Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks

While I was in Seoul for the Lotus Lantern Festival (more about that later), I re-visited a small art gallery that Hyun Ju showed me a few months ago. When we were there together, Hyun Ju bought a really pretty painting, and I've been thinking about it ever since. So on the first day of my trip I went back to the same gallery and bought the painting myself. I didn't know very much about it at the time, but Hyun Ju told me it was a famous traditional image, and I just loved the scenery and colors. Here it is:

This image is a folded screen; mine is just a flat painting.

Besides at the art gallery, I've seen this image in a few other places:

The side of a building in Insadong, Seoul

I've since done a little research and learned more about the significance of this image. According to Wikipedia, it's called Irworobongdo (say that five times fast, if you can pronounce it!) , or Painting of the Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks. It was produced on folding screens in the Joseon dynasty (the last royal dynasty in Korea, from 1392-1910). The red sun represents the king / masculinity / yang, and the moon represents the queen / femininity / yin.

The screens were associated with royalty, royal power, or royal ancestors. In court paintings, showing the actual king wasn't allowed, so instead an empty throne or the image of Irworobongdo would imply his presence there. In real life, the screens were set up behind the king's throne in the palaces; this way, the screens would "... represent the land of Korea blessed by Heaven, symbolized by the sun and moon portrayed in absolute balance. When the king sat in front of this screen, he literally became the central point of the composition and thus the pivotal point from which all force emanated and to which all returned."

So the king was basically the center and driving force of the universe. Any coincidence that these screens were produced during the longest-ruling Confucian dynasty, and the one that really ingrained Confucianism (older than you = automatically better than you, heirarchy as a way of life, etc.) into Korean culture and society?

Changgyeong Palace in Seoul

Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul


Historians think that these screens were once pretty common, but now there are only about 20 left, none of which are signed.

The lady at the shop packaged up my picture really well (bubble wrap, a few layers of paper, tape all around, and then rope all around that, plus a makeshift rope handle so I could carry it home). This is both good and bad - I really want to open it and look at it in my apartment right now, but I'm leaving Korea very soon and I know I'll never get it wrapped up so well by myself. So once I got back to Daegu I just had to put the whole thing in my suitcase. On the other hand, I know it'll make it home safely (I'll probably need a hand saw to get through all of those layers). I can't wait to see it again when I'm finally home in October!

I got most of this information from Wikipedia and this link (no idea what it is): http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/22/2200381.pdf
The picture of Insadong is mine and the rest are from Google Images and http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/archives_of_asian_art/v058/58.yi_fig10.html .

4 comments:

  1. Hi do you know what the Sun, Moon, And Five Peaks are made of?

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    Replies
    1. Try looking on wikipedia SHAYA

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    2. Shaya who likes Malia : 've since done a little research and learned more about the significance of this image. According to Wikipedia, it's called Irworobongdo (say that five times fast, if you can pronounce it!) , or Painting of the Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks. It was produced on folding screens in the Joseon dynasty (the last royal dynasty in Korea, from 1392-1910). The red sun represents the king / masculinity / yang, and the moon represents the queen / femininity / yin.

      Delete
  2. Shay try looking on Wikipedia

    ReplyDelete