Europe. These characteristics may be summarized as follows: a relatively strong money economy and enormous population growth without the accompanying development of capitalistic phenomena; the lack of political autonomy of cities and guilds; the persistent sib organization at the local level, which did not unite and oppose the central government; the literary qualifications for government office and the development qf a civil service examination system, which promoted individual competition for offices among the candidates of the literati and thus prevented them from joining together into a feudal office nobility; and the lack of an innovative spirit, both in the orthodoxy of Confucianism and the heterodoxy of Taoism.

Weber discussed all these characteristics in close relation with the earlier unification of the Chinese state and the consequent establishment of a centrally organized officialdom, which typically has a patrimonial structure. To control China's huge territory from the center, the imperial government depended upon the administrative services of prebend-holding officials, not upon the

military services of self-armed knights.

Thus, in China, the struggle for political power turned on the distribution of offices rather than on the distribution of land. The patrimonial emperors of China opposed the tendencies of the officials toward the appropriation of prebends and hence toward independence by granting only short-tenure appointments, by not appointing officials to regions where they had relatives, by supervising officials through secret inspectors, and, above all, by maintaining a system of official examinations and merit rating.

Escape from a Predicament By and large, these methods institutionalized both competition and distrust among the officials as well as a positive social evaluation of office holding through educational achievement. The result was that officials formed a status group whose distinct way of life set them apart from the rest of society and made them dependent upon the will of the ruler. Consequently, as individuals, Chinese officials were freely removable, unlike the analogous fief holders of western Europe who could successfully appropriate their positions and pass them on to their heirs. Once the Chinese structure had been established, it tended to perpetuate because of the collective interest of officialdom in the existing opportunities for personal income and prestige, which discouraged any tendency to seek independent group power.

Nevertheless, Weber sought to explain the failure of rational capitalism to appear in China for reasons of the Chinese mentality. His conclusion was that Chinese society presented both favorable and unfavorable conditions for the development of competitive industrial capitalism, but what was critically lacking in China was the functional equivalent of the Protestant ethic in Western society, which created a certain tension toward the day-to-day world. Thus, he claimed: "Alien to the

Confucian was the peculiar confinement and repression of natural impulse that was brought on by strictly volitional and ethical rationalization and was ingrained in Puritanism."

However, Thomas Metzger recently raised a serious question about Weber's conclusion. Contrary to Weber's claim, he conceptualized a "predicament" elaborated by Neo-Confucianism, the school of thought first promulgated by Zhu Xi in the 12th century that has since been adopted as the principal ideology of the Chinese state. He suggests that the condition to "escape from predicament" might be comparable to the pervasive tension that Weber found in the Puritan definition of the human condition.

To reinforce this point, Etienne Balazs emphasized the structural factor in Chinese development. For him, the bureaucratic top-down control that did not allow any room for independent accumulation of wealth among other social groups was primarily responsible for the lack of competitive capitalism. Thus, he states: "The supreme inhibiting factor was the overwhelming prestige of the state bureaucracy, which maimed from the start any attempts of the bourgeoisie to be different, to become aware of themselves as a class and fight for an autonomous position in society." He concluded that, if there were any capitalism in China, it would be a "state-led capitalism."

Similarly, Fernand Braude! indicated that in China, "accumulation could only be achieved by the state and within the state apparatus, that is, there could be no capitalism, except within certain clearly defined groups, backed by the state, supervised by the state, and always remaining more or less at its mercy."

Korea inherited a legacy of patrimonial social structure almost identical to that of China. In some ways, it was much more typically so. The 500-year Confucian rule of the Chason Dynasty (1392-1910), followed by Japan's colonial rule and occupation by U.S. forces,

instilled a strong tendency toward centralization rather than decentralization in Korean society. Centralized bureaucracy also dominated the process of nation building that followed liberation from Japan, as well as that of economic development after the military coup d'etat led by former President Park Chung-hee. South Korea is second to almost no other developing nation in the degree and scope of the state bureaucracy's centralized control over other social sectors.

Korea's patrimonial ruling structure also played a particularly prominent role in the country's recent rapid economic development. Korea's economy has achieved sustained growth for the past three decades, thanks to the planning, execution, supervision and mobilization of resources by the state. Of course, the scope and degree .o f government intervention in the market has varied during these decades of growth, but it was fundamentally based on the premise that the government would play the role of the superior and private industry that of the subordinate. It is also true that the South Korean government has earned the ignominy of being branded "interventionist," defying the basic order of a market economy in order to maintain a hierarchical relationship betwee!) government and industry.

Nevertheless, the Korean economy has been able to achieve steady growth as a result of government intervention.

Although Korea has now sought help from the International Monetary Fund and is currently under its supervision due to a temporary shortage of foreign currency, the government is still playing a central role in coping with the economic crisis. The state's dominant status is again being confirmed in reforming the chaebol or family-operated conglomerates' careless management style and in instilling flexibility into the labor market.

Needless to say, Korea's patrimonial tradition lies behind the role played by the government in these matters. • 27

The Beauty of Traditional Lim Y oung-ju Consultant, National Commission for Cultural Properties

yriad patterns and motifs, often embodying propitious meanings, can be found adorning everything from Korean traditional architecture to the significant and trivial objects of everyday life. The use of these patterns reveals much about how Koreans sought practicality as well as a sense of refinement and beauty in whatever surrounded them.

The Amisan chimneys and the wall and chimney of Chagyongjon, the queen dowager's quarters, in Kyongbokkung Palace are famous for their beautiful mosaic tiles of floral and

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grass designs. On the wall of the chimney that forms part of the back wall surrounding Chagyongjon are depictions of 10 symbols of longevity: rocks, mountains, water, clouds, pine trees, the "fungus of immortality" (pulloch'o), tortoises, cranes, deer and the sun.

Attached to the face of the wall are decorative bricks bearing plant motifs with symbolic meanings such as lotus blossoms, grapes and bamboo.

Motifs of flowers and birds and auspicious Chinese ideograms that were believed to be emblematic of the desire for long life and good fortune embellish both sides of the wall on the east-

ern side of the building. Among the designs are Chinese characters symbolizing longevity, good fortune, health, peace, "a long life without regrets," "wealth and rank," many sons and happiness. They are complemented or enhanced by decorative patterns and design elements such as the fylfot or swastika, lightning, tortoiseshell and meander patterns.

In addition, items used in daily life featured wonderfully wrought motifs from decorative calligraphy to propitious animals and plants as well as abstract symbols that were believed to be auspicious. Often, pictures were ere-

Korean Motifs

Myriad patterns and motifs, often embodying propitious meanings, can be found adorning everything from Korean traditional architecture to the significant and trivial objects of everyday life.

The use of these patterns reveals

ated incorporating images of mountains and water, landscapes, flowers and birds, grasses and insects, and scenes from ancient myths and legends. Known as minhwa or folk art, these pictures of the Chason Dynasty (1392-1910) combined both symbolism and content. Incorporating the symbols of long life as design elements and decorative motifs, they were actually symbolic representations of everything familiar to the common people, from their paddies, the mountains, oceans, fields, streams, rocks, trees, neighbors and animals to the sun and moon, the wind and rain. They represented a

much about how Koreans sought practicality as well as a sense of refinement and beauty in whatever surrounded them.

The wall and chimney of ChagyongjOn, the queen dowager's quarters, in Kyongbokkung are decorated with beautiful mosaic tiles of floral and grass designs as well as 10 symbols of longevity, design motifs popular during the ChosiJn Dynasty (left, below).

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A folk painting of a stylized Chinese character meaning "trust," Chos6n Dynasty

From ancient times, the attainment of five blessings collectively called obok (longevity, wealth, health, virtue and a peaceful death) was considered necessary for a meaningful and fulfilled life. The desire for such blessings and happiness was expressed in pictures and designs decorating routine household items.

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desire for a life of abundance, prosperity and lasting good fortune. Other examples can be found in the landscape screen behind the royal throne in whose design the five elements necessary for creation are depicted: The sun and moon rise high in a sky of blue above five mountains of varying height flanked by tall pine trees, oddly shaped rocks and surging waves.

From ancient times, the attainment of five blessings, collectively called obok (longevity, wealth, health, virtue and a peaceful death) was considered necessary for a meaningful and fulfilled life. The desire for such blessings and happiness was expressed in pictures and designs decorating routine household items.

The characters for longevity and good fortune were generally depicted within a circular design or in a, diaper pattern. In circular designs, the circumference of the circle was defined by another character, most often the character for bat. The characters for longevity, good fortune and the bat were all considered propitious. The Chinese ideogram for bat is pronounced the same as the ideogram for good fortune in Korean, pok, which led to the bat being embroidered on pillow ends and incorporated into furniture designs and fittings as a symbol of gre~t fortune. As bats were said to live 1,000 years, their image was also used as a symbol of longevity. Thus, a design that incorporated either the character for longevity or good fortune and that had a frame or border of bat designs or the character for bat was emblematic of much good fortune and a long, long life. A longevity or good fortune character surrounded by four bats was also known as obok In addition, the symbol known in English as the swastika was often used in designs incorporating longevity and good fortune characters. The swastika is the ancient form of the character for ten thousand and is pronounced [man] in Korean. Both the (rl:!) and the ( +) originally meant "gathering good auspices"

A butterfly-shaped pendant (above); an embroidered breast patch of a tiger, the symbol of a mmtary official (below)

in Sanskrit. A repetitive design made up of these characters thus means "without beginning or end."

It is also possible to see that from early on, the Korean people incorporated auspicious symbols as decorative elements in their clothing. Koreans favored light colors such as white or pale blue for clothing, colors they found to be "civil" or "polite." Their taste for these colors also comes from a reverence for nature and the pursuit of a simple life. Many of the design elements used to embellish household objects were also favored for ornaments of personal adornment. These included the ten symbols of longevity, auspicious animals, imaginary flower motifs and a variety of geometric patterns embroidered onto clothing. Even knots, which could be considered as functional aspects of clothing, took on symbolic meaning. For example, knots suggested a desire that all of one's undertakings come to a successful con-

elusion, that a married couple live in harmony or that one live a long life.

The king and crown prince wore on the breast and the back of their official robes embroidered patches featuring dragons, the symbol of royalty. The costumes of the queen and crown princess were embellished with phoenixes. Embroidered patches also adorned the breast of the official court

attire worn by civil and military officials when attending morning meetings with the king. Clothing accessories such as women's embroidered ceremonial coronets, pigtail ribbons and pendants, the special costumes worn by children on their first birthday, winter hats for men and women, embroidered slippers, and small purses featured needlework designs symbolizing long life and a wish for many descendants.

The official court attire for civil officials of the Chason Dynasty had embroidered breast patches of clouds and cranes. For the gentlemen-scholars or s6nbi who made up this class of officials, these images were a symbol of personal integrity. The embroidered breast patches on the court attire of military officials included tigers and leopards, symbols of valor and courage.

Clouds and cranes were also emblematic of longevity and were found on everything from architecture to a variety of finely crafted objects from sta31

Many of the design elements used to embellish household objects were also favored for ornaments of personal adornment. These included the ten symbols of longevity, auspicious animals, imaginary flower motifs and a variety of geometric patterns embroidered onto clothing.

are thought to suggest the idea of being as successful as fish are lively, which in turn can be interpreted as meaning good luck in getting promoted and a wish for worldly success.

If one analyzes the patterns that are found in the formative arts of the Orient, it is interesting to note that love between married couples is often symbolized by animals or insects. When one recalls that for Confucius in his moral rules governing the five human relations, love was the pinnacle, then the joining of human beings was not simply a matter of human ethics, but a natural phenomenon. Traditionally, Koreans symbolized marriage with representations of mandarin ducks, wild

From top: a celadon bottle with an inlaid grapevine design, Koryo Dynasty, 13th century; a ceramic tile with a honeysuckle arabesque design, Unified Shilla; a detail of a gourd-shaped celadon pitcher, Koryo Dynasty, 12th century

tionery items to clothing. Long ago, many Asians believed that those who lived lives of lofty solitude were transformed into cranes when they died.

Fish were most often used in decorating lacquerware and pottery. A pair of fish was thought to symbolize life turning out as one wanted, good fortune, wealth and social status, and happiness. As a pair of fish also symbolized many offspring, it was customary for the bridegroom's family to send them as gifts to the engaged bride. Fish are found in many minhwa paintings and 32

geese and butterflies. Images of these creatures appeared on embroidered screens, wooden furniture and lacquerware. Wedding garments were decorated with peony blossoms along with butterflies and ducks.

In examining the patterns engraved on book covers, it is easy to imagine how important books were to the s6nbi. Classified by form, the major themes included dragon, phoenix, bat, butterfly, wild pink (a flower), wild chrysanthemum, musical instruments, Chinese characters and the seven trea-

sures (gold, silver, lapis, crystal, coral, agate and pearl). Minor themes included lotus, peony blossom, chrysanthemum, pomegranate, apricot, gourd arabesque, water lily, honeysuckle arabesque, grape arabesque, water chestnut, lotus arabesque, clouds, bamboo, and bells. Lightning, meander, lattice work, clouds, the swastika, and tortoiseshell patterns were favored as background designs.

During the Unified Shilla period (668-918), the ends of roof tiles were engraved with grape patterns or grapevines with male children playing among them, which symbolized a wish for many male offspring and long life.

Patterns featuring pomegranates also

ment to life based on religion and faith.

In the early Choson Dynasty, new ceramic techniques led to the production of porcelain with white slip and grayish-green glaze. Of this porcelain, one type that was notably less formal yet still pictorial was punch'ong with underglaze iron decorations called ch'olhwa punch'ong. On the surface of the grayish-brown clay vessels, which were covered with white slip, a brush was used to paint dark brown semiabstract fish, plants and other designs before the final coat of glaze was applied.

The designs found on white porcelain range from realistic landscapes to dragons, phoenixes, flowers and birds,

A punch'ong bottle with an iron painted lotus and fish design, Chos6n Dynasty, 16th century (top); a tile with a cloud and phoenix design, Unified Shma (above)

symbolized this desire, whereas patterns featuring clouds and cranes, and clouds and birds embodied a wish for long life.

The development of the technique of black and white celadon inlay during the Koryo Dynasty (918-1392) is one of the distinguishing features of the arts and crafts of this period. Along with the flourishing of Buddhism in the 11th and 12th centuries, a connection can be drawn between the development of inlaid celadon and the existing techniques of inlaying bronze with

silver and lacquerware with mother-ofpearl. Landscapes were popular for decorating inlaid celadon jars, silver inlaid bronze kundikas (Buddhist ritual sprinklers) and incense burners, and lacquer boxes inlaid with mother-ofpearl used for holding copies of the Buddhist sutras. These include fall scenes by a riverside with weeping willows and water birds, or a lonely crane and a single cloud in a vast, blue sky, both of which express the Koryo aesthetic of "living free from worldly cares." They also show a unique attach-

and insects. A copper pigment was used to create red patterns whereas iron was used to create black images of clouds and dragons, clouds and phoenixes, lotus blossoms, arabesque patterns and bamboo.

The patterns found on such pottery can be seen in just about all folk crafts including wooden furniture, mother-ofpearl lacquerware, and ox-horn wares.

The use of these motifs allows the viewer to enjoy a deeper understanding of the aesthetics of Korean folk crafts. + 33

ON THE ROAD

INSA-DONG KimJoo-young Novelist

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ost of Seoul's streets are modern; they are essentially rivers of automobiles. Downtown Seoul is a bustling conglomeration of towering buildings, glittering nightclubs, crowded restaurants and cramped shops. For Seoulites and visitors from abroad, finding a quiet respite from the lights and congestion can seem as difficult as fitting the biblical camel through the eye of a needle. Seoul has a few parks but they are isolated from everyday life, difficult to

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reach and often crowded.

So what do Seoulites have to boast about? Paris has its Champs-Elysees.

New York has Soho. Moscow has the Arbat, and Beijing has Liu Li Zhang.

These urban oases have come to symbolize their respective cities. Seoul does have its own cultural center, albeit somewhat smaller and less famous.

Insa-dong is an island of culture at the heart of Seoul's hustle and bustle.

Located just off the An-guk-dong intersection southeast of Kyongbokkung

Palace in central Seoul, Insa-dong is centered along a one-lane street stretching toward Chongno, one of Seoul's major downtown thoroughfares. The neighborhood is popular among Koreans as a vibrant urban cultural center. Tradition encounters modernity in a jumble of galleries, antique stores, art supply and paper shops, picture-frame shops, used book stores, tearooms and scores of restaurants, large and small.

The 600-meter-long street is always crowded with locals and visitors alike,

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drinking in the rich cultural atmosphere.

The neighborhood known as Insadong today is actually part of six administrative dong: Kwanhun-dong, Kongp'yong-dong, Kyonji-dong, Kyongun-dong and Nagwon-dong as well as Insa-dong itself. During the Choson Dynasty, the elite yangban lived in Pukch'on, the North Village, east of Kyongbokkung Palace. Chongno was the prime commercial district inhabited by merchants who were looked down upon by the Choson elite, while Insadong was located in between, not surprisingly the home of Seoul's middle classes.

The area became famous for its antiques in the 1930s, under Japanese colonial rule. Shops selling old paintings,

calligraphy, books, household goods, accessories and traditional handicrafts sprouted up along the street, earning the area the nickname "Street Museum."

In the 1970s when modern galleries opened in the area, this island of traditional culture added contemporary art to its offerings. Insa-dong underwent another transformation in the 1990s when restaurants, tearooms and drinking establishments specializing in traditional food and beverages grew in popularity.

This unique cultural environment is the product of natural, not artificial, development. The neighborhood embraces everyone, thus enhancing its own diversity. The past and the present meet and mingle in every gallery, antique shop, bookstore, restaurant, bar

The entrance to Insa-dong (above). Every Sunday, Insa-dong's main street is closed to traffic and a market opens along the entire length of the street with peddlers selling all types of traditional products and other wares, and artisans demonstrating various Korean crafts, dances and other forms of entertainment (right).

lnsa-dong is an island of culture at the heart of Seoul's hustle and bustle. The neighborhood is popular among Koreans as a vibrant urban cultural center. Tradition encounters modernity in a jumble of galleries, antique stores, art supply and paper shops, picture-frame shops, used book stores, tearooms and scores of restaurants, large and small.

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and tearoom. The buildings themselves tend to be old, unchanged from an earlier era. They stoop over the street, their windows cluttered with objects from the past, most with interesting tales to tell. The street resembles a movie set at times, a scene from a bygone era. No wonder people come here to relax from Seoul's stressful rat race. Insa-dong has plenty of places for visitors to eat, drink, shop and relax, just like an old suit with lots of pockets.

A Seoulite's pace automatically slows down in Insa-dong. There is so much to see, so much to take in. Step in~o a tearoom and you're sure to be greeted like a regular customer. Even th~ names of tearooms are welcoming: "Oh It's Your' "My Husband's a Woodcutter," "Dingdong Goes the School Bell," "Making Peace," "An Old Story" and more.

Bookstores have more dignified names, usually derived from classical Chinese.

The art galleries have simple names.

The best known-Hakkojae, Sun Gallery and Tongsanbang Ga llery have played an important role in the preservation of Korea's artistic traditions.

The antique shops and bookstores that sell remnants of the past dominate the neighborhood, contributing most to In sa -dong's quintessential character.

They are the natives, the purveyors of history. The antique and book dealers offer all sorts of items used by older generations of Koreans, but most shops are generally thought to sell rare objects at high prices. There is a qualitative difference between these objects and the old furniture and household goods sold at the curio markets in Hwanghakdong and Chang-an-dong. Real antiques are few and far between these days, however, so Insa-dong is seeing rapid growth in the number of shops selling inexpensive handicrafts aimed at foreign tourists.

Local restaurants exude an old-time air. More than 100 restaurants line the main street and alleyways of Insa-dong; they are more densely packed than just about anywhere else in Seoul, but there 38

are few of the barbecued rib and raw fish restaurants that draw diners in other neighborhoods. Insa-dong is home to genuine Korean restaurants, many with similar names.

A gastronomical tour of the neighborhood is best started in the north end of the street, near the An-guk-dong intersection. To the left at Hakkojae Gallery are two well-known restaurants, Sach'6n and S6nch'6n, which embody the culinary history of the neighborhood. Both restaurants offer lunch specials of rice, soup and a multitude of side dishes as well as a few special dishes that diners can order extra. The evening brings out another menu, centered around friendly drinks. Further down the alley are My Aunt's House (Imo-chip ), Ch'6nggi-wa, Older Sister's Homemade Noodles (Nunim songuksu), Sura and Sa won, all offering traditional Korean cuisine.

A few storefronts down the main road in the direction of Chongno is Hyes6ng Hospital, just before Sudo Pharmacy. A left turn from there brings one to Sadong Chip, a restaurant specializing in komt'ang, a hearty beef soup. Nearby, San-go! specializes in vegetarian cuisine, serving a variety of vegetables associated with the mountains, pungent toenjang stew and steamed barley, which diners wrap in fresh greens and eat with a dab of spicy red pepper paste. Up the main road to the left, past the Tong-in Store, is Sanch'on (Mountain Village), which specializes in the vegetarian cuisine of Korea 's Buddhist temples.

Tearooms are a great way to experience Insa-dong. Old favorites include Kwich'6n , the Old Tea House (Yetch'atchip) and Tawon. Customers relax at roughly hewn wooden tables, often by candlelight. The walls are covered with faded mulberry paper, and the air is scented with persimmon-leaf tea. Tawon, located on the grounds of the Ky6ng-in Art Museum, is the grandfather of Insa-dong's tearooms. Its proprietor, who also runs Ch'asaengwon, a shop specializing in green tea, offers

The antique shops and bookstores that sell remnants of the past dominate the neighborhood, contributing most to Insa-dong's quintessential character. They are the natives, the purveyors of history.

In addition to shops that sell almost anything from masks and old books to antiques and art supplies, one can find tearooms and bars, restaurants and snack bars, frame shops and galleries.

several indigenous Korean teas such as plum tea, chrysanthemum tea and omija tea (made from the fruit of Maximowiczia chinensis). On an average day, some 400 people visit this tearoom to enjoy its tea, listen to traditional music and view the sculpture in its garden.

Lee Man-ik, one of Korea's bestknown painters, remembers the neighborhood where he grew up as an artist like this: "I still visit Sach'6n and My Aunt's House on occasion, and when I do, I always tell the story of how my friends and I used to meet in Insa-dong.

The galleries that opened along the road from An-guk-dong were a natural development. That was the way it always was. Back then there were no public art galleries in Seoul. The Korean Cultural and Arts Foundation opened an art hall where T6ksu Hospi.tal was located and rented it out to painters.

That was the catalyst for the opening of private galleries."

The Ant Market, a Korean version of the flea market, is a new phenomenon attracting visitors to the neighborhood.

Every Sunday a cultural market opens along the entire length of Insa-dong's main street. Among the peddlers are a growing number of families selling used household goods. Others sell books, calendars, handkerchiefs, music records, slippers, candles, old watches, handicrafts and snacks, all spread on mats along the side of the street. And non-Korean merchants often join in the act, displaying their wares alongside those of their Korean counterparts.

These Sunday events also feature traditional farmers' music, rice-caking and pot-throwing demonstrations, folk dancing and folk games. They portray the images of Koreans, from ancient times right up to the present. Live events such as the Sunday market have helped Insa-dong become more than a sprawling antique marketplace. The street has developed a dynamic image as a purveyor of culture and entertainment and is recognized as a living cultural asset by all Koreans. + 39

Hwang Chin¡i Folk Heroine and Poet Kevin O'Rourke Professor of English Language and Literature Kyunghee University

genuine mystique surrounds the name of Hwang Chin-i, the celebrated kisaeng-singerpoet of the 16th century.

Despite being a member of a despised social class, a registered kisaeng (the Korean equivalent of a Japanese geisha), she associated freely with aristocrats, scholars and artists while gaining a reputation for defying the accepted conventions of the time. She is said to have refused to wear makeup or ornaments, both de rigueur for professional entertainers, and at times to have refused even to change her clothes before going to a kisaeng party, presumably to the chagrin of many a high-ranking bureaucrat!

Hwang Chin-i is a figure of mythical proportion. She represents that indefinable elegance, mot, so admired

A

by Koreans, and is a symbol of life as art at a time when society demanded an uncompromising conventionality.

She rejected the conventional,. the rigid. She refuted the accepted norms of what a well-bred young lady should be. At times she was even outrageous in her conduct, flouting all prevailing moral standards; but rather than being condemned in a society where condemnation was not exactly rare, she succeeded in capturing the popular imagination, becoming in the process a special kind of folk heroine, admired if not revered or emulated by all levels of society.

There are no direct sources of information on Hwang Chin-i: Her career must be pieced together from fragmentary references in a number of sources, all written after the Japanese invasions of 1592 and 1598,

Hwang Chin -i is a figure of mythical proportion, a symbol of life as art at a time when society demanded an uncompromising conventionality.

She rejected the conventional, the rigid. She refuted the. accepted norms of what a well-bred young lady should be. At times she was even outrageous in her conduct, flouting all prevailing moral standards; but rather than being condemned, she succeeded in capturing the popular imagination, becoming in the process a special kind of folk heroine.

40

some 50 years after Chin-i actually lived. Scholars date her roughly from 1506 to 1544. They base this conjecture on records that mention her friendships with So Kyong-dok and So Sae-yang, both of whom can be dated precisely, So Kyong-dok from 1489 to 1546 and So Sae-yang from 1486 to 1567. Interestingly enough, neither of these two Confucian worthies mentions her in their writings.

The commentators also affirm that Im Che (1549-1587) could not have known Chin-i and that his wellknown shijo poem written at her grave was a tribute to her legend rather than a personal memory. The poem reads:

Are you asleep or are you just resting in this mountain valley thick with grass?

Where is your rose complexion?

Is only a skeleton buried here?

How sad to think there's no one to offer me a cup of wine.

There are two basic accounts of Hwang Chin-i's origin. The first claims that her mother was a traveling blind musician. The second, a much more romantic story, tells how Chin-i's- mother, Hyongum, was doing her washing beneath a bridge when a handsome young man happened by. He asked for a drink of water.

With elaborate politeness Hyongum handed him a gourd, from which he drank . He handed her back the gourd and requested that she, too, drink. She did and discovered that the gourd contained a delicious wine.

Chin-i was born from the relationship that developed between Hyongum and the handsome young man, some accounts noting that a delightful fragrance filled the room at the birth of the child. There are various explanations of the identity of the young man , some claiming

that he was an Immortal who never returned to this mortal world, others, more mundanely, claiming that he was Hwang Chinsa (chinsa designates a junior official rank), a local yangban official who took Hy6ngum as a concubine.

Romance began early for Chin-i.

When she was a young girl, the story goes, a young man saw her in her garden and fell so much in love that he sickened and died of his unrequited passion. At his funeral, the bier stopped outside Chin-i's house.

Horses and bearers became immobile. No one moved until Chin-i placed her blouse (some say her underslip) on the bier. This experience was said to have had such an impact on Chin-i that she decided to become a kisaeng.

However, there are more credible accounts of why she chose that particular profession. One explanation is that she became a kisaeng when marriage negotiations with a yangban family broke down when it became known that she was the daughter of a concubine. Another reference cites her spirited personality, which could not be bound by the restraints imposed by conventional marriage. The most plausible explanation is that she grew up in a kisaeng household and naturally entered the profession when she came of age.

The scant information available on Chin-i indicates that she despised pomposity wherever it reared its head and that she never granted favors to a man who did not appreciate good wine, good music and good poetry. However, extraordinary situations sometimes call for extraordinary measures-outrageous would perhaps be nearer the mark.

A story is told about her journey to the Kumgang (Diamond) Mountains with her lover Yi Saeng. She insisted that they travel without a servant.

They wore commoner hemp and

straw sandals, and she donned a nun's bonnet. They begged for food at remote temples. When this failed or proved impossible, Chin-i fell back on the skills of that ageless profession to keep the wolves of destitution at bay. She burst in on yangban parties, singing and dancing to the enchantment of all, prevailing on some generous Confucian worthy to pay for further delights. One wonders what the redoubtable Yi Saeng was doing while all this was going on. The stories leave the distinct impression that he was quite content to be supported in this manner by his hypercongenial companion.

Moral Restriction It is impossible to tell to what extent these anecdotes have been embellished in the telling. At any rate, it would seem that Chin-i felt a personal challenge to cut down to size those who, through moral excellence, claimed immunity from the weaknesses of the flesh.

One story tells how she seduced a monk who had spent his life in a remote hermitage quietly practicing the ways of perfection. Chin-i declared herself a student of ascetic practices, offered to become a nun, and did not rest until she had conquered the venerable monk, driving the poor man out of his mind in the process, w hereu pan she calm! y returned to her previous life. An interesting facet of this escapade is that she seems to have experienced considerable remorse after the incident, which would belie her complete transcendence of moral restriction that some scholars seem to believe she attained.

Chin-i also supposedly tried to seduce her teacher, S6 Ky6ng-d6k.

One wet and stormy night, she arrived at S6 Ky6ng-d6k's remote mountain hermitage. In the lamplight, the master was reciting a passage from one of the classics. Interrupting

his recitation just long enough to warn her against catching cold and to tell her to take off her clothes and dry them, he continued with his reading throughout the night. Chin-i had to content herself with sleeping at the feet of the master, acknowledging that she had finally met a man of sufficient moral character to resist all her charms. She remained forever the scholar's pupil and admirer. Two shijo poems by S6 Ky6ng-d6k that are said to refer to his love for Chin-i survive: I'm a fool at heart and everything I do is foolish.

It's too much to expect my love to come to this cloudy mountain valley, yet at the sound of leaves falling in the breeze, I wonder, perhaps, is it she?

Heart, what is the secret of your continuing youth?

When I grow old can you avoid growing old, too?

I fear people will laugh at me for following you around.

Chin-i herself wrote a shijo in praise of the old master: The mountains may be ancient, notso the waters.

Water flowing day and night, how can it grow old?

A great man is like that water: he goes and does not return.

Tradition has it that their relationship remained platonic to the end.

Finally, there is the celebrated incident regarding the Confucian scholar, Py6kkyesu, who visited Songdo (Kaes6ng) and announced boastfully that he was impervious to the wiles of any woman no matter how beautiful. The following is the provocative poem with which Chin-i challenged this Confucian gentleman . Blue Stream is a pun on the gentleman's 41

name and Bright Moon is Chin-i's kisaeng name:

Blue Stream, do not boast of swift passage through green mountains, for having once reached the sea the return trip assumes real difficulty.

Bright Moon fills the empty mountain; why not rest on your journey here?

Hwang Chin-i was an extraordinary woman by any standard. She lived a most unconventional life, challenging at every opportunity the tradition of the society in which she lived. This was particularly true in matters relating to the sexes. She married Yi Sa-jong for a contracted sixyear period. When the time was up, she walked away from the relationship, seemingly without a second thought. She was always ready to accept a challenge from a man. On one occasion, when So Sae-yang commented that a man who could be lured by feminine charm was not a man at all, Chin-i challenged him to live with her for a month and not a day longer. On the evening before the month was up, Chin-i is said to have sung her lover the following hanshi poem in Chinese characters titled "Farewell to So Yanggok" (Yanggok was So's pen name):

Paulownia leaves fall in the moonlight; wild chrysanthemums are yellow in the frost.

The pavilion reaches within a foot of heaven; drunk, we've supped a thousand cups.

The water as it flows is limpid as the komun-go, and plum fragrance suffuses the p'iri pipe.

In the morning we part, but our love will be 42

as long as the blue waves.

Who could resist this? So Sae-yang had to ruefully admit that he was no man: He begged her to let him stay.

Time and again Chin-i challenged her society's preconceived idea of male superiority. This may explain her conduct toward the unfortunate monk and her teacher So Kyong-dok: She may have regarded both men as a challenge to her femininity.

Hwang Chin-i's death, like most of her life, is shrouded in legend. As she Ia y prostrate from a fever of unknown origin, she is said to have requested that music and dancing accompany her bier rather than the traditional keening, and instead of being buried in a coffin in the usual way, her body be abandoned on the banks of a stream outside the city for the magpies to pick over. In her life, she said, she had lit a fire in many men's guts, and she wished to impart a stern warning to profligate women.

Songdo's great lovers of beauty and the good life (p 'ungnyugaek) were tremendously impressed. A dying wish befitting a great kisaeng!

What all this means in terms of accepting or rejecting Chin-i's lifestyle is not clear. At any rate, everything was supposedly done as Chin-i had requested. However, some months later, an unknown "lover of beauty" found the sight too sad for words. In the dead of night, he gathered up Chin-i's remains and buried her on a hill near P'a nmunjom , which li es today on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone.

As a poet, Hwang Chin-i is distinguished by a refined sensibility. She differs from other kisaeng poets in that she transcends the rather limited range of regret for lost love or unrequited love typical of their work. She is credited with only six shijo poems and eight hanshi poems, hardly a sufficient body of work to rank her among the great Korean poets.

Having said that, however, it must also be said that one of her poems, usually titled in English as "Long Winter Night," is one of the finest examples of the shijo genre:

I11 cut a piece from the side of this interminable winter night and wind it in coils beneath these bedcovers, warm and fragrant as the spring breeze, coil by coil to unwind it the night my lover returns.

The poem is built around a marvelous central image in which eternal night, cold and loveless, is transformed into an eternity of warmth and love. The personification of time in the first section gives the poem a fresh immediacy, imparting the feel of the length and misery of that interminable night. The "spring breeze" image of the second section, with all its Oriental intimations of warmth and fragrance, suggested rather than spelled out in the original, changes the mood to one of warmth and joy, followed in the final section by the eternal prolongation, coil by coil, of the delights of love. The cutting, coiling and uncoiling process gives the poem a striking unity, which is strengthened by the series of contrasts that are implied rather than stated: winter, spring; cold, warmth; sorrow, joy; love absent, love present; coil, uncoil; eternal, transitory. The last pair, eternal and transitory, is perhaps the key to the poem. The force of these opposites derives from the conceit they express: Love is not eternal; rather, it is unquestionably rooted in this world.

Hwang Chin-i's other shijo do not reach the same high standard.

However, they ali have a striking individual quality. Take for example this poem:

What have I done?

Did I not know I'd miss him so?

Had I bid him stay, would he have gone?

But I did it: I sent him away and I can't tell you how I miss him.

This poem was supposedly written when Chin-i was very young. What is different here is the approach the poet takes. Kisaeng poetry traditionally approached its theme from the point of view of the woman pining for a lover who does not come, or lamenting her fate in being abandoned by some heartless lover. Here Chin-i has taken the initiative in ending the relationship, and afterward she asks some fundamental questions about the psychology of love and freedom.

Striking Use of Imagery Despite her radiant beauty, her sense of transcendence, and her reputed power over men, Hwang Chin-i obviously experienced loneliness:

When was I faithless, when did I ever deceive my love?

The dark moonless night runs late and still there's not a sign of him.

Leaves falling in the autumn breeze, what can I do?

This poem may strike the reader as finding the heart of traditional kisaeng poetry, yet it is subtly different. Chin-i bemoans not so much the faithlessness of her lover as her own fate in being a victim of her own emotions. She is so hopelessly in love, she does not know what to do. The speaker's dilemma is heightened by the intimations of mortality and the aging process inherent in the imagery of the falling autumn leaves.

The final Hwang Chin-i shijo, much quoted and widely translated though it may be, seems to resist translation

into English. This is perhaps due to the quality of the central images, which somehow appear cliche-ridden to the modern reader:

Blue mountains are my heart; green waters are my love's Jove.

Though green waters flow away, can blue mountains change?

Unable to forget blue mountains, green waters weep as they go their way.

Hwang Chin-i's hanshi poems are even better than her shijo: They are distinguished by a striking use of imagery, the hallmark of the very best poetry of every culture. Take this simple quatrain, "Song to the Half-Moon," on the age-old ChingnyoKyonu theme-once a year the magpies make a bridge to facilitate the meeting of the two star-lovers (Altair and Vega):

Who cut Kullyun jade into a comb for Chingny6's hair?

Now that Ky6nu has gone, it hangs fretful in the blue sky.

The juxtaposition of comma jade, half-moon and comb expresses the complex emotions of the lovers: The joy .of meeting is expressed in the beauty of the jade comb; the sorrow of parting is expressed in the image of the jade comb abandoned in the sky. Commentators point out that this poem closely resembles a composition of So Sae-yang.

"Farewell to So Yanggok," already quoted, written by Chin-i for So Saeyang when his allotted month was up and it was time to part, is surely a perfect example of its genre. The images reach out to the senses: scene, sounds, scents, sensations, season and mood. The final tongue-in-cheek couplet drives the nail home. Could we be so stupid, she asks, as to end such a beautiful affair?

The poem is a five-character yulshi

with end rhymes in the even lines.

The first three couplets all demonstrate parallelism; the second and third, where parallelism is mandatory, are particularly striking.

Pavilion-high-heaven-one-foot People-drunk-wine-thousand-cup Flowing-water-like-k6m ungo-limpid plum-blossom-enter-pipe-fragrant The last line offers numerous intriguing possibilities to the translator in terms of weighting the interpretation toward plum fragrance or pipe fragrance.

"Dream of Fond Lovers" again shows Chin-i's typical personal touch in the mingling of dream and reality.

Centered on a conceit, the poem is whimsical and clever:

Fond lovers' assignations are predicated entirely on dreams, but when boy visits girl, girl has gone to visit bo .

My wish is that in all our future dreams we set out at the same time and meet along the way.

"Small White-Pine Boat" again has a strong central image; the boat presumably represents Chin-i herself:

That small white-pine boat afloat on the wate1; how many years has it been tied to blue waves?

When the men to come ask who crossed first, tell them: a great lord, one skilled in letters and arms.

This is the Chin-i that has survived in the popular consciousness. Proud, defiant, individual, she always insisted on the best and she usually managed to get it. Her legend will survive in Korea as long as the need persists for genuine "characters" or "artists" to inject a little poetry into our lives. + 43

..

'

.'

he Nakdonggang, Korea's second longest river, flows down from Hambaeksan, a mountain near Taebaek, Kangwondo province, through the central Y ongnam region (Kyongsang provinces) to finally empty into the South Sea. The river is 525 kilometers long while its basin encompasses an area of 23,860 square kilometers, about one-fourth the entire area of South Korea.

The river is referred to as the Naksu in Tongguk y6ji sungnam (Augmented

T

Survey of the Geography of Korea,

1481) and the N akdonggang in T'aengni-ji (Ecological Guide to Korea).

N akdong means "east of Karak."

Flowing through much of the Yongnam region, the Nakdonggang has long been the lifeline of the region's residents, witnessing the joys and sorrows of the Kaya and Shilla people who inhabited this area in

ancient times.

According to the latest survey, there are 151 families of 910 species of flora in the river's lower reaches. In the Myongji region alone, 74 families of 366 species of flora can be found. This is because the Nakdonggang's streams and tributaries have carried flora from inland areas into the lower region and many foreign species have been introduced by way of the currents of the Straits of Korea and by migratory birds.

Of the region's diverse fauna, the most prominent are the migratory birds of the Nakdong estuary. The sand banks and reed fields around Ulsukdo Delta form the largest rest stop for migratory birds in Northeast Asia and have thus been designated Natural Monument No. 179. Among the some 120 species of birds that visit this sanctuary, only a dozen species are endemic to the region with the remainder being migratory.

Among the birds which visit Ulsukdo are numerous species that Korea has designated as natural monuments as well as some rare birds. The estuary is also the sole migratory site in Korea for such birds as the crane, swan, eagle, white-tailed eagle, black-faced spoonbill and stork. As different species visit the area according to the season, one can observe a wide variety of birds throughout the year.

A flock of sea gulls

47

As the fertile lands of the Nakdonggang basin have been inhabited since prehistoric times, there is an abundance of historical sites. These include Pusoksa, the first temple of the Hwaom order, and Sosu Sowon, the first Confucian school in Korea.

Additional cultural treasures include Tosan Sowon, a Confucian shrineacademy in Andong; the Hahoe Mask 48

Dance (National Treasure No. 121); Chikchisa Temple in KimchOn; and Haeinsa Temple in Hapch'on.

The Nakdonggang estuary provides an abundance of food year round and the water does not freeze in winter.

The region's vast mud flats and reed fields offer birds excellent settings for nesting and resting. Most of the estuary, including its many deltas, falls

under the administration of the city of Pusan.

Of the various deltas, migratory birds flock most frequently to Ulsukdo. This large delta lies between the primary flow of the Nakdonggang and the Chungnimgang, one of its branches. There are also numerous sandbanks in the outer estuary which serve as ideal resting places for the

Mallards visit Ulsukdo in great numbers.

birds.

The most attractive feature of the area is its abundant food supply, the most essential living condition for the birds. Nutrient-rich sediment is carried down from the upper reaches of the river and deposited onto the sand and water plants of Ulsukdo Delta. Being a site where the river meets the ocean, the area is a natural breeding ground

for a great variety of creatures, including protozoans, mollusks, crustaceans, annelids and fish.

The environment also provides an excellent habitat for supporting wetland life. Protozoans are food for lugworms, which in turn become food for snipes, black-headed gulls and plovers. The plentiful fish provide food for various ducks and little

grebes, which in turn become food for eagles. Thus the Nakdonggang estuary supports a diverse food chain.

Virtually all of the birds that come to the area are water birds, mainly ducks, snipes, plovers, little grebes, cormorants, egrets and gulls. Eagles and falcons are also spotted while ree d warblers a nd crakes ca n be observed in the reed fields. No other 49

Winter is when the largest number of migratory birds visit here, creating quite a spectacle. The major species include ducks, wild geese, swans, cormorants, little grebes and gulls. january sees a peak in the number of visiting birds.

A rare black-headed sea gull (left); snipes frequent the area in spring and autumn.

50

place in Korea matches the diversity of birds that stop off at the Nakdonggang estuary.

Among the birds visiting this area are numerous species that Korea has designated as natural monuments as well as some rare birds. The estuary is also the sole migratory site in Korea for such birds as the crane, swan, eagle, white-tailed eagle, black-faced spoonbill and stork. As different species visit the area according to the season, one can observe a wide variety of birds throughout the year.

During spring and autumn, transient birds such as snipes and plovers visit the area. In summer, a large number of terns come to the region to breed on the sandbanks. Thousands of reed warblers, a species related to the flycatcher family, come to breed in the reed fields. Moorhen, a species belonging to the crake family, can be spotted in the swamps.

Winter is when the largest number of migratory birds visit here, creating quite a spectacle. The major species

include ducks, wild geese, swans, cormorants, little grebes and gulls.

January sees a peak in the number of visiting birds.

The Nakdonggang estuary is such a large expanse that it would take a long time to survey the entire area.

Moreover, most of the area consists of wetlands, mud flats, rivers and shallow waters, while the currents are very swift due to the broad tidal range, making it very difficult to get around the region freely. Thus it is recommended that bird watchers be assisted by a competent guide equipped with ample knowledge of not only birds but the area's geography as well.

Some advance preparations are necessary, such as selecting an ' appropriate time to visit and reserving a boat.

It is also very important to make sure the specific bird that one would like to observe is expected to visit the area in large groups. For example, to watch swans and gulls, the best spots are piers at Changnimdong Port in Sahagu, Pusan, whereas the place to see snipes and plovers is Taema, near Myongjidong Port in Kangsogu.

Boat rental rates vary for the fourhour tour it normally takes to survey the area. Some boat owners charge 15,000 won per hour, whereas others charge a minimum of 100,000 won for rental from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Because of the many small ports and villages along the estuary, it is better to rent a small fishing boat than a large excursion boat.

It is recommended that one take along the following equipment: binoculars (8x40), a telescope (x20), a guide book such as Illustrated Guide to Korean Birds (Kyohak Publishing Co.), writing materials, long boots (in winter), a cap, a mask (any color but white), woolen gloves, a warm jacket, a knapsack, lunch including beverages, and camera equipment.

It takes about six hours to drive from Seoul to the Nakdonggang estuary. +

TRADITIONAL ARTISAN

Ninth-Generation Crock Maker

YiHak-su Lee Hyoung-kwon Director, Cultural Heritage Research Institute

pan entering the township of Pos6ng on Route 29 from Kwangju, one encounters a signboard, "Miry6k Crockery," peeking out from a bamboo grove. The green bamboo leaves in the chilly winter wind attract travelers who may find the word "crockery" nostalgic.

The wind, blowing across the barren fields, rustles against the bamboo and the crockery pots scattered here and there, emitting gloomy groans. A kiln, stretching up the low back hill like a snake, is stone cold. It seems that like farming, pottery also has a slack season; everything looks desolate.

A dog near the kiln begins to bark, half in surprise and half in welcome, but no human sounds can be heard.

Then I hear the sound of a radio coming from a plastic-covered structure in a sunny corner of the yard. I'm surprised when a neat-looking young man answers my knock at the door of this structure. Having come to the craft shop of Intangible Cultural Asset No. 96, I was expecting an elderly grandfather, like the protagonist in "The Old Crock Maker," a short story

by Hwang Sun-won.

The craftsman I have caught working on his day is Yi Hak-su, who looks like a typical teacher. He is continuing the work of his father, potter Yi Okdong, who passed away four years ago, thus preserving the tradition of Miry6k Crockery. When he was in school, Yi Hak-su wanted to become a poet, but he was drawn to pottery;

li

52

Yi Hak-su considers crockery a product of clay and fire. To produce highquality crocks, he believes that a potter should be knowledgeable about the nature of both elements, and also sensitive to the capability of his or her hands. These aspects cannot be acquired by learning about theories alone; they are the products of many years' experience.

perhaps pottery making is in his blood, as his family has been practicing this craft for over 300 years.

Yi is a ninth-generation potter. It is one thing to speak of nine generations, but considering the hardships of all those years, perhaps pottery making was a fate that his ancestors would rather have not been shackled with. Today, people regard pottery as an art, recognizing potters as human cultural treasures, but only a few decades ago, crockery makers were looked down on, as were charcoal and roof tile makers. Moreover, contemporary society prefers to shun strenuous manual work. Yi's comment that he plunged into the work of his ancestors ¡ seems to be imbued with the stubbornness or conviction of an artisan.

Although chis father was a potter, Yi didn 't.feel deprived as a child. His father made sure that he had everything; he went to school in sneakers, carrying a book bag-both luxury items for rural children. At first he thought his father earned enough from his pottery to afford such items, but as he grew older he realized that his father had provided these in the hope of pushing him away from a potter's life.

He began to see his father's thick fingers, the pottery and crocks lying around the yard, in a new light. As he gazed on the empty crocks, he felt they held the spirits of his ancestors who provided him with flesh and blood, and he dreamed that one day he too would create these earthenware pots that looked so warm and inviting.

To make a crock, well-worked clay is pounded into a block with a bat. The blocks are pounded into thin, wide slabs to use for the bottoms and sides of the vessel. A slab is first placed on the potter's wheel to serve as the base.

Additional slabs are then attached to this piece to form the walls of the crock. The sides are then thinned and shaped, both inside and out. The final step is to finish up the mouth while the crock is spun on the wheel.

54

Yi entered Chungang University to study Korean literature, but soon decided to give up his studies to return to his father's pottery in order to fulfill his childhood dream. His father was so infuriated with his quitting school that he refused to speak to him for a month. The elder Yi's lifelong dream was that he would not pass on to his children his profession that was so looked down on.

The father soothed his disappointment and eventually relented, realizing that he could not change his son's mind. Yet he did not extend any special treatment to his son. He only permitted him to handle clay after he had spent some time hauling crockery to the market for sale.

Yi Hak~su was content spinning the potter's wheel, but it was difficult to earn a living making crockery.

Nowadays more people are aware of the scientifically proven superiority of crockery jars, but in those days' people didn't l<?ok twice at a crockery jar, preferring plastic and stainless steel containers.

To make ends meet, Yi's wife opened an optometrist's shop in the township of Posong, and thanks to her Yi could fully devote his time to pottery. He researched writings from past ¡ centuries to study traditional manufacturing methods, and he enrolled in graduate school to gain expertise in traditional pottery. These efforts were rewarded with a special prize in the

government-sponsored Traditional Handicrafts Fair.

Yi Hak-su considers crockery a product of clay and fire. To produce high-quality crocks, he believes that a potter should be knowledgeable about the nature of both elements, and also sensitive to the capability of his or her hands. These aspects cannot be acquired by learning about theories alone; they are the products of many years' experience.

The creation process begins with the selection of clay. It is said that superior skill cannot flourish without good material; thus a potter must develop an eye to discern good clay.

Traditionally, potters would wander around the country in. search of good

cia y and good trees for firewood before temporarily settling down to build a kiln. That is how the early makers of Miry6k Crockery came to settle down in Pos6ng.

Yi Hak-su's remote ancestors, who were originally from Kangjin, renowned for its Kory6 celadon, moved to Py6ng-y6ng and Haenam before his great-great-grandfather settled down in Pos6ng because of its abundance of good clay . Like his father, Yi digs up clay from the back hill and spreads it out in a corner of the yard to expose it to rain and wind for several months. He does this to age the clay to enhance its plasticity and workability so that it will be easier to knead and shape.

The well-worked clay is pounded into a block with a bat. Small blocks of clay are then sliced off with a wire.

Then, the actual shaping of vessels is begun with a method called "treadmill thrashing" or "flattening." The ¡ blocks are pounded into thin, wide slabs for the bottoms and sides of the vessels.

This production method is different from the coiling technique used in the Ch'ungch'6ng-do and Ky6ngsang-do provinces, whereby the walls are built up from rope-like strands of clay.

To make a crock, a slab is first placed on the potter's wheel to serve as the base. Additional slabs are then attached to this piece to form the walls of the crock. The sides are then thinne'd and shaped, both inside and

55

humans cannot surjust as . . if breathing or etrculavJVe _ . ed the same 15

tion is obstruct , c cood Fermented true lor l' bean sauce food, such as so Y represen¡ and fish sauces, are ean cuisine tative of K or thanks to the crockery that

a11ows such breathing.

Modern con

.

tainers for stonng

.. ht and conse. food are atrtlg food stored therem quen t1 Y .__ ,l . oil but fuuu ill qwck1Y sp ' w k ~rs will stored in croc ery ,... . last longer. Moreover, the uces stored in taste of sa . . rs doesn't detenocrockery P rate; rather, it improves with aging.

The various tools used to make crockery; potter Lee does not use modern tools, only traditional ones.

56

out, using tools called sure and togae.

The final step is to finish up the mout~ by holding a wet towel to the rim while the crock is spun on the wheel.

Finished pots are piled up in the shade and dried for a fortnight. When they are about 30 percent dry, they are submerged in a solution made of pine ash and clay water and then dried for another 20 days.

Next comes the baking. The pots, stacked in rows in the kiln, are baked day and night for seven days at 1,200 degrees centigrade. Along with shaping, baking is very critical to ensure quality crockery. For a potter, opening the kiln after it has cooled down is the most anxious moment of the entire process. If the fire has not been fed properly, the wares might emerge bra-

ken or cracked. It is this moment that determines whether the potter's efforts have been a failure or will be rewarded with handsome returns.

Yi Hak-su says that when he is in the middle of making pottery, he forgets everything around him and cannot sleep at night. He defines his wares as containers that breathe.

Unlike the clay used for stoneware and porcelain, the clay used for crockery is not put through a refining process, and thus contains grains of sand, of varying size, that create holes through which air can penetrate. Also, the ash-water glaze is a natural substance that facilitates ventilation.

Just as humans cannot survive if breathing or circulation is obstructed, the same is true for food. Fermented food, such as soybean sauce and fish sauces, are representative of Korean cuisine thanks to the crockery that allows such breathing. Modern containers for storing food are airtight and consequently food stored therein will quickly spoil, but food stored in crockery jars will last longer. Moreover, the taste of sauces stored in crockery jars doesn't deteriorate; rather, it improves with aging. Also, water kept in crockery does not become rancid easily. Jars with certain biological attributes for maintaining the freshness of food have been developed recently , but from long ago, Koreans created containers that naturally kept food fresh.

Yi Hak-su prefers to make utilitarian wares rather than decorative items. He believes that the tradition of crockery can survive only if people use them on an everyday basis. He vows that he will continue along the path of a craftsman, in the hope that traditional crockery vessels will replace machinemade containers on the dining table and the sauce-jar terrace of every Korean home. He believes that this is a way to continue the tradition of his father, who dedicated his life to crockery, and to sustain the pride of Miryok Crockery, which has survived for nine generations. â&#x20AC;˘

Crocks being removed from the kiln after firing (top); finished crocks (above)

57

DISCOVERING KOREA

Ingenuity of â&#x20AC;˘

an Kim Samdaeja

Researcher, Puy6 National Cultural Artifacts Research Center

he Korean term tungjan is used to refer to any number of variously shaped vessels that, when filled with oil and lit by their wick, produce light.

Tungjan were known by a variety of names depending on the materials from which they were made, their design and their intended function, but all tungjan shared in common their role as containers for lamp oil. Other methods of illumination traditionally included the use of candles. However, not only were candles introduced to Korea relatively late but also the raw materials for making them were scarce and candle making was difficult. The high cost of candles meant that they were only available to the upper classes; the common people could only afford to use them on special ceremonial occasions, if they used them at all.

Tungjan were not high, freestanding containers and thus could not be used effectively without a stand. Moreover, as they lacked any sort of shield against wind, they could not be used outdoors because the flame could be easily extinguished. To make tungjan convenient for use both indoors and out, stands th at made it possible to adjust the height of the lamp oil container and various types of shades to protect the flame were developed. There were two different types of lamp oil stands: the tilngga, designed to hold the tungjan at a certain height; and the tunggy6ng, designed to lower or raise the tungjan

T

58

Tungjan were known by a variety of names depending on the materials from which they were made, their design and their intended function, but all tungjan shared in common their role as containers for lamp oil

depending on the needs of the user. A variety of materials were used to make shades, which in turn made it possible to carry the lamp from one place to another, as was true of the chedung lantern. The tungjan was cleverly adapted to fit the needs of everyday life.

These adaptations include the kwaedung, which was designed for hanging on a wall; the hy6ndung, which was designed for hanging from a crossbeam or a rafter; and the chwadung, which was designed to be stood up on the floor. The slash-andburn farmers of the remote mountain regions, for whom vegetable oil was scarce, used more readily available pine resin for lighting.

Tungjan came in different shapes and sizes rar:ging from small dish- or cupshaped vessels to large vessels resembling cooking pots and soup bowls.

Small dish-type tungjan extant today are either earthenware, porcelain, crockery or white stone. As Korea's natural resources do not include flammable material such as crude oil, from early on animal fat and vegetable oils were used as fuel, even though they are not highly flammable. Vegetable oil (sesame, soybean, cottonseed or castor), fish oil such as whale oil, and oil made from boiled beef fat were generally used in small-dish tungjan. Wicks were made of twisted cotton wadding, linen thread, or paper.

The small-dish tungjan was the most popular and remained in use until the

late 19th century, when petroleum first began to be imported and pot-shaped tungjan were introduced. When the tomb of King Mury6ng (r. 501-523) of the Paekche Kingdom (18 B.C.-A.D. 660), located in Kongju, was excavated in 1971, a small porcelain dish lamp was found in its own niche inside the tomb.

During the Shilla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935), a type of multiple tungjan was used. Three to six small-dish tungjan were connected by pipes, which supplied a regular flow of fuel, and the amount of light could be adjusted.

Large white-stone tungjan, some as large as 30 centimeters in diameter, were used in the court, Buddhist temples and shaman shrines as well as by certain members of the privileged classes. These large tungjan, known as hy6ndung, were suspended from crossbeams by wires strung through holes made in the handles on both sides.

When lit and viewed from below, some large tungjan resembled a full

moon or bright sun and were thus called w6ldung or moon lamp, and ildung or sun lamp. White stone tungjan were traded with China and were coveted by envoys who came to Korea from Ming China (1368-1644).

These tungjan were given different names depending on where they were used. The tungjan used in the court and in the homes of aristocrats were called s6ktungjan; in temples, s6ndung, or zen lamps; and in local shrines,

indung.

Pot-shaped and soup bowl-shaped tungjan gained popularity with the import of petroleum. (Officially, petroleum was first imported in 1876, but the use of these tungjan began earlier.)

This highly flammable fuel was placed in small containers not exceeding 10 centimeters in height, with wick puller lids. From two to four wick pullers could be lit at any one time, making it possible to adjust the brightness of the lamp.

The Korean Tiingjan Museum is Korea's only museum dedicated to lighting devices (above). More than 300 lighting devices and related relics are displayed in the museum (right).

Tungjan came in different shapes and sizes ranging from small dish- or cup-shaped vessels to large vessels resembling cooking pots and soup bowls. Small-dish type tungjan extant today are either earthenware, porcelain, crockery or white stone. As Korea's natural resources do not include flammable mineral matter such as crude oil, from early on animal fat and vegetable oils were used as fuel 60

61

~ >R

~

Various tiingja.n including one with a butterfly-shaped shade (top); a tiingja.n usedinaman'sstudy(above) 62

The tungga type of lamp stand found in the homes of the common people or frugal aristocrats consisted of a single thin, pillar-like dowel fitted into a solid base. The upper portion of the dowel supported a small shelf, on which a tungjan was placed. The tunggy6ng type of lamp had three or four sawtoothed indentations carved into the dowel to allow the user to adjust the height of the tungjan. This lamp was called tunggy6ng kori or kaengdung in Seoul and Kyonggi-do province. A small waste container placed on the shelf on the lower portion of the dowel caught any dripping oil from the wick while burning. Tunggyong were often used in living quarters, and a variety exceeding one meter in height was used in kitchens. For the common people, for whom candles were an unaffordable luxury, these high lamps w~re also used in family rites.

Tunggyong and tungga were made of various materials including wood, iron, brass and nickel. Wooden versions were the most common, and they displayed various styles and levels of craftsmanship. The small waste container was often made of the same material as the tungjan, but sometimes ox horri was used.

Chedung were used most often at night to light the way or to highlight formal ritual ceremonies; they included the ch'orong, a lantern lit by candle; the tungrong, a lantern lit by tungjan; and the chojoktung, or "foot illuminating" lamp. These lamps had a framework of wire, brass, bamboo or wood. Paper or thin silk, and later glass, was attached to the framework. A long handle was attached to the top of the lantern to make it easy to carry. Some handles had a built-in compartment for a candle to use in case of emergency.

Silk-covered lanterns had different names depending on the color of the silk; the social status of the user determined the color and the number of panels used. The elaborate ch'6ngsa ch'orong had blue silk in the middle and red silk at both ends and was used

at wedding ceremonies. To this day, the term "ch'ongsa ch'orong" is a synonym for marriage. There were different types of ch'orong including a collapsible version made of paper. The paper, when folded, allowed the small lantern to fit discreetly inside the sleeve of a traditional Korean costume. According to unofficial historical annals, a man named Lee Hang-bok led King Sonjo of the Choson Dynasty to refuge during the Japanese invasions of 1592 by the light of his concealed ch'orong. One wonders if it were not a paper ch'orong.

The "foot illuminating" lantern was usually hung from the palace rafters. It was also called a "thieves lamp" because patrols on their nightly rounds would use it to help them detect thieves. Another lamp was round like a gourd, or pak in Korean; it was thus known as paktung. This lamp, which included a sconce for candles, was quite scientific in design. A long handle was attached to the top, and a round hole was cut in the bottom to emit light. This lamp was designed so that its candle would remain steady even in the event of movement. Because an expensive candle was the source of illumination, this lamp was used mostly in the palaces, government offices and wealthy homes.

Lamps designed to be hung on the wall or on pillars were known as kwaedung. Although most of the lamps for hanging on walls had a porcelain tungjan, any that had a wood, brass or cast-iron tungga and could support a tungjan while hung on the wall was called kwaedung. Kwaedung were usually used in the kitchen (pu6k) or a man's study (sarangbang) and thus came to be called pu6ktung or sarangdung. Some kwaedung were also made for outdoor use with shades, similar in structure and appearance to the chedung. However, instead of a handle, they had a wire rope for hanging. The oedung and the paltung k6ri were the most common kwaedung used outdoors. A paltung kori hung outside a

house indicated that there had been a death in the family and the house was in mourning. Its frame, made of bamboo or bush clover wood, was covered with paper, upon which the phrase "in mourning" was written.

All lamps hung from the rafters or the protruding corners of a building's eaves, whether known as s6ktungjan, yanggaktung, yosatung, sabangtung or foot illuminating lantern, belong to the category of hyondung. The sabangdung or square hand lantern had a wooden frame covered with paper or glass; it was intended to be set down. The yanggaktung was covered with thin strips of sheep horn; because it was extremely fragile, there are no known examples of this type of lantern. The yosadung, which was reserved for use in the royal court, featured an elaborate hexagonal design accented by strings of five-colored beads.

There were two types of seated lamps or chwadung: the s6dung and the changdung. The square sodung had a frame made of thin slrips of wood that was covered with thick sheets of paper. There was a small ventilation

hole in the top panel and a small door that swung upward to open in the front. The tungjan was placed inside the sodung on an iron tungga fixed in place. When the door was opened, the lamp's light would shine out. This lamp was good for reading and writing, and thus its name (so meaning writing and tung meaning lamp). The lamp ranged in height from 25 to 70 centimeters.

The changdung had a four-, six- or eight-sided framework made of planks or speckled bamboo with a door on one side and a drawer for candles and matches on the bottom. Thin silk or glass covered the lamp. If the framework was painted, the lamp was considered a beautiful piece of furniture and could be placed in any room in the house. This lamp got its name (meaning long lamp) from its height, which ranged from 70 to 100 centimeters.

The k'ok'ul was a combination heater and lamp used by slash-and-burn farmers. Standing about one meter high in a corner of a room, it had a chimney and burned resin-rich pine knots, giving off heat as well as providing light. In some parts of Kangwon-do province, there was a space between the kitchen and the inner room where pine knots were burned in a tudungbul to light both areas.

All tungjan were fundamentally similar in .t hat they all were designed to burn some sort of oil. But depending on the function, shape and intended location of use, these lamps had a variety of names. With the advent of electricity, tungjan fell into disuse. Still, one cannot help but appreciate the ingenuity that went into their design and crafting.

Korea's only museum dedicated to lighting devices, the Korean Tungjan Museum, opened in the fall of 1997. Dr. Kim Dong-hwi, the head of a medical clinic in Suwon, founded the museum to display the fruits of his 50 years of collecting. The well-organized collection includes 300 artifacts from the Three Kingdoms period (1st century B.C.-A.D. 7th century) to the present. + 63

INTERV IEW

Hanbok Designer

Lee Y oung-hee Kim Young-uk

.

T

h e beauty of Korea's traditional costume, the hanbok, eludes verbal description. It seems to derive from the garment's subtle lines and silhouette that transcend typical concepts of beauty defined by time or place. Unlike modern Western garments, often designed to show off the human body, the hanbok complements the wearer's figure and reflects the Korean sense of style and national spirit.

Designer Lee Young-hee, who is 62, has dedicated much of her life to the promotion of the hanbok's traditional beauty to the outside world. She believes the costume is too beautiful to be worn by Koreans alone. Through her designs, Lee has demonstrated the diversity, creativity and beauty of Korean culture to the world. In recent years, she has concentrated on the international stage, working out of Paris and demonstrating to Korean and non-Korean clients alike that Korean fashion can be world fashion.

"Over the years, I've dedicated myself to teaching Westerners that the Korean national costume is quite different from the Japanese kimono. I want them to understand the hanbok," Lee explains.

In fact, it is largely through her efforts that the hanbok has become known to the West. To a certain extent, Lee is responsible for establishing "hanbok" as a proper noun among many non-Koreans. Through her work, she has joined the ranks of many of the world's foremost designers in Paris 64

Associate Editor, KOREANA

and brought international attention to Korea's traditional costume.

"I want the whole world to wear the hanbok," Lee says. The number of visitors to her Paris boutique has grown steadily. She has been presenting a Paris collection for five years now , showing traditional hanbok alongside garments modified to suit modern tastes. These contemporary designs have been featured in international fashion magazines such as Elle and Marie Claire, receiving much applause for their colors, lines and textures.

"The hanbok, especially the woman's hanbok , is now being recognized around the world for its elegance and beauty. The preservation of the traditional hanbok is, of course, an important task, but I've focused my efforts on modernizing the garment and enhanc;ing its universal appeal." Lee has been a pioneer in bringing change to the often rigid world of Korean fashion. Her designs are a meeting of East and West, of the traditional and the modern.

In her early years as a designer, Lee tried grafting the intricate embroidery of the h warot, a ceremonial jacket worn by brides, onto the everyday hanbok, while emphasizing the sleeve lines of the tangui jacket and ch6gori bolero-like top. She also experimented with fabrics and colors, making garments from ramie and using natural dyes. She has used fabrics that combine silk threads with ramie to create a softer garment and has mixed silk with wool. In some garments, she has rein-

terpreted tradition by using graphic images of traditional designs. These twists on tradition are apparent throughout her work.

One reason Lee's hanbok designs have generated so much international attention is her use of color. She favors subdued tones of dark navy blue, gray, black and white. Whereas most hanbok designers prefer brilliant colors, Lee opts for more elegant natural tones. They remind us of a monk's subtle gray robes, the blue-gray of Korea's traditional tile roofs and the green-gray of the ceramics and metalcrafts found in Korean museums. That is why Lee calls herself a "hanbok designer" rather than a "fashion designer." She tries to imbue her contemporary designs with the spirit of the timehonored hanbok and the elegance of traditional culture.

Lee's passion and determination in the face of a challenge are well-known, but there was little in her childhood or youth to suggest that she would become an innovative hanbok designer. The only daughter of a wealthy Taegu family, she grew up watching her talented mother make traditional clothing every day.

"I think Mother liked making clothes.

She sewed for her parents-in-law and m y father. I often sat by her side watching. It was only natural that I learned to sew."

It was while observing her mother at work that Lee realized the secret to making beautiful clothing was not in the technique so much as in the feeling that went into making the garment.

She also learned from her mother that the hanbok's beauty was in its colors.

Her mother dyed her own fabrics and

Some of Lee Young-bee's creations on the catwalk of the Spring/Summer

1996Paris Collection, the theme of which

was"Dream"

From top:oneofLee'screationsin the Spring/Summer 1998 Pret-:i-Porter Collection in Paris; a Paris boutique that specializes in hanbok designs; a 1994 hanbok show 66

emphasized the importance of color to her daughter. These two fundamental principles learned from her motherfeeling and color-have served Lee well throughout her career.

Lee's quiet life was turned upside down just before she entered college.

First her father died, and then a fire destroyed the factory and warehouse that her mother had inherited from him. Lee gave up on the idea of attending university, wedded her husband, then a soldier, and settled into married life.

Hers was quite an ordinary existence, but after a dozen years of mar-

suggested that Lee open her own hanbok shop and she did in 1976. Who would have thought that this housewife would be a world-class designer 20 years later?

Lee was over 40 at the time, so she had to be passionate about her work, but from the very beginning, she was bothered by the fact that she had received no formal training in hanbok design. Determined to learn more about the history and spirit of the hanbok, she decided to spend time with the late Dr. Sok Chu-son, a lifelong scholar of the hanbok who was then serving as director of Dankook

riage, Lee looked back and felt she hadn't achieved enough. That is when she began to operate a silk batting factory with her cousin in Taegu. Inexpensive cotton batting was more popular at the time, but their business grew.

Buoyed by their success, Lee decided to expand the operations to include the production of fine quilts. Together with her mother, Lee developed new dyes and produced a line of high-end silk quilts that were soon selling like hotcakes.

Lee's life changed. She and her family were more comfortable, but in fact, Lee was more interested in making something of herself than in making money. That's when she began to design hanbok from the fabric left over from her quilts. Her customers were ecstatic. Rumors of her designs soon spread through the city. A friend

University's museum. It was from Sok that Lee learned the theory and history of the hanbok. Like her mother, from whom Lee had learned to sew, Dr. Sok was i. valued teacher and spiritual mainstay. During the years she frequented Sok's office at the museum, Lee developed her unique design images.

Business is a vital aspect of fashion; profit is essential for expansion and further development. However, a successful fashion designer must be creative above all else. While imitation is a form of creativity, a designer can never go beyond simple imitation without his or her own basic principles.

Overemphasizing traditional Korean culture can create a biased result. For Lee, harmony is essential to h~er designs. Korean culture provides the foundation on which she builds with

her creativity and understanding of fashion trends.

Today, 20 years after her professional design debut, Lee is still passionate about her research. For two years, she studied textile dyeing at Sungshin Women's University, supplementing what she learned from her mother. However, Lee has learned that dyeing becomes more difficult as you go along.

"Fashion design starts with color," she emphasizes.

Lee's contemporary fashion design career began in 1980 when she was invited to participate in a fashion show organized by members of the newly

founded Korean Fashion Association.

She stayed up all night working on her designs. At the show, she was recognized as an innovative designer and gained the confidence to push ahead with her first private show.

"As I prepared for that first show, I felt a certain passion building within me. I guess you could call it a kind of self-discovery, something that I hadn't experienced before. I was responsible for everything-from the designs themselves to sending the models onto the stage-but I wasn 't the least bit tired."

With the success

A doll dressed in a queen's hanbok, included in a display at a museum in Monaco since 1994 (top); designs from a fashion show held to commemorate the publication of a catalogue of Lee's fashion creations in 1994 (above) 68

of her first show, Lee dedicated herself to presenting her work to the public.

She has staged more than 60 shows since then, from small shows in Seoul to presentations of her pret-a-porter collections in Paris, many more than any other Korean designer. These shows have spurred on her creativity, always growing from her roots in Korean culture, and have brought her much personal satisfaction.

"As I pack up the outfits after each show, I always have this strange feeling of emptiness and uncertainty. I wonder how my hard work is going to be received." But more concrete concerns bring her back to reality, and she has had her share of mistakes and disappointments. Still, there's always the next show. That is why she has learned to strive to be her best at every moment.

Lee's accomplishments are .remarkable. In Korea , the Lee Young-hee brand is in a league of its own, and her Maison de Lee Young-hee line based on her Paris collections has been a commercial success. Next on her agenda is a Lee Young-hee fragrance and a line of accessories. She then plans to expand into furniture, dishes, luggage and men's wear.

"The world's famous designers can't depend on their clothes alone. You have to establish a solid brand image and ~uild the added value of your whole line upon that."

Everyone agrees that the next century will be an age of information and technology. Lee believes that new products must embody a distinct culture in order to appeal to consumers.

That is why she is spending her days considering the best ways to promote her own brand image.

In many ways, Lee's career has been a lonely experience as she works to spread the Korean spirit overseas. Her task will only be made more difficult

by Korea's present financial crisis. Sales are slow with the downturn in the economy, but Lee remains dedicated to the task of clothing the world in the Korean hanbok. +

MARKETS OF KOREA

Traditional Medicinal Herbs Market Chun Sung-hyun Coauthor, Korean Markets

uring the Kory6 (918-1392) and Choson (1392-1910) Dy'nasties , each Korean province was required to make tributary payments to the central government in the form of local products.

However, the system used to collect such tribute was wrought with corruption and other problems: The government designated the products and the quantity to be sent, sometimes including a product that a certain province did not produce, but it would nevertheless have to come up with the specified goods somehow . Many items spoiled in the process of being transported. In addition, corruption among the local government officials in charge of collecting the goods for tribute amplified the

D

suffering of the common people.

To resolve these problems, the Taedong-pop, the Uniform Land Tax La w, was enacted in 1608, under which rice became the only form of

An old map showing the location of the Taegu yaknyongshi

tribute payment. After enacting this law, the central government had to buy the other goods it needed from

various markets. Subsequently, the government ordered that medicinal herbs markets be held in Taegu, W onju and Ch6nju, the provincial capitals of Kyongsang-do, Kangwon-do and Ch6lla-do, respectively, where large quantities of such herbs were produced.

The markets came to be called yakn y6ngshi, literally "medicinal herbs markets established by government decree."

Another reason behind their creation was a reduction in the production of medicinal herbs in China.

Before the Japanese invasions of 1592 and 1598, Kore a imported herbs from China, but came to encourage each region to become self-sufficient in medicinal herbs when China began to suffer shortages.

Around the 17th century, the government ordeted that medicinal herbs markets be held in Taegu, Wonju and Ch6nju, the provincial capitals of Ky6ngsang-do, Kangwon-do and Ch6lla -do, respectively, where large quantities of such herbs were produced. The markets came to be called yakny6ngshi, literally "medicinal herbs markets established by government decree."

69

Photographs taken of the Taegu yaknyongshi in the early 20th century (above, below)

70

The yaknyongshi were opened twice a year in spring and autumn from the time of their establishment in the 17th century until 1914 when they were opened only once a year in December. Ginseng was the most important product traded in these markets. Countless other items were also sold including h wanggi, or milk vetch, and pokny6ng, a type of fungus used to treat gonorrhea and other ailments. When the markets opened, government procurement officials were allowed to shop first to ensure that the government secured whatever items it needed. The market was then opened to the general public for a period of one or two months.

Today, the government no longer legislates when such markets can operate. Also, as similar markets have been opened in other locations, the term yaknyongshi has been replaced with yakchaeshijang, meaning "medici-

nal products market." The largest medicinal herbs market in Korea today is the Kyongdong Market in Seoul.

Nevertheless, the medicinal herbs market in Taegu, established in 1658, continues to be representative of traditional yaknyongshi and it is still called "Taegu Yaknyongshi" in reference to its continuance of past traditions.

The history of the yaknyongshi in Taegu, the third largest city in Korea after Seoul and Pusan, can be divided into two periods depending on the location where it was held. During the first period (1658-1907), the market was held near a guest house attached to the Kyongsang-do provincial government in an area north of what is now the Chungbu Police Station. Herb vendors and traders could only transact business during the market period, which was strictly controll.ed and monitored by the government to keep out Japanese traders. Because the

market was held only twice a year, there were no special buildings to house it and business took place outdoors.

The market steadily expanded over time and in 1907 it moved to its present location on Namsong-ro, Chunggu. A few years later, after Japanese annexation, the Taegu Yakny6ngshi came under the control of the Japanese colonial government, which in 1914 issued a decree to restrict the expansion of the yaknyongshi. The Taegu Yaknyongshi merchants fought tenaciously for the market's survival amid Japanese repression, finally organizing the Yaknyongshi Promotion Association in 1923 to carry out a revival movement. Thanks to such efforts, the Taegu Yaknyongshi has since evolved into an international market selling medicinal products from all over the world including China, Japan, Mongolia, India, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe. However, due to intensified crackdowns by the Japanese colonial government and the reduced demand for Oriental drugs that accompanied the introduction of Western medicine, the Taegu Yakn y6ngshi began to decline.

The area extending about 300 meters along Nams6ng-ro is often called "Yakchon kolmok," Pharmacopoeia Street. It is easy to recognize because of the strong aroma of herbs that emanates from the market entrance; one does not have to see the hundreds of herbal shops and Oriental medicine clinics to realize that one has arrived at the medicinal market. Although the market is now open every day and no longer emits the busy hum that characterized the vibrant open-air market of the past, it still continues to represent a traditional yaknyongshi. There is a traditional open-air herbs market every October as part of the "Month of Taegu Culture" activities. The Taegu Yakny6ngshi Exhibition Hall on Pharmacopoeia Street displays historical materials about the market and

During the Chason Dynasty, markets were held every five days across the country except in Seoul.

E~'en

today,

markets are open every five days in many Fanning areas and small provincial towns. Most of them are held in empty lots near permanent markets.

Taegu's medicinal herbs market continues to represent a traditional yaknyongshi (top), while many Oriental medicine clinics have grown up in the area (above).

71

also sells herbal medicines.

There are several other medicinal herbs markets in Korea besides those in Taegu and Seoul. Kangwon-do is the most mountainous region in South Korea and accordingly is a major producer of herbs, which is why a medicinal herbs market was once opened in W onju. The site of the market was eventually moved to Chech'on, a nearby town which, though located in Ch'ungch'ongbuk-do province, is in 72

the same cultural zone as W onju. The yakn yongshi in Chech'on collects medicinal herbs and items from the outskirts of Chech'on and Tanyang as well as from the Kangwon-do mountains and distributes them across the country.

Herbs are classified as agricultural goods in Korea, and anyone with a license to engage in retail or wholesale business can buy and sell them. Their processing, however, is regulated by

the Pharmaceutical Law and the Food Sanitation Law. The medicinal herbs market in Chech'on is noted not only for its long history dating back to the Choson Dynasty but for its sale of hwanggi, milk vetch, which grows well on high mountain ridges and is also cultivated in fields. It has very large roots and a stem that grows to over a meter in height, and produces pale yellow flowers in early autumn.

The roots are used in tonics and are

Herbal remedies require a mixture of various medicinal herbs depending on the type of sickness (left). The herbs are wrapped in white paper so that the patient can brew them at home; each packet makes a tonic that is taken in a few doses (above).

considered efficacious for restoring and enhancing stamina.

From the beginning, vendors at the Chech'on medicinal herbs market sliced up the milk vetch roots before offering them for sale, as such cutting is extremely difficult and time consuming. Offering presliced milk vetch roots to Oriental medicine clinics, the largest buyers of the item, and other customers was a stroke of mercantile genius. This instantly made milk vetch

one of the most sought-after items, and as a result, the proportion of milk vetch sales in the Chech'on market increased greatly.

The market used to be held in downtown Chech'on, where a traditional market was open every five days, but it now occupies a new building near to the Chech'on Public Stadium. The busiest time for the Chech'on medicinal herbs market is the period from mid-September until

the first frost. The market is open every day, but certain shops are closed on Sunday. Among the 70-some shops doing business in the market, many are jointly managed by several merchants who consign their goods to the shopkeepers. Accordingly, the actual number of merchants doing business in the market is closer to 300.

Although the general public cannot readily buy herbal medicines from the Chech'on market, special packages of 73

stamina-boosting tonics are sometimes offered for sale to retail consumers.

Thanks to the market's booming business, many local farms have boosted their incomes by cultivating milk vetch. Korea's largest red pepper market is also held near the medicinal herbs market.

Another medicinal herbs market is located in Kumsan, Ch'ungch'6ngnamdo, a town south of Taej6n. Although Kumsan has long been renowned for ginseng, its medicinal herbs market was only recently opened. The amount of ginseng produced in Kumsan today is quite meager compared to years past, but the fame of Kumsan ginseng is enough to attract ginseng merchants from all corners of the country, making the town the largest trading and distribution center for ginseng in Korea. Because the merchants sell fresh ginseng as well as dried ginseng, the Kumsan market is always crowded with customers.

During the Chos6n Dynasty, markets were operated at five-day intervals across the country except in Seoul. Even today, markets are open every five days in many farming areas and small provincial towns. Most of them are held in empty lots near permanent markets. If the permanent market represents urban life in Korea, the traditional five-day market represents the life of the countryside and is thus a good place to get a feeling for rural Korea. In K(imsan, markets are held on the 2nd, 7th, 12th, 17th, 22nd and 27th of each month.

Ginseng was considered the creme de Ia creme of herbal medicine in traditional society. The benefits of ginseng, long regarded as a panacea by Koreans, have now been established by modern science. But ginseng was a truly rare product in past ages and commoners had almost no access to it as ginseng was only gathered from mountainous areas.

The widespread demand for ginseng finally led to its cultivation, making mass production possible. Today, it

is quite easy to purchase ginseng at any market, and the root is now being consumed almost indiscriminately as a health supplement rather than as a cure for illness. Ginseng can be compared to rice, the main staple in the Korean cuisine, and other herbal medicines to side dishes. And just as side dishes accompany a bowl of rice, it is only natural for traders to bring other herbs to the ginseng market, and that is how a medicinal herbs market came to be established in Kumsan. As the popularity of Kumsan ginseng grew, herb merchants began to gather on the outskirts of the ginseng market, ultimately leading to the opening of the Kumsan medicinal herbs market.

The cultivation of medicinal herbs in K umsan also began to increase gradually because growers had to turn to other crops, as the soil in which ginseng is cultivated cannot be used for another ginseng crop for at least 10 years. Thus, the Kumsan medicinal herb market has continued to expand, and it now surpasses the older Chech'6n medicinal herbs market in size. Today, the medicinal herbs market in Chech'6n occupies a new building at the entrance of the ginseng market, making the neighboring fresh ginseng market appear rather minuscule in comparison. In Kumsan, the medicinal herbs market, ginseng market, hotels and inns as well as the per-

manent markets and traditional fiveday markets all coexist.

As such, the past and the present coexist in the yakny6ngshi. The traders' current struggle to com pete with imported herbs also provides a clue to gauging their future. The earnestness and vitality of the people striving to preserve the tradition of the yakny6ngshi represent the age-old spirit of Korea's traditional medicinal herbs markets. +

Herbs are classified as agricultural goods in Korea, and anyone with a license to engage in retail or wholesale business can buy and sell them. Their processing. howeve1~

is regulated by

the Pharmaceutical Law and the food Sanitation Law.

Medicinal herbs displayed infrontofashopin the Kyongdong Market in Seoul, the largest medicinal herbs market in Korea today (left); the entrance to the market (below)

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CONTEMPORAI<Y ARTIST

Sculptor

Lee Seung-teak Park Young-taik Art Critic Professor, Chukye University for the Arts

s a sculptor who constantly aspires to create works of antiart, Lee Seung-teak holds an unusual place in Korea's modern art history. His radical and nonstylized creations are viewed as a meaningful attempt to promote a genuine understanding of modern art among the Korean art community, which has long been considered as capable of only stylized works of specific ideologies or trends and formats,as works of art.

Since the 1960s, Lee has experimented with conceptual art, .creating diverse works associated with the earth and the environment, while also turning out numerous works of other genres.

He is known as a sculptor who has led the way in breaking away from existing concepts. For example, he was the first Korean artist to create sculptures using such natural elements as wind, sound and smoke instead of traditional materials.

Lee is also renowned for creating many works that offer a retrospective view of unique aspects of Korean culture and are rich with a magical aura.

Some of his works involve setting fire to his creations, binding them with string or cord, piling them up or scattering them about, all ways of challenging existing ideas and ideologies. Lee is often viewed as an avant-garde eccentric who has consistently pursued a life of art within the realm of Korean modern art.

During the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), Korean artists who actively embraced Western art as a product of

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LEE SEUNG TEA.K SCULP TOR

LEE SEUNG TEAK ART CENTER 564-23 YUNtNAM-OONG. M APO- GU. SEOUl.:.. KOREA TEL... (02) 322- 4669 ( FAX)

Lee's name card (above). The sculptor

does not allow himself to be photo¡ graphedforportraitpurposes,saying that his actions are part of his being.

Lee Seung-teak has experimented with conceptual art, creating diverse works associated with the earth and the environment, while also turning out numerous works of other genres. He is known as a sculptor who has .Jed the way in breaking away from existing concepts.

modernism viewed Western painting as an aesthetic medium of the modernized world or the advanced world. As such, they placed the greatest importance on the artistic format. Actually, they had little choice other than to accept Western art; Japan, which had embraced Western art, had colonized them. Korean painters, who studied Western painting in Japan and .sought to discover the significance of modern art within a context of Western art history, also learned the significance of enlightenment in embracing Western art techniques.

The introduction of a Western style of art education and techniques that accompanied Japan's annexation of Korea led to the birth of Korea's modern art community. This in turn brought about a change in the way art and artists were perceived: Art came to be regarded as the creation of exceptionally gifted individuals. In other words, modern Western art became synonymous with exceptional art and artists.

The most prominent feature of artists during the Japanese colonial period was their aspiration for antifeudalism and modernism. The West, the birthplace of modernism, served as their model. However, they developed a distorted view of the West because what they knew of the West came through the Japanese. Westernization, which was considered synonymous with modernization following Korea's liberation from Japanese domination, was actually a trend toward Americanization. In the same vein, the

Burning Cloud (Destruction of the Ozone Layer), 1987,3.2 m x 12m x 4 m (above);

an untitled work on a tank wall, 1974, 6 m x 17m x 2m (below)

ensuing flow and development of art in Korea continued to be associated with the accommodation and assimilation of American art.

This is why the pursuit of modernism in Korea came to be replaced with a preoccupation with the ways in which various aspects of modern society were absorbed and expressed in regard to .prevailing trends in the American art community. Only individual sensibilities were reg a rded as important in the process of acquiring Western or American art Accordingly, it was only natural that Korean artists became extremely sensitive to the new trends of thought originating in the 78

United States. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this phenomenon led to a critical problem in the Korean art community.

Koreans became acutely aware of this problem in the late 1960s. This was also when, from an art history perspective, Korea's modern art became modernism in the genuine sense of the term. At the same time, Western currents of thought underwent changes to suit Korea. The la te 1960s also witnessed the emergence of artists with outlooks and sensibilities fundamentally different from the fervor for the informal that swept the Korean art community from the late 1950s until

the mid-1960s. Armed with an aggressive spirit of experimentation, artists fresh out of college formed their own groups and faithfully adhered to the so-called avant-garde spirit.

These artists believed that their creations should seek to destroy conventional views about the nature of art, and thus began to engage for the first time in performance art and related activities, which at the time were considered the most advanced forms of artistic creativity. They also broadly embraced popular materialistic images of neo-Dadaist consumerism as well as popular art. This led to a wide range of environmental art and performance art works, the expansion of artistic concepts and the visual and geometric abstraction of optical art. In 1968, such artists joined together to create a group called A.G. (the Korea A vant:Garde Association) in an effort to transcend the passivity, uniformity and lethargy of the art community.

Lee participated in the A.G., whose stated aim was "to contribute to the development of Korean art by seeking and creating a new formative order in Korea's art community, which is suffering from a lack of vision, based on the ¡ premise of a strong perception of avant-garde art" Since then, Lee has continued to broaden and intensify the scope qf his experimental works.

An Avant-Garde Pioneer Lee was one of the first Korean artists to engage in avant-garde activities. He tried to demonstrate that the establishment of a new perception of art and artistic creativity could become the means for overcoming the differences between Korean modern art and the modern art of the West. However, he was often criticized because of his unique way of thinking and his experimental spirit, which sometimes led to clashes with the local painting comm unity. Moreover, local artists refused to recognize his own creations and his endeavors aimed solely at avant-garde experimentation. As such, he is consid-

Haircut Mandate by th~ Military, 1967,10 m x 20m x 0.9m

ered both an outsider and the forerunner of the Korean modern art movement and a genuine modernist who has sought to expand the scope of Korean modern art.

Lee is said to have nurtured a sense of resistance during the Korean War, when he escaped from the North by himself and was later seriously wounded at the battlefront. The perceptions he developed from this experience appear to have colored his artistic world. After majoring in sculpture in the 1950s, he turned away from the traditional concept of sculpture and the use of such traditional materials as stone, wood and bronze. He tried to

escape from the structural poverty of Korea's faceless and homogeneous modern art by merging his creations with the surrounding space and environment. Through such efforts, he succeeded in achieving so-called total art, a merging of all artistic genres.

He has never limited the scope of his creative activities to sculpture, which is why he calls himself an artist rather than a sculptor. "I try to engage in every possible artistic activity such as painting, sculpture, installation art and performance art-realism and abstraction-as well as the creation of monuments, statues, wood structures, photography and writing. A characteristic

of today's art is that anything that one tries to express ultimately reveals everything about the creator, regardless of the genre or method. Accordingly, I call myself a composite artist," Lee says.

Lee's graduation presentation was a work of objet trouve, a challenging and radical creation at the time. He continued to walk the path of a nonconformist and expanded his experiments with various materials, claiming: "It is not an overstatement to call modern art an experiment with material.

Creating non-sculptures is experimenting with various materials, which is an attempt to bestow a certain value on the basic idea or concept rather than 79

merely offering a tangible object for viewing." He has created many anti-art works and non-sculptures that challenge traditional concepts of art, striving to overcome conventional perceptions of what constitutes sculpture. His anticonceptualism is linked with the rejection of traditional materials and methodology, the core and primary elements of modern art; he defies existing, fixed ideas and strives to break new ground. He is the first Korean artist to regard the concept of anticonceptualism and the spirit and energy of negation as the lifespring of art and its interminable starting point.

Lee started to turn his hand to socalled formless works of art in the 1960s. These works originate in his attempt to merge more extensively with the environment-the outcome of an expanded formative thinking that strives for conceptual acts. For such works, he performs artistic acts on site and records the entire process on film to deliver their vividness and immediacy. He has created many formless works using water, fire, earth and smoke that can be viewed as ontological demonstrations of the nonexistent rather than the existent and the unseen rather than the seen. These can be viewed as a medium for humans and nature to communicate and for exploring the profound principles of the universe.

The belief that those who exist will ultimately die and the dead will again be existent is associated with the Buddhist principle of cause and effect.

It also corresponds to the Taoist belief that everything is created from nothing and nothing from everything. Lee's works featuring smoke and cloth flapping in an empty space visualizes for viewers the relationship between emptiness and fullness and at the same time suggests the possibility of a composite approach toward the universe.

These works incorporating ritual aspects of primitive religions ultimately refute artistic works and art as objects.

They can be viewed as an expansion 80

into nature instead of into an exhibition space. They also emphasize the passage of time rather than the existence of a specific work of art. As this is possible only with the participation of onlookers, such works can ultimately be retained only in the form of a photograph.

Korean Aesthetics After devoting himself to such works, Lee started to create interesting works of binding and dissimilation.

Lee likes to refer to himself as an artist of string and, as such, acts of binding and lengths of string appear frequently in his works. The concept of binding manifested in his works is a way of combining heterogeneous objects into a unit. He shows that the act of binding takes place in the context of a tense relationship between the object being bound and the string used for the binding. This means that the relationship between the interior and the exterior is reborn through the act of binding.

Lee tries to highlight an object's existence by binding it with a string. As for his solid metal or polyester sculptures of nude figures, he uses string to bestow tactility on the voluptuousness and resilience of the female body as a life form, ultimately bringing this body to vibrant life. The technique is a reflection of Lee's satirical humor and is his legitimate reason for engaging in expressive acts. Through the non-sculptural acts of binding and wrapping his works with string, he tries to take a new approach toward the hidden essence of an object while shortening the distance habitually maintained between the object and the act of creating art.

After a period of creating nudes in metal, stone and dark brown glaze, Lee began to use extremely commonplace materials, such as paper and bundles of cloth, that are connected with tradition and magic and that portray strong indigenous and shaman elements. He consciously linked the shamanism

underlying the Korean psyche, the sense of aesthetics associated with shamanism, and the prototypes of Korean sentiments contained in indigenous folk religion with his experimental works. He sought to examine the mysticism of shamanism from a new perspective by approaching the unpleasantness or chilling fascination and somber fear inherent in Korea's shaman aesthetics through his works.

Accordingly, he used materials and colors considered unlucky and concentrated on introducing works that are neither sculptures nor paintings.

His liberal attitude toward art, which remains unconstrained by any specific trend or methodology, and his endeavors to create a uniquely Korean aesthetic-which only a Korean can accomplish-is one of his true distinctions. Perhaps the six stone graves he installed on the grounds of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Kwach'6n best reveal the sense of shaman aesthetics that he consistently strives to demonstrate.

Lee first created works that use wind as a medium in the 1970s. He created a composite art environment by staging a situation integrating the fluttering movements caused by wind, the sounds of flapping, light, colors, time and space in an attempt to assimilate with tpe environment. He got the idea for his works featuring wind from the colorful banners used in Korea's traditional fishing rituals entreating for a bountiful catch, which have been preserved and practiced at seaside villages for generations.

Along with such works, a series of paintings drawn on natural objects such as pebbles and sand, paintings of water on cliffs, paintings of waterfalls in dry valleys and paintings of waves on beaches manifests the coexistence of humankind and nature. He paints natural phenomenon, while at the same time inducing the participation of viewers.

The most unique of Lee's experimental avant-garde works, however,

are his acts of self-immolation that he first created in 1989. Specifically, he proclaims his work a substitute for himself and then symbolically immolates himself by burning his creation.

This burning involves all the senses, not just sight, and also reveals changes of movement in accordance with the passage of time. Lee's act of self-immolation does not leave any surplus material, as his creation is ultimately destroyed. Only a record of his work, in the form of photograph or video, is left, as well as the images reflected in the minds of the artist and viewers.

Another purpose behind the self-burning works is to open up new possibilities by burning off existing thoughts and methods.

Lee's belief that "a strong and unique individuality transcends ideology and trend" allowed him to arm himself with an anticonceptualism that defies even common sense. His independent,

Lee was one of the first Korean

artists to engage in avant-garde activities. He tried to demonstrate that the establishment of a new perception of art and~ tic creativity oould become the means for overooming the differences between Korean modem art and the mode/1} art of the West However, he was often criticized because of his unique way of thinking and his experimental spiri~ which sometimes Jed to clashes with the

kxal painting oomm unity.

formative world of non-sculptures, a product of his will, represents a shift from expressions of the tangible to expressions of intuition, from concrete objects to abstract concepts, and from limited space to infinite space. He also uses forgotten colors, especially Korean colors, in his sculptures and succeeds in merging Korean aesthetics and sensibilities in composite art works.

The foundation of his creative work is the thought of Jean-Paul Sartre, who believed that everything lies in negation. His ceaseless aspiration for the new, negating and overriding the existent, is not unrelated to the shackles of Korea's modern history he personally experienced, as well as the influence of Western art trends. Lee has faithfully and consistently worked to demonstrate these aspects. His endeavors form a representative portrait of Korea's avant-garde and experimental art. â&#x20AC;˘

Burning Statues, 1965-1971, Z m x 23m x 0.8 m

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Modem Korean Photography Kim Seung-kon Photography Critic

s recently as the mid-1980s, just a few years before Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, photographers were prohibited for security reasons from taking photos from any building in Seoul that was higher than five stories. Rather than documenting or portraying reality, Korean photographers at the time either revered natural landscapes or used their cameras as weapons to confront or fight reality.

These two trends characterized Korean photography until the late 1980s, and the medium developed without much internal reflection or external challenges. For the most part, Korean photographers thought of their medium as an essentially closed environment.

Photography was first established as a university major in Korea in 1964 and enjoyed rapid growth thereafter.

But photography students had only limited exposure to the trends and methods of expression prevailing in other parts of the world, and they did not have much opportunity or encouragement to experiment with alternative forms of expression. What was taught in courses on the history of modern photography in the United States as early as the mid1960s only reached Korean campuses in the latter half of the 1980s, so it is not surprising that Korean photography was excluded from the world's mainstream trends.

Meanwhile, photography education has experienced incredible growth in Korea. There are now five four-year

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From top: To Alice, Park Hong-chun, 1994; An Asian Shaman, Kim Soo-nam, 1995; an untided work, Hwang Kyu-tae, 1969-1972

universities that offer a degree in photography, 17 two-year technical colleges and four graduate schools, which turn out some 2,000 budding photographers every year.

But the quality of Korean photography only blossomed when young photographers, born after the 1960s, began to come into their own. Unlike their predecessors who adhered to a conservative approach to photography, this young breed of photographe.rs grew up in a different cultural environment, which is reflected in their more powerful, natural creativity. Many also took advantage of the government's liberalized travel regulations in the 1980s to go abroad for study, and their experiences gained from diverse, foreign cultures undoubtedly had a major impact on their artistic outlook.

In 1988, six young photographers who studied in the United States, Europe and Japan held a joint exhibition called "Photography-A New Start" at the Walker Hill Gallery in Seoul. The exhibition was regarded as a breakthrough in that the subject matter and styles of the featured works represented a radical shift from tradition, going beyond not only the older generation but even their contemporaries as well. These young artists sought to achieve a higher level of reality by recording external appearances and by manipulating the images. In fact, they were the first Korean photographers to incorporate the concept of overlapping images during the processes of

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developing and printing their photographs, and. within a short time these methods spread rapidly among students.

In subsequent exhibitions such as "Photography, '89-'90" (Hanmadang Gallery, 1990) and "Mixed Media" (Kumho Art Museum, 1990), the artists demonstrated that the old dichotomies between figurative and conceptual, fact and fiction, and photography and art were no longer valid. The artists who participated in these exhibitions were not interested in visual reality but in the unexplored territory of the human consciousness. The exhibitions marked a turning point in how photography was perceived in Korea: The medium was much freer than previously held, and there was in fact much virgin territory to be explored.

"Horizons of Korean Photography" (1991-1993) featured the works of 50 young students and photographers in their twenties and thirties. It was the first large-scale exhibition of its kind, and was notable for its high level of creative energy, passion and daring. Photographers from Japan, Taiwan and seven European countries participated in this mammoth exhibition, which ran for three consecutive years at the Total Art Museum, Seoul Metropolitan Museum and Kongpyung Art Gallery, respectively. This was the first Korean group exhibition to achieve international status, and it sought to exhibit trends in Korean photography. The exhibition burst forth with vibrant energy, as it freed Korean photography from the shackles of amateurism and the ascetic realism of previous traditions, while firmly establishing photography in the larger realm of art with a wholly new kind of power. The halls were crammed with experimental, even crude or vulgar

images-outward expressions of every possible human emotion, set free all at once.

The exhibiting photographers were mostly born after the 1960s and had either majored in photography at home or studied abroad; they had adopted new value systems and methodologies, which they were not afraid to pursue through different formats. They thought of reality as a means of expression, whereas the idea of processing or fabricating reality had been inconceivable to previous generations.

It is important to note the rapid changes that were occurring in Korean society in the 1980s when this generation was in its youth. Not only was the economy booming, but social mores and values had begun to change in Korea as well as throughout the world, touched off by the end of the Cold War. On top of this, Western culture had begun to rapidly permeate Korean society through a variety of media. In short, this new generation had experienced a tremendous amount of social change in a short span of time.

Photography was first established as a university major in ¡ Korea in 1964 and enjoyed rapid growth thereafter. But photography students had only limited exposure to the trends and methods of expression prevailing in other parts of the world, and they did not have much opportunity or encouragement to experiment with alternative forms of expression.

Naduri(Outing),Han Young-soo,1959

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From top: Laborer, Choi Man-shik, 1959;Chonju, Chollabuk-do, Joo Myung-duk, 1974; Mr. U Mu-dong, Yoon Chu-yung, 1991

84

Many expressionists experimented with installation art, mixed media and other nonrepresentational forms of art; others critiqued society or modern civilization, addressing such issues as gender relations and feminism. Instead of reorganizing the world as it was, they put more emphasis on projecting their own imaginations or opinions of reality in to the photographic process.

Although their works may not have been elegant, they nevertheless emitted a dynamism and freedom that was sorely needed in Korean photography.

On the heels of their groundbreaking "Horizons of Korean Photography" exhibitions, many other group shows took place: "Ah, Republic of Korea" (Chahamun Museum, 1994); "New Winds" (Hyundai Art Gallery, 1994); "Body and Sex" (Gallery Noon, 1995); "Photography: Today's Phase" (Sonje Museum, Kyongju, 1995); "Horizons of Korean Photography" (Hyundai Art Gallery, 1994); "Fresh Winds" (Recruit Gallery, Tokyo, 1995); "Sculpture of Photography" (Kumho Gallery, 1996); "Young Winds" (Culture and Arts Hall, Taegu, 1995); and "Photography: New Perspectives" (Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996). Artists in the early to mid-1990s did not so much carry on with successive traditions as experiment with forms that questioned the purely scholastic or ascetic approach.

These photographers believed that their medium reflected not only the physical world but also the underlying spirit and age of that reality. It was not so much reality itself as the perception of that reality that concerned these photographers, and for them nothing was taboo. There were no longer any standards or compulsions in methods of engaging in reality.

However, not everyone sought to

discover the essence of reality through such methods. There are many aspects of reality that need no interpretation. In the 1990s there has been a growing trend toward "actuality," or visible reality among some photographers.

This was true of the photographers who took part in such exhibitions as "Beyond Landscape" (Pine Gallery, 1991); "Mountains and Rivers" (Kodak Photo Salon, Wonso Gallery, 1993-1997); "Trends in Korean Photography" (Seoul Arts Center, 1994); "Viewpoints and Mediation" (Seoul Arts Center, 1994); "Current Stage of Korean Photography" (Indeco Gallery, 1994); "Korean People" (Indeco Gallery, 1995); and "A Photo is a Photo" (Samsung Photo Gallery, 1996). These served as buffers or neutralizers against the shock waves that penetrated Korean photography in the 1990s. They held firmly to the traditions that focused on Korea's natural landscapes and on the lives of real people, and no matter how complicated the reality, they preferred to portray clear forms.

Korea has not yet established a single public center specifically intended for photography. Seoul, which has a population over 10 million, can only boast of three photo galleries.

With the Korean economy plunged into an unprecedented crisis, the country's low level of cultural development compared to that of advanced countries has become painfully evident. Yet many photographers during and after the Korean War miraculously overcame physical hardships and perils, destitution, and restrictions on personal freedoms and liberties to facilitate rapid development in modern photography. With the designation of 1998 as the "Year of Photography," at least we can look ahead to a brighter future of Korean photography. +

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Clockwise from above: Namdaemun Market, Chung Bum -tae, 1956; A Spanish

Boy and His Group Leader, Sung Nam-hun, 1994; Alley Scenery, Kim Ki-chan, 1982; Black Sand Bath, Chejudo, Yuk Myung-shim, 1983; Meeting and Departure, Bae Bien-u, 1995; In the Beginning ill, Koo Bohn-chang, 1995-1996

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A New Angle on Folk Sculptures Lee Ku-yeol Art Critic

he Power of Old Korean Stone Sculptures," an exhibition presently under way at the Ewha Sculpture Garden in front of the Ewha W omans University Museum , is unlike any exhibition ever put on by a Korean museum and certainly merits the attention of folklorists and art historians. Opened in November 1997, the exhibition is scheduled to run through October 1998.

The exhibition is composed of two sections: a display of stone statues of men that were positioned in front of the tombs of prominent historical figures and renowned families, and a display of changsung, or spirit posts, used as symbols of village guardian deities, both commonly found throughout the country.

In organizing the exhibition, which involved much research, Dr. Kim Hong-nam, curator of the Ewha Womans University Museum, endeavored to present the sculptures purely as objects of formative and artistic aesthetics. In short, her aim is to show that these objects, the products of folk traditions, should also be included in formal studies of Korean sculpture.

The stone sculptures are products of folk beliefs and Confucianism, just like the Buddhist sculptures created since the Three Kingdoms period (1st century B.C.-A.D. 7th century), which are considered the mainstream of sculpture in Korean art history, are products of Buddhism. The stone funerary sculptures of literary figures

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Boy Attendant with Flower, stone,

height 73 em, Chos6n Dynasty

and warriors placed before graves served to symbolically protect the spirits of the occupants. On the other hand, the fierce-looking changsung, placed at the entrance to a village or a village shrine, symbolized the tutelary deity who was believed to protect the well-being of the villagers.

These ancient stone sculptures of

folk tradition, artistically outstanding even by modern standards, were all created by nameless stonemasons and stonecutters. Nonetheless, with the eye of a genuine artist, these simple artisans used their imagination to give life to their creations with engagingly comical and humorous expressions, at times displaying unique creativity and flawless techniques. Resorting to whim as well as craftsmanship, they created outstanding works, which mysteriously move and fascinate us even today.

Most folk sculptures in Korea are made from granite, which can be found in abundance throughout the country. The stonemasons who expertly crafted the high-quality granite as if they were shaping clay were the forerunners of genuine artists who inspired diverse developments in stone sculpturing. Centuriesold granite sculptures reveal changes in texture and appearance caused by the passage of time and exposure to the elements, thereby allowing viewers to sense the powerful force and strength they embody.

One can visually feel the breath and pulse of ancient Koreans in the granite stone figures with their solemn and stern expressions, covered with moss and naturally formed blemishes resembling flowers, standing vigil before grave sites. They were , however, indiscriminately destroyed or removed from the graves they had vigilantly guarded for hundreds of years in the process of the country's land development

CURRENTS and industrialization that proceeded rapidly beginning in the late 1970s.

The stone statues, having lost their reason for being-the protection of the souls of the dead-were turned into objects of trade by antique dealers. Fortunately, some of the more outstanding and unique works were sold to art lovers and collectors who respected their history and artistic qualities. Many of them were exported to Japan, as the Japanese are fond of placing stone statues in their gardens.

Koreans, however, consider it bad luck to bring funerary statues into one's home. From ancient times, they ha¡ve viewed it as unethical to

remove ceramic pieces and other funerary items from graves for use in their homes. They have also regarded it as immoral to damage a grave site.

But the changing world has led to a breakdown in the traditional ethics to which Koreans had so strictly adhered. Koreans began to view all historical relics from a new perspective based on modern values and ideas. "The Power of Old Korean Stone Sculptures" exhibition is a reflection of these changes. The ambiance of the exhibition is quite dramatic, making one reflect upon the vastness of time and space in history. The exhibition features about

50 sculptures, mostly on loan from collectors; it is as though they are ancient stone relics that had long lost their original raison d'etre.

The large and small stone statues of men with varying expressions create a silent outdoor stage-much like actors assigned to different rolesagainst the backdrop of the Ewha Sculpture Garden, where they are displayed at differing heights, either alone or in pairs. Visitors experience the illusion of a pantomime that testifies to the life of the people whose villages and graves the sculptures once guarded.

The profound emotions emanating from the sculptures are enough to

Chejudo Boy Attendant, basalt, height 50 em, Chos6n Dynasty

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satisfy any viewer. The stone sculptures of changsi:ing, masterpieces of craftsmanship and humorous expressions that rely on bold omission and exaggeration pregnant with power and strength, testify to the rich ereativity of Korea's centuries-old folk traditions.

The placing of statues of literary figures and warriors in front of graves can be traced to the royal tombs of the Unified Shilla Kingdom (668-935) including the tombs of Kings S6ngd6k (r. 700-737) and Hi:ingd6k (r. 826-836) preserved in Ky6ngju, the capital of Shilla. The royal tombs of the Kory6 (918-1392) and Chos6n (1392-1910) Dynasties also reflect further developments of this tradition. Beginning in the midChos6n period, the custom of placing stone statues of warriors in front of graves began to be widely practiced even among commoners, although the placement of stone statues of literary figures was restricted to the upper classes. Stonemasons, depending on the terms of their commissions, boldly displayed their creative skills in crafting large and small solemn-looking statues of traditional forms.

A large number of stone changsi:ing, deeply rooted in the traditions of Korea's native shamanism, were created with liberal imagination and spontaneous emotion. For instance, stone artisans often tried to endow changsi:ing with the most frightening and fearsome expressions possible, their heads forming over half the sculpture. Many of these masterpieces even resemble modern sculptures, with their surprisingly subtle and bemusing expressions. The exhibition represents only a sampling of the large number and variety of stone sculptures still preserved in their original locations in all parts of Korea. + 88

The stone funerary sculptures of literary figures and warriors placed before graves served to symbolically protect the spirits of the occupants. On the other hand, the fierce-looking changsung, placed at the entrance to a village or a village shrine, symbolized the tutelary deity who was believed to protect the

well-being of the villagers.

Civil Official, stone, height 142 em, Chos6n Dynasty

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Korea on the Internet Kim Sang-hyun Staff Reporter, The Dong·A Ilbo

of the Internet is akin to the globalranee has declared war on the service. Yahoo is the most popular United States. Not a shooting search engine on the Internet; no ization of American culture and of war, of course, but a "war of the English language. Thus, the other site provides such convenient language," or more precisely, a growth of the Internet can be interaccess to countless subjects in a syspreted as a threat to all non-English tematic and orderly fashion. After "culture war." The reason the French government and culentering "Korea" as the tural establishment -o search word, the have gone so far as to choice would include declare a "war" is due a heading that reads to the Internet. Presr====r~~~~-~~~·~iiiiiiiirwiiii"---~, 1 "Regional: Countries: ident Jacques Chirac Korea, South," which and French intellectuals the individual can have noted that the open with a simple explosive growth of click. From here, the the Internet poses a individual can dig potential threat to deeper to "Arts and "'Korea lnsights offers a look a l the rich philosophical and cullurol legacies of lhe Korean people. The site is French language and Humanities" or "Socidivided into two m&.in sections -Sal1gss.e:1g and Hsll,}ang- each based on traditional principles tha t have grow n out or Korea' s culture. In response , ety and Culture," but history.

Chirac has instructed the paucity of listings ENG ~= ~~;~~~ u.-t \hw,¢,t dis:o.=ioos ot that all Web sites relatis frankly embarrassed to France should be ing. It 's enough to "NMjMJ is tl\t pbct \ 0 C«IU available en tire! y in make one feel envy at l lini:/ l ~on<>Z~ cW:ul...-. .md JANG French, and that all how strongly the ... uP I{Q!<ll.; j English-language Web French have defended sites include French their culture. translations.

Nonetheless, Koreans The Korea Insights home page can take solace in listBut, in truth, France is not the only country ings such as "Korea that should declare a "war of culture." speaking nations, including Korea.

Insights" and "Culture Korea." If only Perhaps all nations that have not desthere were more web sites like these!

How prepared is Korea? Should ignated English as an official lanKoreans be declaring such a war?

"Introducing Korean culture Im agine a foreigner who wants to guage should be prepared to raise through the Internet." That is Korea learn more about Korea, or someone similar issues. Considering that the Insights' (http:/ / korea.insights.co.kr) Internet originated in the late 1960s who is interested in visiting Korea. self-proclaimed mission , and most from an experimental project in the Let's follow the steps this individual people who find their way to this would take to become better United States known as ARPANET site would fully agree. More than any (Applied Research Projects Agency acquainted with Korea. other site, Korea Insights' content is First, the individual would likely Network), it would not be an exagpacked with all sorts of informationa ccess the Yahoo search engine from Korean history to culture, phigeration to say that the fast growing (http:// www.yahoo.com) or a similar popularity and ballooning influence losophy and religion-in such various

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89

CURRENTS

Considering that the Internet originated in the late 1960s from an experimental project in the United States known as ARPANET, it would not be an exaggeration to say the fast-growing popularity and ballooning influence of the Internet is akin to the globalization of American culture and of the English language. Thus, the growth of the Internet can be interpreted as a threat to all non -English speaking nations, including Korea.

SANGSAENG T he te/111 'Snng.ueng' refen to the t<»molo&ica t

lrMmoni~tion of oppositu.

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a Women's Costumes a Men's Clothing a Textiles and Dyeing a Riluai Attire Etc.

Some pages from Korea Insights

90

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media as text, images, audio and even 3-D multimedia. Another notable feature is that all textual material is available in both English and Korean.

Korea Insights' Web site, which was created by Art Space Korea, opens to the sound of a gong.

Everything about the site, even the way the information is organized, is uniquely Korean. The site is divided into two main sections entitled "Sangsaeng" (Livelihood) and "Nanjang" (Marketplace), the underlying principles of Korean tradition.

Under Sangsaeng, one can find information on Korea's intellectual history, cultural legacies, philosophies, religions, and natural and historical legacies, as well as images of Korea. As for cultural legacies, one can ·see detailed images of Chongm yo, the royal ancestral shrine of the Chos6n Dynasty; the S6kkuram Buddhist Grotto of Pulguksa Temple; the woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana and their storage halls at Haeinsa Temple; Suwons6ng Fortress; and Ch'angd6kkung Palace, which have all been included on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Nanjang section focuses more on day-to-day culture, including markets, sounds, etiquette, lifestyles, and other facets of Korean life, as well as information on Korean arts and performers. There is even a page of special sites, which will attract the interest of all "Netizens." Some of the features include a photo exhibition entitled "Asia's Heaven and Earth" by renowned photographer Kim Sunam, who specializes in capturing the spirit of kut, or shaman rituals.

Another special exhibition, "Korean Embroidery Museum: Pojagi," offers a poignant look at the extraordinary creativity of Korean women throughout history as expressed in

CURRENTS

wrapping cloths called pojagi. "Samulnori" showcases the achievements of the Kim Dok-su Samulnori troupe.

Culture Korea (http:/ /www.culturekorea.com) has been created by Voin Interactive, a firm that specializes in producing multimedia content.

Just as its name implies, the site focuses on Korean culture, past and present. Some of its most notable features include a "Culture Bulletin," which lists ongoing cultural events, while sections entitled "Traditional Music" and "Traditional Arts and Crafts" showcase traditional Korean culture. Another unique aspect is the "Seoul Subway Culture Information" section, which shows not only a map of the subway system but also informatio n regarding exhibitions and events at cultural venues near subway stops. The site features a clean, attractive layout and a wealth of information, for which it has earned very positive reviews. The only drawback is that there is no Englishlanguage service.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Korea Overseas Information Service operates "Korean Window" (http:/ / www.kois.go.kr).

Describing itself as a window into Korea, the site was first set up two years ago. It is perhaps the most comprehensive site on Korea, with information on politics, society, economics, hist o ry, culture and more. If one opens the "Culture" menu, an overview and detailed information are available under the following choices: "Overview," "Culture and Arts," "Cultural Heritage," "Korean Cinema" and "National Identity."

Although the site cannot be faulted for the quantity or quality of the information it provides, it is upd~ted only infrequently, and thus lacks the interactivity of other sites in terms of upcoming forums or events. The governm e nt could make more of an

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effort to upgrade the value of this site.

In addition to these sites, there are Dacom's "Korean Traditional Arts" (http:/ / expo.dacom.co.kr / info/ html/ root.html), which was originally created for the 1996 Internet Expo; "Korean Traditional Culture" (http:/I seoul.expo.or.kr / Pavilions/Public Pa vilions/K oreaim age/ information/ culture/artculture.html); "Blueartcity" (http:/ /www.artcity.co.kr /artcity /), which aims to place "Korean art and culture in the center of the world's focus"; "National Treasure of Korea" (http:/ / firefox.postech .ac.kr / treasure/ ), which was created by Pohang University of Science and Techno!-

ogy; and a site sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, showcasing a list of ten symbols of Korean culture it has selected (http:/I munhwa.mocs.go.kr). However, it would be difficult to claim that these sites could attract global interest.

Korea boasts of its 5,000-year-old culture, but its glory and splendor fail to come across on the Internet. If this state of affairs is allowed to continue, it may not be long before American culture and the English language overwhelm Korea's culture and language. Korea needs to declare a culture war as well as France, and not a moment too soon. + 91

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Korean Cultural Heritage Volume IV: Traditional Ufestyles

Volume IV of the "Korean Cultural Heritage" series, Traditional Lifestyles (Korea Foundation, 1997, 204 pp., US$40.00), offers readers a fascinating glimpse of the elements that made up the traditional Korean mode of living-from housing, the natural environment and clothing to food and drink as well as the rites of passage and familial bonds that cemented it all togther.

The volume begins with an explication of Korea's fami92

ly system, establishing the family as a unit of production and consumption and as a venue for education and a religious practice. Naturally marriage and procreation were essential tasks in traditional society, as they are today, thus a brief history of wedding customs in early Korea as well as a detailed description of the traditional ceremony performed in Chos6n society is included. Ancestral rites, readers are told, serve to confirm family ties and the hierarchical status quo, express gratitude to ancestors and strengthen ties among living family members.

The next section shows how architecture and land use are mirrors of traditional culture, and specifically how residential housing and landscaping reflect traditional beliefs and social structure. Interestingly enough, both folk beliefs and Confucian teachings ¡ had a profound influence on Korean habitation. Geomancy, the divination of natural forces, was an important factor in Korean life, for it influenced the location of homes, graves and even cities. The physical features of dwellings are also discussed, including one of the most unique features of Korean homes-their ondol or under-floor heating system.

Under the rubric "Clothing," the role of the national costume, hanbok, as a manifestation of Korean national character and values is discussed. Every aspect of traditional garments, from their development to their structure, function and symbolism, is presented. One article even deals with modern interpretations of the hanbok. Embroidery expert Huh Dong-hwa focuses on the aspirations of women in his study of Korean needlework over the centuries while women's accessories, hairstyles and cosmetics are the focus of another article.

Food and drink are the topics of the last section. Among the 11 articles in the section are items on traditional dietary customs, traditional foods and table settings, Korea's best-loved wines, and drinking customs. Koreans have long been characterized by their love of food and drink, and the superabundance of restaurants, drinking establishments and cooking schools in modern Korea suggests that this obsession lives on today.

The appendices include a listing of folk villages, folk museums and royal lineages as well as an index. The first three volumes in the series include Volume I, Fine Arts; Volume II, Thought & Religion; and Volume III, Performing Arts.

(Suzanna M. Samstag)

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Symbolism and Simplicity of Korean Art In America and Europe, one of the primary sources of knowledge about 19th-century Korean literati painting has been the art collection of Dr. Cho W on-kyung. A dancer and promoter of Korean culture who resides in New York City, Dr. Cho started his collection in the 1950s.

An exhibition of paintings from Dr. Cho's collection toured major art museums in the Netherlands in 1993 and Scandinavia in 1996 and 1997. A selection of paintings and ceramics from Dr. Cho's collection was also exhibited in 1997 at the David Wynton Bell Gallery at Brown University in the United States.

Dr. Ken Vos, curator of the Japanese and Korean Department at the National Museum of Ethnology at Leiden in the Netherlands, compiled a catalogue for the first exhibition that has also served as a general introduction to Korean art history. Titled Korean Painting A Selection of Eighteenth- to Early Twentieth-Century Paintings from the Collection of Cho Won-Kyung, the catalogue was published in Leiden in 1992 and a revised edition was published in 1994.

Dr. Vos's new publication reviewed here, Symbolism & Simplicity: Korean Art from the Collection of Cho Wonkyung (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, 1997) was prepared for the exhibition at Brown University because the inclusion of ceramics in the exhibition and a new selection of paintings necessitated a new catalogue. This presented Dr. Vos with the opportunity to take on a fresh approach and to provide supplementary information, even though some of the text is based on the earlier catalogues.

Dr. Vos starts with a brief overview of Korean painting and ceramics. As his goal is to provide voluminous information in a very limited space, the text is not always easy to follow for one who is unfamiliar with the subject matter. This is of course an unavoidable peril when introducing a little-known field to a lay audience. The taste for Korean art has been confined to a small and select circle in the West. Indeed, given the paucity of literature about Korean art history in European languages, the extensiveness of Dr. Vos's text is outstanding.

Another merit is Dr. Vos's attempt to present the art of

the Chos6n Dynasty (1392-1910) in its social context. This is not the main emphasis of his approach, but even as a secondary focus it is to be applauded, as most studies of Korean art history have concentrated on defining artistic schools and formal qualities. For an audience unfamiliar with Chos6n art, examining its role and function in Chos6n society seems like a good way to gain a deeper appreciation of the artworks. Without some idea of the context in which artworks were created and used, a consideration of formal developments in different periods takes place in a kind of vacuum.

A key to understanding the significance of art in Chos6n Korea lies in understanding its symbols. Following his overviews, Dr. Vos lists the major symbols traditionally used in Korea with some explanations on the intricacies of their use.. This section is of great value to any student of Korean art.

The introductory texts are followed by about 200 photographs, half of them in color, of paintings and ceramics from Dr. Cho's collection. The selection of ceramics provides a general idea of how ceramics developed during the Chos6n period.

Although the painting selection includes a few 17th- and 18th-century works, the emphasis is on literati paintings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dr. Cho's art collection and the related publications are particularly valuable in drawing attention to this very interesting and historically significant transitional period in Korean painting, which has yet to receive the attention it deserves from art critics and historians.

Symbolism and Simplicity has been very handsomely produced by its Dutch publishers. Its layout is a model of clarity and good taste.

(Kai Kartio)

93

EVENTS & EXHIBITS

Art An exhibition of t'ou, clay figurines, of the Shilla period (37 B.C-A.D. 935) was held from December 23, 1997, to February 1, 1998, at the Kyongju National Museum.

The exhibition included ceramic works of diverse forms, ranging from sculptures of people, plants and animals to miniature houses and common tools. Most pieces were toys, religious icons and funerary items; the majority of them appear to have been made for burial purposes.

These cia y figures were not collected through systematic excavations but were discovered accidentally at various construction sites. Accordingly,

there is very little information about them , making an academic assessment extremely difficult.

The exhibition was aimed at assigning the cia y figurines of the Shilla period a proper place in the history of Korean art by examining them from the perspectives of art history and archeology. To this end, the exhibition brought together about 350 figures from the collections of the National Museum of Korea, Kyongju National Museum and other national and private museums across the nation.

No similar clay figures exist from the Kogury6 and Paekche Kingdoms.

The Shilla pieces are also distinct from the earthenware of China. The exhibition featured clay figures of truly diverse forms-musicians playing. their instruments , a woman grieving over the death of her husband, people carrying pots on a

yoke-like rack, hunters, a woman giving birth, as well as erotic pieces.

They also include animals such as anteaters, buffaloes and parrots that did not exist in the Shilla Kingdom, thereby indicating the scope of foreign exchanges that took place at the time.

The exhibition allowed viewers a glimpse of the lives of a ncient 94

EVENTS & EXHIBITS

Koreans, and also of the eternal present transcending time through the prototypes of human life.

Exhibition ofAncient Korean Earthenware The National Museum of Korea recently displayed a collection of outstanding pieces of earthenware of different regions and time periods, including many recently discovered items. Titled "Earth, Art, Life and Death," the exhibition was a followup to an exhibition of prehistoric

and ancient Korean earthenware the museum held in 1993. Featuring about 450 pieces from the Koguryo, Paekche, Shilla and Kaya Kingdoms, many of which have been designated as National Treasures, the exhibition was held from December 2, 1997, to February 1, 1998.

The relics were arranged according to different themes to show the regional characteristics of Koguryo, Paekche, Shilla and Kaya. They were further categorized into various subthemes such as their patterns, lettering and decorative motifs or their funerary purposes to offer a better understanding of their significance.

The majority of the pieces were used for funerary purposes or in ancestral rites. As such, they offered clues of these societies' ritualistic practices as well as their concepts of the afterworld.

Shin Yun-bok's Paintingr and Calligraphy The National Museum of Korea held an exhibition spotlighting the art of Shin Yun-bok (pen name Hyewon) and his direct ancestors to mark his designation as the cultural figure of the month January 1998.

The exhibition ran from January 13 until March 1.

The special exhibition presented about 50 paintings and calligraphic works by Shin and his ancestors.

They included Shin's well-known album of genre paintings titled Hyew6nch6nshinch '6p, which has been designated National Treasure No. 135, and other outstanding works in different genres such as Painting of a Beautiful Woman, Two Fighting Cocks and Woman by Lotus Pond.

Also on display was an album of writings that extoll virtue by his ancestor, Lady Sol (1429-1509), which has been designated Treasure No. 728.

Shin's ancestral home was Koryong; his "courtesy name" (the name taken at the age of 20) was Ippu or Togyo. His father was Shin Hanp'yong (pen name Hwawon; 1735?-1809?). Shin Yun-bok was the most prominent painter of the late Chason period, together with Kim Hong-do (pen name Tanwon; 1745-1806?), who established the model for genre paintings. Whereas Kim Hong-do humorously depicted the various aspects of the lives of the different classes, Shin mostly created

paintings depicting love between men and women.

The origin of Shin's painting style can be traced back to Lady Sol, the wife of government minister Shin Mal-ju (1429-1503), his 11th-generation ancestor. The origin of his writing is discerned in the works of Shin Tokrin, his 14th-generation ancestor who lived at the end of the Koryo Dynasty in the late 1300s.

A seminar was held in conjunction with the exhibition on January 20 in the museum auditorium. Chong Yang-mo, director of the National Museum, gave a lecture titled "Appreciating the Genre Paintings of Hyewon," while Lee Won-bok , a researcher at the museum, delivered a presentation on the painting tradition of the Shin family.

~ 'Fiices-ofKtJreans':

Portraits and Busts An exhibition of Korean portraits and busts from ancient times to the modern period was held from February 11 to 24 at Gana Art Space in Seoul. As can be discerned from the exhibition 's subtitle, "Fifteen Hundr.ed Years of History : From Tradition to Modernity," the display provided an opportunity to appreciate the essence of Korea's art, from modern works by seven renowned artists (Kwon Chin-kyu, Ch'oi Chongt'ae, Ha n Chin-sop, Kim Tong-wu , Han Ae-kyu, Hong Sun-mo and Yu Yong-kyo) to ancient Buddhist and folk sculptures. The , older art pieces were of particularly high historical value; they were made of diverse materials such as bronze, gilt bronze, wood, stone, clay and paper.

The exhibition attracted much interest as the majority of the artworks were on display to the public for the first time. Also included in the 95

EVENTS & EXHIBITS

exhibition were statues of children wearing a variety of innocent and lively expressions that invariably elicited smiles from viewers. The statues revealed much about the lives and aspirations of Korean people at the time of their creation.

Each of the works by modern artists shows a unique formative language, ranging from realism to minimalism and expressive forms. The exhibition provided an opportunity to study the long development of formative awareness featured on Koreans' faces in traditional artworks and also to look back on the faces of Koreans through history.

Literature

Novelist Yi Mun-yol opened Korea's first literary a cad em y in Ich'on, Kyonggido province, on January 17. He named it Pu-ak Literary Academy after the mountain that rises behind it, called Pu-a-ak in reference to its shape resembling a person carrying a child on his back.

The academy originated from a dilapidated farmhouse that Yi bought in 1985 to use as a writing studio.

Since then, it has been enlarged to include a basement and two stories with two lecture rooms, a library and 15 other rooms.

Yi, who moved from Seoul to the academy with his entire family, will recruit "literary students" to study classical literature and improve their 96

own writing skills. Five people will be selected each year and offered the chance to study Oriental and Western classics for three years.

Applicants must have educational background equivalent to college graduates and must demonstrate a firm commitment to literary studies.

Selection will be based on applicants' letters of self-introduction, 40 to 50 pages in length. In addition to the students, those who wish to concentrate on writing and research in ¡ literature can stay at the academy as it is equipped with dormitory space for about 60 people, a cafeteria and laundry facilities.

Yi had been thinking about traveling to the United States to examine current trends in literature, but decided to open his academy instead. He says that the purpose of the academy is to "reestablish the traditions of Korean literature," vowing to preserve these traditions in the manner of the yurim, or Confucian scholars, by working with younger generations of writers.

Photography 'Taedong Sansit': K.tifean ,,~ Mountai1Jfa11f1Rivers , .:.: Taedong Sansu, an association of prominent Korean photographers, held an exhibition under the same title from January 12 to 24 at the Seoul W onso Gallery. The exhibition featured photographs of Korean landscapes that reveal the unique perspective of each participating photographer.

Eleven landscape photographers (Bae Bien-u , Kim Jang -sup, Park Hong-chun, Kim Tae-oh, Oh ]ong-

eun, Kim Nam-soo, Choi Gang-i!, Kim Young-kil, Hong II, Yeo Don-ho and Her Jeung-in) formed the association four years ago with the goal of photographing over the next 10 years various aspects of Korea's natural beauty. The association's name is derived from the first two syllables of Taedong yojido, a detailed map of Korea made by Kim Ch6ng-ho (?-1864), and the last two syllables of chin-gyongsansu, a type of landscape painting based on real scenery developed by ChOng Son (1676-1759).

The theme of the exhibition, the association 's fourth , is "The Landscape of Namdo." It featured photographs of the sea and fertile land of Korea's southern region, which is known as Namdo. The photographs also indicate the di'verse artistic trends among Korea's contemporary landscape photographers. One prominent tr.e nd is "topographic photography," which uses modern photographic techniques to interpret the tradition of the American pioneers who took pictures of their country's landscapes for the purpose of leaving a record. Other trends include panoramic photographs that are either longer or wider than normal and also photographs that clearly reveal artistic purpose through image manipulation during the developing process.

The association's photographers first took pictures of Ky6nggi-do province in 1994 and then photographed the west coast of Ch'ungch'6ngnam-do, Mt. Chirisan and Korea 's southern

EVENTS & EXHIBITS

region. The photographers plan to go on six more tours of Korea and will complete their journey after traveling to the K yongsang -d o provinces, Chejudo Island, the east coast and the Paektudaegan (the mountain range that stretches along the east coast), and finally taking pictures in Seoul.

Folk Customs

Music

A variety of events wishing for happiness, well-being and a rich harvest were held in celebration of Taeborum, the first full moon of the lunar year, which occurred on February 11 this year.

Koreans traditionally eat chestnuts, walnuts and peanuts (together called pur6m) early on the morning of Taeborum in the belief that these

ety of vegetable dishes.

One of the games played on this day is "heat selling." To play, one calls someone's name and upon their response shouts ''Nae t6wi!" meaning "my heat"; they will then have to endure the caller's heat in the coming summer. This game is played in the hope of avoiding Korea's sweltering summer heat. Koreans also perform Confucian ancestral rites and play games including yut, a board game using four sticks; tug-ofwar; kite flying; and chisin-palki, a procession designed to soothe the earth god and pray for a good harvest, health and luck throughout the year.

Other activities take place to greet the rising full moon; these include

nuts will protect them from illness and bring good luck. They also drink kwipalki-sul, a cold wine believed to improve one's hearing. The special food eaten on this day is ogokpap, "five-grain rice," glutinous rice cooked together with red beans, green beans, sorghum and millet. Ogokpap is usually consumed together with a vari-

ch wibul-nori, or setting fire to the fields to drive away pests; and burning stacks of wood to drive away evil spirits and make one's wishes come true. This year's events were special in that they encompassed the people's ardent wish for the nation's well-being and a speedy recovery of the ailing economy.

First Regular Concert

by Chung Myung-whun The internationally acclaimed conductor Chung Myung-whun became the musical director and conductor of the KBS Symphony Orchestra in 1998. His first performance after taking up the baton for the orchestra took place on February 12. Titled "For the Nation," the program mainly featured works by Korean composers and was held to promote the sale of dollar-denominated bonds the Korean government is issuing in an effort to ease its current dollar shortage.

Chung directed Korean Fantasia by Ahn Eak-tai, the love song "Sarangga" from the p 'ansori Ch 'unhyangga (sung by An Suk-son and adapted by Lee Yung-jo), Yun !-sang's Ye-ak, Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3, and Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variation No. 33. Chung hoped that the music might take listeners' minds off the current economic crisis.

Chung plans to present four more repertoires in eight concerts this year, starting with a performance by the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra at the Seoul Art Center featuring traditional Korean music, followed by concerts in Tokyo, Osaka, Washington and New York.

Celebration of the First Full Moon

97

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