ㅇExhibits: 33 works including Paintings of Wonders of Yingtai by Kang Se-hwang

 

 

The National Museum of Korea is holding “Joseon Painters as Envoys to China”, a special exhibition of a collection of 33 ink paintings and calligraphic works which shed light on various aspects of the diplomatic visits of Joseon envoys to China.

 

Historical records state that the Joseon Dynasty sent about 500 diplomatic missions to China throughout its 500-year history. Each mission involved about 300 people, headed by an official government delegation consisting of about 30 officials including the jeongsa (chief envoy), busa (deputy chief envoy), seojanggwan (document officer), yeokgwan (translating official), uigwan (medical practitioners) and hwawon (professional artists). This exhibition presents scenes of the diplomatic tours and cultural exchange activities as depicted by the painters who, as official members of each mission, had direct access to Chinese arts and culture.

 

The exhibition consists of three parts. In the first, subtitled “Encountering an Unfamiliar Culture: Reception and Attendance of the Envoys,” visitors are guided to paintings depicting the moments when Joseon and Ming officials met with and parted from each other. Among the paintings, those collected under the title, Sea Passage to Ming (Hanghaejocheon-do,) portray the travels of a mission sent in 1624 to inform the Chinese imperial court of the enthronement of King Injo (r. 1623-1649). The paintings are vivid depictions of various scenes of the diplomatic tour and the landscapes they passed through, including a scene of Joseon envoys preparing for a sea voyage at Seonsapo Port, their arrival at Dengzhou, and their journey by land to Beijing, the Ming capital.

 

The exhibits in the second part, “Painting Practice of the Literati as Envoys in the Late Joseon,” include two great painting albums, Three Wondrous Sites on the Envoy Passage (Sarosamgi-cheop) and Wonders of Yingtai (Yeongdaegigwan-cheop), painted by Kang Se-hwang (1713~1791), who took a long-coveted opportunity to participate in the mission only after turning seventy years of age, resulting in the production of a series of masterpieces that vividly capture various travel scenes.

 

The third part, “The Literati and Diplomatic Procession as Sites of Cultural Exchange between Joseon and Qing),” is focused on the vigorous exchanges between intellectuals of the Joseon and Qing dynasties. Art historians are agreed that the culmination of the artistic exchange between Korea and China in the 18^th and 19^th centuries is Wintry Days, a masterpiece painted by Kim Jeong-hui (a.k.a. Chusa, 1786-1856), which was later taken to China by a court interpreter named Yi Sang-jeok (1804-1865), where it received numerous postscripts from leading Chinese literati artists praising the work’s aesthetic excellence and profound meaning. The exhibition also contains the painting The City of Supreme Peace, an artistic representation of the ideal society which Late Joseon intellectual dreamt of on the basis of the experience and vision they had acquired on their diplomatic tours to China.

 

The exhibition is expected to offer art lovers a rare opportunity to look at some of the masterpieces produced by great literati artists of Joseon who participated in diplomatic missions to China and acquire a deeper understanding of Korea-China cultural exchange and Korean history in that period.

 

 

 

“Seonsapo Port,” Paintings of Sea Passage to Ming (Hanghaejocheon-do)

Light color on paper

This painting album contains 25 scenes of the diplomatic mission to China undertaken in 1624. The mission left Seonsapo Port in Gwaksan and arrived at the Chinese port of Dengzhou via Gado Island, and continued the journey to Beijing via a land route.

 

 

“Winter Performance at Yingtai,” Paintings of Wonders of Yingtai (Yeongdaegigwan-cheop)

Ink on paper

This painting album made during a Joseon diplomatic mission to Qing (October 1784 ~ February 1785) contains Winter Performance at Yingtai, a work depicting winter performances enjoyed by Joseon diplomats on the Ocean Terrace (Yingtai) in the presence of the Qianlong Emperor.

 

 

“Pavilion at Western Hills,” Paintings of Three Wondrous Sites on the Envoy Passage (Sarosamgi-cheop)

Ink on paper

(Painting album) 23.3×13.4cm

Produced in 1784, this painting album contains the “three fantastic sceneries” including the Western Hills of the Summer Palace in Beijing, witnessed by Joseon diplomats during their official journey to Beijing.

 

 

“Former Site of the Shenyang,” Paintings of Sites of Shenyang (Simyanggwando-cheop)

Color on paper, by Yi Pil-seong

LG Yeonam Collection, Myongji University

This collection of 16 documentary paintings was made during the Joseon diplomatic mission to Qing undertaken in November 1760.