OBJECTS of WEALTH and RITUAL: KOREAN ART: FOCUS

(Korean Art from the Silla Kingdom to Song Su-nam)

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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

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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

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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

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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

nomadic cultures of the Eurasian

steppe.

Above: Inlaid gold pendant from Tillya

Tepe

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,

and other jewelry were placed in

Korean tombs during the Three

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.

Above: Belt with pendant ornaments

from the Korean Silla kingdom, 5th

century CE, gold

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

tiers of leaf-shaped ornaments

dangle from double loops adorned

with floral motifs, continuing the

imagery of the sacred world tree.

Above: Pair of earrings from the Korean

Silla kingdom, second quarter of 6th

century, gold

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,

who eventually conquered all of

China.

Above: Map of Korea in 476 C.E.

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

and colored slip. Then the potter scraped the

surface of the vessel and finally covered the

entire maebyeong with the celadon blue-green

glaze.

Above: Maebyeong vase, Goryeo

dynasty, 12th century, porcellaneous

stoneware with incised decoration

under celadon 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

accurate transcription of the native language and

the wide dissemination of Confucian texts and

mores.

Statue of King Sejong

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

by to Silla (57 BCE- 935 CE)- but under the Joseon the

political discourse was carried out in the Confucian

rhetoric of the sage-kingship.

Portrait of Great King

Sejong. 4th King of the

Joseon Dynasty.

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

United States. Korean artist Song Su-nam

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)