The Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology

Written by archaeologists and art historians alike, the articles in this issue of the Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology employ a variety of methodologies and treat a range of media, from tombs construction to crowns and articles of personal adornment in precious metals, from a celebrated incense burner and a newly restored lacquerware incense box to paintings and ceramics. The eight articles generally focus on Korea’s Three Kingdoms Period (traditionally, 57 BCE-668 CE) but touch on the Unified Silla Period (668-935) and also explore aspects of the Goryeo (918-1392) and Joseon (1391-1910) dynasties. The special theme of JKAA volume 8 is metal crafts of Baekje and Silla: two of the four thematic articles discuss Silla gold, bronze, and gilt-bronze crowns and crown ornaments; a third article introduces Baekje metalwork, focusing on precious-metal objects recovered from the Tomb of King Muryeong; and the fourth presents a detailed examination of the famous Baekje gilt-bronze incense burner, found near Buyeo in 1993. The featured archaeology article addresses the evolution of Silla tombs, their construction methods, typology, and typological evolution. The sixth article looks at the influence of China’s Liao Dynasty (916-1125) on Goryeo celadons, while the seventh explains the interesting trend of Dosando paintings from the Joseon Dynasty. Finally, the last article, focusing on an item from the museum’s collection, takes a close look at the fragments of a rare Goryeo lacquerware incense box with decoration inlaid in mother of pearl, turtle-shell, and bronze wire, with further embellishment painted in gold.

Silla headband crowns with tree-shaped uprights have been much debated in Korean archaeological circles. In “Development of Silla Headband Crowns with tree-shaped Uprights,” Ham Soon Seop, Director of the Daegu National Museum, presents the results of his examination of fifty-five such crowns dating to the sixth and seventh centuries, the crowns including examples in gold, gilt-bronze, and bronze. Silla crowns can be regarded as a public form of ornamentation that symbolized the wearer’s social status through the shape, decoration, and metal type. The use of such crowns was highly regulated according to institutionalized rules. Hence, each crown type is assumed to have embodied a certain symbolic system and to have reached its quintessential form during the period when that symbolic system dominated. Accordingly, the decline of each Silla crown type can be associated with the emergence of a new symbolic system. The evolution of each crown type thus can be divided into the three developmental stages: prototype, standard, and regression. Additionally, Silla crowns can be regarded as a material expression of the symbolic system to which the wearer adhered in life. Such an interpretation assumes that all Silla crowns were prestige items worn by the living and then placed in the tomb when the wearer died and was interred, a contentious point that remains the subject of lively debate. This, in turn, allows the wearer’s year of death to be established as the terminus ante quem of the crown’s manufacture. This study takes the above functions and characteristics into account in providing a diachronic analysis of the development of Silla headband crowns with tree-shaped uprights. Further, it analyzes in detail the typological categories and developmental stages of such Silla crowns and discusses the historical context of their development from a fresh perspective. In addition, it offers promising avenues in which future studies may fruitfully build on the results of this research.

Most extant Korean crowns and associated regalia date to the Three Kingdoms Period. Silla seems to have produced the most; in fact, more than eighty have been discovered. Most such crowns have been recovered in and around Gyeongju, the Silla capital, but many have also been found in outlying areas. Some of the latter predate the period when the central government began to send its own officials to preside over those regions. The presence of such crowns in outlying areas suggests that the people who wore them were the rulers of those areas, rather than officials posted by the Silla government. In “Silla Crowns and Crown Ornaments of the Yeongdong Region,” Gu Moon-gyoung, Associate Curator at the National Museum of Korea, examines Silla crowns and crown ornaments recovered from tombs in the Yeongdong region of Gangwon Province—which represents the furthest reaches of the Silla Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period—and compares them to related objects found in other regions in order to identify their characteristics and assess regional differences, finding that virtually all such artifacts from that region are akin to those recovered elsewhere. One important exception is the headband of a gilt-bronze crown uniquely cut with a serrated edge. To date, only three Silla bronze crowns have been excavated, including one from the Yeongdong region. All three bronze crowns have been found in sites associated with rituals; in fact, archaeological and technical discoveries as well as historical records suggest that bronze crowns, unlike ones of gold or gilt bronze, probably were linked with the performance of rituals rather than with political status or government office. Silla crown ornaments found in the Yeongdong region are believed to have served an important symbolic function for leaders in those outlying regions, their significance and symbolic function possibly equal to that of the crowns.

The Baekje Kingdom (18 BCE-660 CE) faced collapse after Goguryeo attacked its first capital, Hanseong, in 475 CE. King Munju retreated southward, establishing a new capital in Ungjin (in present-day Gongju), which would remain the capital until 538. This paper, “Metal Objects from Ungjin-Period Baekje Tombs in the Gongju Region” by Lee Hansang, Professor at Daejeon University, examines preciousmetal artifacts recovered from Baekje tombs around Gongju. The most exceptional of the excavated Ungjin-period tombs is that of King Muryeong (r. 501-523), which was discovered in 1971 and identified by epitaph plaques inside the tomb. The precious-metal artifacts recovered from within are of exceptionally high quality and include crown ornaments, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, belt ornaments, and gilt-bronze shoes, all of which were produced prior to 529, when the queen was interred. The king’s sword and the personal ornaments worn by the king and queen, along with the everyday metal objects, share similarities with related objects from neighboring states, offering insights about the era’s network of foreign interactions, with the Baekje Kingdom at its center. The Tomb of King Muryeong is one of the period’s few tombs that escaped looting, which accounts in part for its abundance of precious-metal artifacts. Even taking grave robbery into account, however, precious-metal artifacts recovered from other Ungjin period tombs are limited in number, suggesting that Baekje suffered a significant setback following the transfer of the capital to Ungjin; if so perhaps the limited number resulted from the political instability that followed the transfer of the capital; on the other hand, perhaps the reduced number was due simply to a general decrease in the use of grave goods at that time. Alternatively, as King Muryeong focused on strengthening royal power throughout his reign, and as King Seong (r. 523–554), his son and successor, worked to prevent erosion of kingly authority, they might have prohibited the aristocracy and regional elites from using objects in precious metal.

In “Taoist Iconography of the Baekje Gilt-bronze Incense Burner,” Park Kyungeun, Associate Curator at National Museum of Korea, introduces a large and magnificent gilt-bronze incense burner excavated in 1993 and explains its background, symbolism, and Daoist iconography. In the collection of the Buyeo National Museum and registered as National Treasure Number 287, the censer was created in the Baekje Kingdom (18 BCE-660 CE), probably in the sixth century. Because they imitate the form of Mount Bo (Chinese, Boshan; Korean, Baksan), a mythical but sacred Daoist mountain, such censers are known in Chinese as boshan xianglu, or simply boshanlu, and in Korean as baksan hyangno, the term meaning simply “Mt. Bo Censer.” They comprise three components: lid, bowl, and base. The lid of the Baekje censer depicts a series of mountain peaks, topped by a large phoenix with outspread winds. Lotus petals rise in relief around the bowl, while the base assumes the form of a coiled dragon. Animals and human figures inhabit the lid’s peaks, just as they also appear among the lotus petals that encircle the bowl. Despite its similarities to Chinese boshanlu censers, the Baekje censer is larger and grander than its Chinese counterparts, and it includes new types of figures not seen in Chinese censers, including hermits in meditation and immortals wearing long hats. The ancient Buddhist temple at the site where the censer was recovered was constructed in 567, a period when Baekje kings were striving to reassert royal authority in the face of the crushing military defeat inflicted by Silla (57 BCE-668 CE) in the 554 battle of Gwansanseong Castle. The temple likely was intended as a memorial for King Seong (r. 523-554), who died in that battle. The Baekje censer thus can be interpreted as a symbol of royal authority and as a product of the mid-sixth century socio-political milieu, when Baekje was developing its cultural and religious capacity through the import of advanced culture from the continent.

Burial practices during the various stages of the Silla Kingdom (57 BCE-935 CE) reflect the sociopolitical context of the times. In “Silla Stone-chamber Tombs with Corridor Entrances in the Gyeongju Area: Social Status and Change in Tomb Structure,” Choi Byung Hyun, Professor Emeritus at Soongsil University, examines tumuli groups, tomb structure, and tomb construction techniques of the late Silla period in the area around present-day Gyeongju, the Silla capital, in order to gain insight into the social hierarchy and overall nature of the Silla Kingdom. From around the fifth century, a distinctive new type of tomb, the “wooden-chamber tomb with stone mound,” came into being. Then, from the sixth century onward, such wooden-chamber tombs were replaced by a new type of tomb, the “stone-chamber tomb with corridor entrance,” which was covered with an earthen mound and which could accommodate subsequent interments. The shift from the first to the second of these tomb types marks the transition from the early Silla to the late Silla burial tradition. The appearance of the stone-chamber tombs coincides with several major political and social changes in the Silla Kingdom: a centralized system of government had been established, Buddhism had been adopted as the state religion, and various state laws had been instituted. Stone-chamber tombs were used until the end of the Unified Silla period (668-935) and were adopted by the elite of various regions outside of Gyeongju. Although cremation became more popular in the late Silla period, in conjunction with the official recognition of Buddhism, the definitive element of late Silla burials is the stone-chamber tomb. Reflecting a hierarchy, such tombs had burial chambers that were divided into ranks reflecting the social status of the deceased. Different structural features and construction methods characterized the different ranks. The hierarchy of tombs and tumuli groups sheds light on contemporaneous Silla society and its structure according to the “bone rank” system.

Inspired and influenced by Chinese celadon-glazed stonewares created at the Yue kilns in Zhejiang Province, Korean potters began to produce celadon wares in the ninth and tenth centuries, during the Goryeo Dynasty. By the twelfth century, the Goryeo celadon tradition had evolved its own aesthetic characteristics, typified by jade-green glaze and inlaid decoration. The influence of China’s Northern Song period (960-1127) on the arts of Goryeo is well recognized; less well known, however, is that China’s Liao Dynasty (916-1125) also played an important role in the development of Goryeo celadons. In “Elements of Goryeo Celadon that Reflect Influence of Liao Crafts,” Im Jin A, Associate Curator at the National Museum of Korea, examines the influence on Goryeo celadons of cultural and aesthetic elements unique to Liao, noting similarities and differences among the ceramics of Goryeo, Liao, and Northern Song. Despite close diplomatic relations between Goryeo and Liao since the tenth century, Koreans came to recognize Liao’s advanced Buddhist culture only with the introduction of the Liao Khitan Tripitaka to Korea in 1063, which paved the way for the influence of Liao arts to penetrate more deeply. Liao influence is most clearly apparent in the shapes of Goryeo celadons and in their decorative patterns. As the aesthetic and technical qualities of Liao high-fired ceramics did not match those of Goryeo, Liao influence on Goryeo celadons was conveyed mainly through its metalware, principally silver vessels, and through its sancai, or three-color, earthenwares (which derive from but are distinct from Tang sancai ware). The choice on the part of Goryeo potters and their patrons to incorporate elements from Liao attests to both the excellence and the uniqueness of Liao metalware and sancai wares. Although influence from Northern Song on Goryeo celadons was always paramount, Liao nevertheless played an important but hitherto largely unexplored role.

Joseon literati, who deeply revered the Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (1130-1200), often took inspiration from his works. Sixteenth-century Joseon intellectuals admired Zhu Xi’s Records on Mt. Wuyi and wrote poems appropriating the rhymes of his Wuyi Boating Songs. “The Nine-Bend Stream at Mt. Wuyi,” one of Zhu Xi’s famous poems, was often portrayed in paintings called Nine Bends at Mt. Wuyi. Veneration for Zhu Xi and this poem was so great that an independent subculture based on the “nine bends” arose in Korea as Joseon literati began to associate “nine bends” with utopia. Korean scholars published essays on the topic and even sought to recreate the nine bends in their own home areas. In “The Tradition of Dosando Paintings and the Nine Bends at Dosan”, Yun Chinyong, Senior Researcher at The Academy of Korean Studies, examines the “nine bends” culture of Korea, with special emphasis on Dosan, a hill north of Andong, where Yi Hwang (1501-1570), one of Joseon’s most prominent Confucian scholars, erected his retirement home. In particular, this paper considers the significance of visualizing Dosan through Dosando, or “paintings of Dosan,” a subgenre of Joseon paintings that depict Yi Hwang’s retreat. It further explores the relationship between Dosando paintings and the Joseon practice of designating specific sites as the nine bends of a particular area, following Zhu Xi and his Nine Bends at Mt. Wuyi. Although well-aware of a possible association between Dosan and Mt. Wuyi, Yi Hwang never identified any specific places as nine-bend sites in the Dosan area, and thus his seventeenth-century followers did not portray the nine bends of Dosan in their Dosando paintings. His eighteenth-century followers, however, designated nine places with close ties to Yi Hwang as the “nine bends of Dosan,” which they depicted in their paintings. In essence, such efforts reinforced the lineage of Neo-Confucian scholarship, beginning with Zhu Xi and continuing to Yi Hwang.

In “Scientific Analysis of a Goryeo Lacquer Incense Box with Inlaid Mother-of-pearl and Gold-Painted Designs,” Yi Yonghee, Curator at the National Museum of Korea, presents the results of a detailed technical study of the remnants of a Goryeo lacquer incense box set in the collection of the National Museum of Korea. A 2006 examination by museum personnel assessed damage to the set and scientifically investigated its constituent materials. In 2007 and 2008, specialists from Korea and Japan jointly conducted further research to determine the best methods for the set’s conservation treatment and long-term preservation. The set originally comprised three components: a box, a cover, and a tray that fit inside the box. Nothing is known about the set’s provenance before its 1910 purchase by the Yi Royal Household Museum (predecessor of the National Museum of Korea). The set was already damaged at that time, but its three main components seem to have been intact. During the Korean War (1950-1953), the set suffered further damage such that it now exists only in fragments. In fact, the original appearance could only be surmised from illustrations in a book published during the Japanese colonial era (1910-1945). Both box and cover were decorated with designs created through the pyeongtal (Chinese, pingtuo) technique, in which small design elements cut from suitable materials are affixed to a lacquered surface, after which they are covered with additional coats of lacquer, which is polished to highlight the designs, once it has dried and stabilized. The technical research identified such key features as the box’s original shape, composition, and lacquer-varnishing technique, as well as the materials of its inlaid designs—mother of pearl, likely from abalone; tortoiseshell embellished with cinnabar and orpiment; and metal wire—and its gold paint (powdered gold in a binder, perhaps fish glue). The set was produced using the finest materials and the most advanced techniques of the day.

The eight articles in this issue of the Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology shed new light on Korean history and culture, giving special emphasis to the Three Kingdoms period. The five articles on early Korea present detailed analyses of Silla tomb construction, crowns, and crown ornaments and also give an in-depth look at the generally less-well-known metalwork from the Baekje Kingdom, including the gilt bronze incense burner discovered in Buyeo in 1993. The two articles on arts of the Goryeo Dynasty treat lacquerware with decoration inlaid in mother of pearl and also the influence on Goryeo celadons of the arts of China’s Liao Dynasty. The one article on the Joseon Dynasty focuses on Dosando paintings, or “paintings of Dosan”, a subgenre of Joseon paintings that depicts the retirement retreat that Yi Hwang, one of Joseon Korea’s most prominent Confucian scholars, erected near Andong, and on the Joseon practice of designating specific sites as the nine bends of a particular area, following Zhu Xi and his poem Nine Bends at Mt. Wuyi. These articles significantly expand our understanding of Korean art and archaeology. Enjoy these articles and accord them the respect due important works that advance scholarship.