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Western Influence on Korean Painting of the Late Chosŏn Period

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Western Influence on Korean Painting of the Late Chosŏn Period Western Influence on Korean Painting of the Late Chosŏn Period YiSŏng-mi TheAcademyofKoreanStudies FromtheThreeKingdoms periodon,Koreanculturedevelopeditsuniquenesswhile receivingcontinuousstimuliandinfluencefrom continentalChinese culture;inturn,it hadasignificantimpact onthedevelopmentofJapaneseculture.Viewedfromthe larger contextofworldculture,culturalexchange amongthethreeEastAsiannations presupposeda certaindegreeofhomogeneity.However,the contactwiththeWestern civilizationandculturethroughChristianityinChina beginninginthefirsthalfofthe 16thcentury,andinKorea bywayofChinaduringthelate17thcentury,meantaclash oftwoquitedifferentcivilizations,WesternandEastAsian. Sucha"clashofcivilizations,"toborrowHuntington'sterm,canbediscernedinthe writingsoftheChineseliteratioftheCh'ing periodandinthoseoftheirKorean counterpartsofthelateChosŏnperiod,whotookWesterncultureas a"shock".This paperexaminesthe processofthereceptionofWesterninfluenceonKoreanpaintings ofthe18ththroughtheearly20thcentury before Korea wasfullyexposedtoWestern culture.Documentaryevidenceof contacts aswellasactualworksofartinwhichthe Westerninfluenceisevidentwill bethemainobjectsofexamination. Fromthe beginningofthehistoryof paintingintheWestandinEastAsia,thereexisted afundamentaldifferenceinwhata paintingshouldrepresent.UnlikeintheWest,where theaimof paintingwastoreproducefaithfullytheoutwardappearanceoffiguresor objects,thatinEastAsia wastocapturetheuniversaltruthorspiritualaspects.Inthe NorthernSung period,thisemphasisoncapturing metaphysicalconceptsinpainting developedintothetheoryofliterati paintinginwhichthe painter'sheavenbestowed talentswhich,coupledwithhishighsocialstandingandscholarlyachievements,were consideredmostimportantinproducinga goodpainting.This basicapproachto paintinghas governedKoreanpaintingthroughoutitslonghistory. Thecauseofthe "shock,"thatis,whatwassodrasticallynewtotheKoreanviewers,of thewallandceiling paintingsoftheJesuitChurchinYenchingwastheir eye-fooling realisticrepresentationoffigures,animals,andotherobjects.Thedifference between theWesternandEastAsianpaintingmethodscanbedefinedinthreedifferentaspects: linear perspective,atmospheric perspective,andthedepictionofthethree- dimensionality. Sincecontact withtheWestinChina precededthatinKorea byabouta centuryanda half,itisinstructivetoexaminetheinitialreactionoftheChineseandseehowthe influenceofWesternpaintingtookshapeinthelateMingandearlyCh'ing paintings. Pioneering researchonthissubject bysuchWesternscholarsasMichaelSullivanand JamesCahillis introducedalongwithother recent publicationsonthesubjectinChina, Korea,andJapan. ThefirstWesternpainting broughttoKoreawasthe ImageofChrist, whichwas includedintheitemsCrownPrinceSohyŏn(á¹úéá¦í162145) brought backfrom Yenchingafterhis8-yearstayinthecityfrom1636to1644.Hissuddendeathinthe following yearabruptlystoppedfurther contactwithWesternartinKorea. Itwasinthe18thcenturythattheinterestinWesternartandculturewas resumed.The mainforce behinditwas theattitudeofscholar-officialsoftheSchoolofPractical Learning( sirhak ãùùÊ) whovisitedYenchingas envoystotheCh'ingcourtand witnessedthe WesterncultureimportedbytheChinese.Theirtraveldiaries constitute the bestsourcesofinformationonKoreanreactiontoWesterncultureatthattime. Other sirhak ScholarssuchasYi Ik(ì°ìË,h.SŏnghoàøûÉ,1682-1764) andChŏngYak- yong(ïËå´éË,h.TasanÒþߣ,1762-1836)whohadnevervisitedYenchingalso expressedtheirreactiontothenewculture whichthey cameintocontactthroughbooks onWesterngeometry,science,andperspectivetranslatedintoChinese byJesuit missionaries.They were alsoabletoseeWesternpaintingsandengravings broughtto Korea bythe emissaries. Thefollowing passage fromYi Ik's SŏnghoSasŏl (àøûÉÞÇàã)tellsusa greatdealabout thecontemporarysituation. Recently,mostemissariestoYenjinghave brought backWesternpaintingsandhung theminthecenterhallsoftheirhomes.Whenlookingatthese paintings,oneshould closeoneeyeand,withtheothereye,stare atthemforalongtimesothatthe buildings andthewallsrevealtheirtrueshape.Thosewhostudythese paintingsinsilencesay, "thisisduetothewonderfultechniquesofthe painter.Becausethedistance betweenthe objectsisclearlydescribed,oneshouldlookatthe paintingwithonlyone eye." Evenin China,thiskindof paintingneverexistedbefore. Yi IkalsoshowedhisinterestinWesterngeometry anditsrelationtoperspective drawings,aswellas paintingobjects basedonactualobservation. Thesedays,I amreadingEuclid'sGeometrytranslatedintoChinese byMatteoRicci. Thereitssays,"thefunctionofgeometryistohelprepresentontwodimensionalsurface objectssuchascylinderandcubiccolumnsinthreedimensionalappearance by correctlyobservingwithone'sowneyes anddeterminingthedistance,level,andthe degree andby givinglightandshade.Geometryalsohelpsonetobe preciseabout measurementsofdistancesandthingsinordertorepresenttrueshapes.It enablesoneto see big fromsmallrepresentations,toseefarfrom closerrepresentations,andtoseea ballfromacircle becausetheconvexityandconcavityisindicated. Itshouldbenotedthatallthese sirhak writersstrovetofindsolutionstocontemporary socialandpolitical problemsfromtheknowledge basedonhistory,geography,natural science,agriculture,andtechnology,ratherthanfromabstract philosophicalthoughts. Withsuchbasicattitudetowardthingsinnature,itwasnaturalforthemtobereceptive tothelife-likerealismofWesternpaintings. IntroductiontoKoreaof theChristianfaithinthelate18thcenturyalsoresultedin importationoftheWesternillustratedbooksandpaintingsfromChina.However,the severe persecutionofChristianity bytheChosŏncourtcausedthedestructionofallthe materialevidencefromthattime.ThoseremainingtodayintheMuseumofChristianity atSungsilUniversityinSeoulmostlydatefromthe19thcentury. NoneoftheWesternpaintingswhichhadbeenbroughttoKorea byemissariesto Yenchingseemtohavesurvivedtodate.However,scholarswhovisitedYenchingsuch asHongTae-yong(ûóÓÞé»,h.TamhŏnÓÀúÍ,1731-1783),YiKi-ji(ì°Ðïñý,h.Iram ìéäà,1690-1722),YiTŏk-mu(ì°ÓìÙå,h.Ch'ŏngjanggwanôìíöν,1741-1793),Pak Chi-wŏn(ÚÓò¿ê¹,h.YŏnamæØäÛ,17371805) allexpressedintheirwritings amazementuponseeingthewallandceiling paintingsintheChurchinYenching built anddecoratedbytheJesuitmissionariesintheserviceoftheCh'ingimperialcourt. Thefollowingisa passagewrittenbyYiKi-ji,the sonofthePrimeministerYi I-myŏng underKingSukchong,whoaccompaniedhisfatherwhenI-myŏng wenttoYenchingin 1720,andleftthe "RecordofWesternPainting"(à¤åÇûþÑÀ)inwhichhevividly describedthe wall paintingintheJesuitChurchinYenching. OnthewalloftheChurch,thereisanimageofChrist.One personisstandingamidst thecloudswearing aredgarment;severalother personsappearanddisappearinthe clouds.Someofthemareallnaked,someexposingonlytheupper body,andstillothers stickoutonlytheirfaces outoftheclouds.Alsothereare peoplewithtwowings growingoutoftheir bodies.Theireyes,eyebrows,mustaches,andhair alllookedlike thoseofliving persons,their nosesarehigh,their mouth,handsandfeet,plump,and theirgarmentshangloosely asifonecouldpullandbend....Atfirst,uponenteringthe hallandlookingatthe wall,itappearedthatthere wasa bignicheonthe wall.Itisfilled withclouds andpeople,andI becamedizzywiththeillusionsofghostsandspirits whichturnedintophantoms.Butuponcloserexamination,Irealizedthatitwasa paintingonthewall.Itishardtosaythathumantechniquereachedthislevel. Also,thewoodenmembersofthe paintedarchitecturecrossoneanothercreating shadows,corners,sharp edges,andspacessothat onecanturnaroundthe cornerand hideinthespace behind...There aremyriadsof birds,animals,fish,andinsects,all drawnsopreciselyasif alive.Evenwithoutnameswrittennexttothem,onecan distinguishtheirkinds.Onecanalmostdashtothemandgrabtheminones hands. Sadly,these wall paintingsareall but gonenow,sowecannotdeterminetheaccuracy ofthesedescriptions.However,thereremainsina buildingcalledChüanchin- chai(ÏæÐÃî±)inthenortheasterncornerofthe Forbiddencity,wall paintingsand ceiling paintingswhichapparentlydate fromthefirsthalfofthe18thcentury and presumedtohave beendone byJesuitmissionariesworkingwiththeirChinese assistants.These paintingsshowdistinctiverealisticrenderingsofflowers,birds,and architecturalmembers withtheapplicationof geometric perspective. PakChi-wŏn,inhisfamousliterary piece, Jehol Diary (Yŏlhailgi æðùÁìíÑÀ) recountedhow,inamazement,heandhiscompanionsstretchedouttheirarmsand pulledtheirheads backasiftoreceivethefalling putti, or babies,fromthe cloud- shroudedceilingofthe church.YiTŏk-muwrote thathecouldnotdistinguishthe chaineddog paintedonthedoorofa churchhevisitedfroma groupoflivingdogs seatedintheshade belowthedoor.Toborrowtheirwords,intheWesternpaintings theysaw,theskywas painted blue,andthehumanfigureslookedalive andmoving,as if trying topeep evenintoone's inner thoughts,andas if trying towhisper intotheir ears. KoreanpaintingsofthelateChosŏnperiodinwhichtheinfluenceoftheWestern paintingtechniquescanbeclearlydiscernedwill beexamined.Portrait paintingsand otherfigure paintings,animalandbirdpaintings,landscape paintings,bookcase paintings,andthe courtdocumentary paintingsall displayedacertaindegreeofWestern influenceintheuseofchiaroscuro,linearandatmospheric perspectives,andthe resultingsenseofrealism. A Fierce Dog by anunidentifiedartistshowsahighdegreeof verisimilitudeinthedepictionofthedog's furandamuchgreatersenseofthree- dimensionality thanhad previously beenseeninKoreananimal paintings. That is tosay, somecontemporary Koreanpaintingsactuallysupportthedocumentary evidence. Works bycourt painters suchasKimTu-ryang(ÑÑÔàÕÚ,1696-1763)(fig.72),Pyŏn Sang-byŏk(ܦßÓÛý,18thcentury),KimHongdo(ÑÑûðÔ³,1745-after1806),orthe chung'in (ñéìÑ) paintersuchasKang Hŭi-ŏn(Ë©ý÷åé,1738before1784),andthe literati painterssuchasKangSe-hwang (Ë©á¦üÌ,1713-1791),PakChe-ga
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