OBJECTS of WEALTH and RITUAL: KOREAN ART: FOCUS (Korean Art from the Silla Kingdom to Song Su-nam) ONLINE ASSIGNMENT: https://www.khanacademy. org/humanities/art- asia/korea-japan/korean- art/a/gold-and-jade-crown- three-kingdoms-period- silla-kingdom

TITLE or DESIGNATION: Gold and Jade Silla Crown of the Three Kingdoms Period

CULTURE or ART HISTORICAL PERIOD: Korean Silla Kingdom

DATE: 5th-6th centuries C.E.

MEDIUM: metalwork

ONLINE ASSIGNMENT: https://www.khanacademy.org/ humanities/art-asia/korea- japan/korean-art/v/korean- celadons

TITLE or DESIGNATION: Maebyeong Celadon vase

CULTURE or ART HISTORICAL PERIOD: Korean Goryeo Dynasty

DATE: 12th century C.E.

MEDIUM: porcellaneous stoneware with incised decoration under celadon glaze

ONLINE ASSIGNMENT: https://www.khanacademy.org/ humanities/art-asia/korea- japan/korean-art/v/confucian- house

TITLE or DESIGNATION: Portrait of Sin Sukju

CULTURE or ART HISTORICAL PERIOD: Korean Joseon Dynasty

DATE: 15th century C.E.

MEDIUM: ink and color on silk

TITLE or DESIGNATION: Summer Trees

ARTIST: Song Su-nam

CULTURE or ART HISTORICAL PERIOD: Korean Contemporary

DATE: 1983 C.E.

MEDIUM: ink on paper

OBJECTS of WEALTH and RITUAL: KOREAN ART: SELECTED TEXT (Korean Art from the Silla Kingdom to Song Su-nam) In the fifth and sixth centuries, the Korean peninsula was divided between three rivaling kingdoms. The most powerful of these was the Silla kingdom in the southeast of the peninsula. Chinese emissaries described the kingdom as a country of gold, and perhaps they had seen its crowns adorned with shimmering gold and jade.

Although their fragile gold construction initially led some to believe that these crowns were made specifically for burial, recent research has revealed that they were also used in ceremonial rites of the Silla royalty during the Three Kingdoms Period (57 B.C.E. - 676 C.E.). Gold and Jade Silla Crown of the Three Kingdoms Period, Korean Silla Kingdom, 5th-6th centuries .E, metalwork

Prior to the adoption of Buddhism, Koreans practiced shamanism, which is a kind of nature worship that requires the expertise of a priest-like figure, or shaman, who intercedes to alleviate problems facing the community.

Silla royalty upheld shamanistic practices in ceremonial rites such as coronations and memorial services. In these sacred rituals, the gold crowns emphasized the power of the wearer through their precious materials and natural imagery. Worn around the forehead, this tree-shaped crown (daegwan) is the headband type found in the south in royal tombs at the Silla capital, Gyeongju. Between the fifth and sixth centuries, Silla crowns became increasingly lavish with more ornamentation and additional, increasingly elongated branch-like protrusions.

In this crown, three tree-shaped vertical elements evoke the sacred tree that once stood in the ritual precinct of Gyeongju. This sacred tree was conceived of as a “world tree,” or an axis mundi that connected heaven and earth. Two additional antler-shaped protrusions may refer to the reindeer that were native to the Eurasian steppe that lies to the north of the peninsula.

Attached to the branch-like features of the crown are tiny gold discs and jade ornaments called gogok. These jade ornaments symbolize ripe fruits hanging from tree branches, representing fertility and abundance. With sunlight falling on its golden discs, the crown must have been a luminous sight indeed. A second type of crown, the conical cap (mogwan), was found throughout the peninsula. Although it was initially thought to be an internal component of the headband crown, mural paintings show that it was worn independently over a topknot to proclaim the rank and social status of its wearer.

The cap was secured to the head with double straps under the chin, as indicated by the small holes along either side of the cap. Appendages in the shape of wings, feathers, or flowers often were used to accessorize the crown, and those ornaments tended to be geographically specific to each kingdom. The Silla crown demonstrates cultural interactions between the Korean peninsula and the Eurasian steppe (thousands of miles of grassland that stretches from central Europe through Asia). Scytho-Siberian peoples of the Eurasian steppe created golden diadems similar to the Silla crown, such as a crown from Tillya Tepe (an archaeological site of six nomad graves that contained objects known as the “Bactrian Hoard”) in modern- day Afghanistan.

With five tree-shaped projections, flower ornaments and reflective discs, the Tillya Tepe crown can be compared with the natural imagery and radiant gold of the Silla crown. Though separated by many miles and by centuries, both crowns attest to shamanic beliefs prevalent among the Above: Inlaid gold pendant from Tillya nomadic cultures of the Eurasian Tepe steppe. Though their use of gold and practice of shamanism related to the northern steppe cultures, the Silla royalty adopted the burial customs of the Chinese by burying their elite in mounded tombs. In Chinese burials, objects that were important in life were often taken to the grave. Similarly, power objects like the Silla gold crowns were used both above ground and below, and their luxurious materials conveyed the social status of the tomb occupant in the afterlife.

In addition to crowns, belts, earrings, Above: Belt with pendant ornaments and other jewelry were placed in from the Korean Silla kingdom, 5th Korean tombs during the Three century CE, gold Kingdoms era to represent the rank and identity of the wearer. This gold belt, for instance, was made for the burial of a Silla king. It was like a tool belt or charm bracelet, with pendants that dangled from its band of interlinked square plates and entwining dragon openwork. Stretching from the Mediterranean to the Silla kingdom at the tip of the Korean peninsula, the Silk Road connected a vast terrain of ancient cultures. While the Silla kingdom shared shamanism with the Eurasian steppe and burial customs with China and Japan, the Silk Road was a main route for conveying materials, techniques, and ideas from as far away as Rome.

Luxury objects in tombs of the Silla elite, such as these earrings, are made of gold and decorated with stylized foliage that resembles the Silla crown. Two Above: Pair of earrings from the Korean tiers of leaf-shaped ornaments Silla kingdom, second quarter of 6th dangle from double loops adorned century, gold with floral motifs, continuing the imagery of the sacred world tree. Although Buddhism was the established religion of Korea, Confucianism, introduced from China during the Silla era, increasingly shaped social and political conventions.

In the ninth century, the three old kingdoms began to reemerge as distinct political entities, and although the Unified Silla and Goryeo kingdoms overlapped (between about 918 and 935), by 935 the Goryeo had taken control, and they dominated for the next three centuries.

In 1231 the Mongols, who had invaded China, pushed into Korea, beginning a war lasting 30 years. In the end, the Goryeo had to submit to forming an alliance with the Mongols, Above: Map of Korea in 476 C.E. who eventually conquered all of China. Goryeo potters in the 12th century produced the famous Korean celadon wares, admired worldwide. The finest celadon wares feature ornate engraved and inlaid designs over which the ceramists applied highly translucent iron- pigmented glazes, fired in an oxygen-deprived kiln to become gray, pale blue, pale green, or brownish-olive. A masterful example of celadon ware is the plum-shaped vase that once belonged to the American financier and art collector J. P. Morgan.

Dating to the later Goryeo period, it is the largest maebyeong vase known and was decorated using the inlay technique for which Goryeo potters were famous. The artist incised delicate motifs of herons interspersed among mallow and lotus blossoms into the clay’s surface and then filled the grooves with white Above: Maebyeong vase, Goryeo and colored slip. Then the potter scraped the dynasty, 12th century, porcellaneous surface of the vessel and finally covered the stoneware with incised decoration entire maebyeong with the celadon blue-green under celadon glaze glaze. The establishment of the Joseon ("Fresh Dawn") dynasty in 1392 following a revolutionary yet bloodless coup symbolized a purge—of the Goryeo regime's corrupt finale and of Mongol domination— and restoration. The new political vision of the state promoted Neo-Confucianism in both theoretical explorations and practical implementation in nearly every aspect of the Joseon society. Buddhism, the state-sanctioned religion for more than a thousand years, was officially rejected, though private worship and artistic production continued.

The Neo-Confucian royal court and elite literati (yangban), the primary patrons of the arts, embraced and encouraged the advancement of secular art and culture. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries witnessed the revival and reinterpretation of classical traditions alongside significant achievements in innovative art forms. Under King Sejong (r. 1418–50), who was the embodiment of a renaissance monarch, a unique, phonetic alphabet was created, permitting an Statue of King Sejong accurate transcription of the native language and the wide dissemination of Confucian texts and mores. Portrait of Sin Sukju, Korean Joseon Dynasty, c. 15th century CE, ink and color hanging silk scroll

It was common practice in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) to make replicas of portraits of important ancestors, particularly meritorious subjects. These portraits, believed to embody the spirit of their subjects, were worshipped in various family shrines (yeongdang), which might belong to different branches of a family. Along with depictions of royals, one of the most important tasks of the court painters was the creation of portraits of meritorious officials (gongsin).

Subjects who performed distinguished services for the state were exemplars representing the Confucian virtue of loyalty. Throughout the Joseon period, a large number of portraits of meritorious officials were created to mark such occasions as the foundation of the dynasty, the suppression of revolts, and the repulse of foreign invasions. Although numerous portraits of meritorious subjects were produced during the early Joseon period, only a few, unfortunately, have survived. Two such survivors are the portraits of Sin Sukju (1417-1475) and Jang Malson (1431-1486). The primary function of portraits of meritorious subjects was to celebrate their contributions to the state and to emphasize the Confucian value of loyalty to the king. An eminent literatus with important publications to his credit, Sin Sukju was also a key political figure of his time, who rose to the position of prime minister. He was named a meritorious subject four times during his life.

Following the convention of fifteenth-century Korean gongsin portraiture, Portrait of Sin Sukju depicts the sitter in a three-quarter pose facing his right, resplendent official robe and an official black silk hat. Particularly eye-catching is the garment’s luminous gold-embroidered green rank badge with peacocks. Despite the painting’s weathered appearance, the portrait retains a lifelike quality, capturing not only the physical features of this eminent scholar-official but also his character. The promotion of Confucian learning in the early Joseon period was closely related to the recruitment of educated civil and military officials to the court. To recruit men of ambition, virtue, and talent, the Joseon state relied heavily on a ranking system based on civil, military, and technical examinations. Civil officials received by far the greatest honor and prestige; as a result, the civil-service examination became the most competitive.

Under Confucian rulership, the primary emphasis was on state examinations, which served as important gateways to an individual’s and therefore his family’s success. The ruling yangban- degree holders and their families, as well as candidates who had not yet passed the civil-service and military examinations- enjoyed political, social, and cultural privileges and monopolized the state examination system.

Although in theory male commoners were allowed to sit for the examinations, the education necessary to pass the examinations were made available almost exclusively to the sons of the yangban. In Neo-Confucianism, the ascendance of the Mencian notion of the original goodness of human nature and the idea of the perfectibility of a person led to the emergence of the sage-kingship as a potent political ideal. However, there existed a wide variety of choices of how to translate the symbolic role of the monarch within the actual workings of the monarchy. At the beginning of the Joseon, two models at opposite extremes competed: one consisted of a purely symbolic ruler, with no power, in a prime minster-centered structure, the other, of an autocratic sovereign who sought the counsel of his ministers at his pleasure.

By the mid-sixteenth century the Joseon court seems to have reached some semblance of an agreement on the balance between the symbolic and actual roles of the monarch. The ruler maintained the decision- making power of a sovereign, but this was to be exercised with ministerial counsel. A monarch ruling in partnership with a governing elite was nothing new in Korea- it is a form of government that can be traced Portrait of Great King by to Silla (57 BCE- 935 CE)- but under the Joseon the Sejong. 4th King of the political discourse was carried out in the Confucian Joseon Dynasty. rhetoric of the sage-kingship. After its annexation in 1910, Korea remained part of Japan until 1945, when the Western Allies and the Soviet Union took control of the peninsula nation at the end of World War II.

Korea was divided into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in 1948. South Korea has emerged as a fully industrialized nation, and its artists have had a wide exposure to art styles from around the globe.

While some Korean artists continue to work in a traditional East Asian manner, others have embraced developments in contemporary Europe and America.

One painter who has very successfully combined native and international traditions is Song Su-nam, one of the founders of the Oriental Ink Movement of the 1980s. His Summer Trees owes a great deal to the Post-Painterly Abstraction movement in the Korean artist Song Su-nam United States. Song Su-Nam. Summer Trees, 1983, ink on paper

But in place of acrylic resin on canvas, Song used ink on paper, the preferred medium of East Asian literati. He forsook, however, the traditional emphasis on brush strokes to explore the subtle tonal variations that broad stretches of ink wash made possible. Nonetheless, the painting’s name recalls the landscapes of earlier Korean and Chinese masters. This simultaneous respect for tradition and innovation has been a hallmark of both Chinese and Korean art through their long histories.

When the Swedish National Museum of Oriental Art invited him for a solo exhibition, he realized that Korean Oriental painting was trapped in authoritarianism and had been reduced to mere decoration, and that Korean ink wash painting should go the Korean way of today and tomorrow. This enlightenment motivated him to initiate the movement, which went on for more than a decade.

“With the same Oriental ink, the Chinese mainly depict ideal worlds in black and white, while the Japanese usually create colored paintings,” explains Song. “I wanted to discover what is unique to Korean Oriental paintings. People began to call the activities I stirred up an ink wash painting movement. Well, I think the term hangukhwa (literally means Korean paintings, but in actuality refers to Korean Oriental paintings much of the time) is somewhat strange, but I think if a Korean paints a painting to depict the spirit and emotions of Koreans, the painting is a hangukhwa regardless of whatever material he or she uses.” This movement shared the general feeling that it was necessary to 'recover' a national identity and began to concentrate on subtle tonal variations of ink wash, in an attempt to elicit an inner spirituality which was felt to be lost in a modern technological age.

Song Su-Nam. Brush Stroking, 1997.

His efforts started to bear fruit with an exhibition of contemporary Korean ink wash paintings organized by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, in 1981. The exhibition was unique in that it was a large exhibition for a single group of Korean artists.

In 1990, Song became fascinated with straight lines, a sign of a new change in his style. Ideas rather than actual landscapes emerged on the paper. In his painting series, Brush Stroking, Song’s brush freely swims on Hanji (Korean traditional paper).

Thick lines, thin lines, long lines, short lines, dark lines, light lines, those lines are created when his brush and ink, inspiration, and fleeting moments are all united and express the spirit of scholars of the Joseon Dynasty (1392- 1910), which repelled numerous incursions for half a millennium. OBJECTS of WEALTH and RITUAL: KOREAN ART: ACTIVITIES and REVIEW (Korean Art from the Silla Kingdom to Song Su-nam)