국립중앙박물관 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA

Hunting Scene

This is an eight-panel folding screen with paintings of Manchu hunters clad in Qing attire with queue hairstyles. Such depictions of Manchu hunters are known as horyeopdo (胡獵圖) and are a Korean adaptation of the suryeopdo (狩獵圖, painting of hunting scene) tradition introduced from China. Horyeopdo was sometimes assigned as an examination topic for court painters in eighteenth-century Joseon. This practice was associated with the historical context of strengthening cavalry techniques during the reign of King Jeongjo (r. 1776 – 1800).
This folding screen is made up of eight paintings, including hunting scenes of tigers, deer, pheasants, and other games. While the landscapes are somewhat schematized, the movements of the figures and animals are rendered vividly.