Workshops

Panel 1 (09:00 ~ 11:00h) - How to read Hanmun(한문)

Panel 2 (14:00 ~ 16:00h) - Presentation

How to read Hanmun

1. Land Purchase Documents in the 17th Century (Dr. Suhwan Jung)

The aim of this seminar is reading land purchase documents created in the Haenam, Jeolla-do, at the end of the 17th century. Prior to transaction, the land seller wrote a authorization document in Korean language. Land buyer delegate his rights to his servant. In this document, they described the reason for sale, land, location, and price for selling the land in the classical Chinese including Idu script, archaic writing system using Chinese character for expressing Korean pronunciation. The document gives us information of the seller and buyer, witness, and the writer. What is interesting is the buyer in this document is the famous Korean painter Yoon Doo-seo. He identifies persons in the transaction showing by painting.

2. King Gojong’s Statement written in 1907 (Dr. Hyejung Lee)

I will read an article written in a mixture of Korean and Chinese characters written in 1907. King Gojong made a royal statement that contains the reason for the establishment of the educational institution, Suhakwon. We can understand the education vision of  King Gojong had in mind through this article.

 Presentations

1. Introduction of Western Painting Techniques to Korea via Korean Envoys to China in the late Joseon Period (Dr. Eunjoo Jeong)

 I will describe how western painting techniques were imported from China to Korea during the Joseon period. Western paintings, such as religious paintings and copperplate prints, were introduced to China by western missionaries in the late Ming Dynasty. Korean envoys obtained western artworks from missionaries of the churches in Beijing and brought them to Joseon. I will also discuss the impacts of Qing Dynasty policy on the architecture and Western paintings of Catholic churches and the changes in the Korean intellectuals’ perceptions of Western paintings from the late 17th to the 19th century.

2. Village and Village Compact in the Joseon Dynasty and Rural Development in Korea (Dr. Suhwan Jung)

 Among the many Joseon period documents collected by Jangseogak Archives, there are numerous village compacts (Gye), self-governing protocols that operated in rural villages. Several examples will be presented in this seminar. The villagers organized the gye for archery gatherings or for creating village forests. Dong Gye gathered their members regularly for sharing mutual assistance. Labour and money were provided when there was a marriage or funeral ceremony among the members. And I argue that this tradition had served as a legacy for the Saemaul Undong –New Village Movement– in modern Korea. Collaborative labor for rural village development in the New Village Movement may be the continuation of the idea of reciprocity and cooperation in the village gye.

Lecturers

Dr. Suhwan Jung

Suhwan Jung‘s research interests include rural villages, daily life, economic change shown in historical documents, and personal diaries in the Joseon period. He also explores contemporary rural development, especially in 1970s Korea. He received Ph.D. in 2007 for the thesis on economic change and daily life at the Academy of Korean Studies. He published many articles including “The Coin Currency and Changes in Economic Life in Late Joseon Period” (2013), “Royal Protocols and Resources in Joseon, Korea”(2019), and “Korean Rural Development and International Development”(2022).

Dr. Hyejung Lee

Lee Hyejung is a researcher at the Jangseogak Archives of the Academy of Korean Studies. She is interested in the distribution process of books, royal library, and catalogue of the old books in the Joseon period. She received Ph.D. in 2019 for the thesis on “Study on Catalogue of Books in Jibokjae” at the Academy of Korean Studies.

Dr. Eunjoo Jeong

Eunjoo Jeong has researched the cultural activities of Korean embassies to China or Japan. In addition, she is interested in topographical and pictorial maps in the Joseon period. She is the author of two books and numerous articles and book chapters on documentary paintings of foreign relations in the Joseon Period. Her first book, Documentary Paintings of Sino-Korean Diplomatic Relations in Joseon Period (2012) was awarded as the outstanding book by the National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Korea. Her second book, Joseon literati finds a way to broaden cultural horizons in China (2017) is on the cultural exchanges between the Korean embassies and Chinese intellectuals.