South Korea

B

Art

Contemporary Korean artists employ both traditional and Western forms in their works. Traditional handicrafts such as lacquerwork (often inlaid with mother-of-pearl), embroidery, and ceramics are produced for artistic and commercial purposes. Modern Korean art draws on a long history of cultural development and artistic achievement.

B

1

Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla

Korean art was produced primarily for religious purposes during the Three Kingdoms period (57 bc to ad 668). Gilt bronze statues depicting the Buddha and other deities demonstrated Korean skill in metallurgy. Royal burial tombs contained ornately crafted gold crowns, jewelry, and other ornaments with crescent-shaped jade pendants. The design of these pieces suggests that ancient shamanistic influences remained strong in Korean culture after the introduction of Buddhism in the 4th century.

Koreans produced a rich variety of metal, stone, and ceramic works during the Unified Silla period, which ended in 935. A bronze bell made in 771 for King Sŏngdŏk of the Silla dynasty ranks as one of Asia’s largest cast-bronze bells. Temple building proliferated, most notably in the area of the Silla capital, Gyeongju. The Sŏkkuram cave temple, built high on a mountain ridge near Gyeongju in the 8th century, contains a remarkable example of a seated Buddha carved from granite.

B

2

Koryŏ

Artisans of the Unified Silla period attained the technology for highly refined, glazed stoneware. This development laid the foundation for the ceramics of the following Koryŏ period, when artisans achieved an unsurpassed level of skill in the green-glaze stoneware called celadon.

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B

3

Chosŏn

The art of the Chŏson period is noted for the development of landscape painting, exemplified in the works of Chŏng Sŏn, notably The Diamond Mountains. Paintings also documented important historical events, such as battles and foreign diplomatic visits. Calligraphy in Chinese characters, practiced since the Three Kingdoms period, gained importance. Calligraphy and painting flourished among the educated elite until the early 16th century. During the Chosŏn period, the Neo-Confucian state ideology discouraged the practice of Buddhism, which had long been a source of artistic inspiration. Many art forms, including ceramics, became more utilitarian, with few embellishments. In the early 20th century, Western influences infused Korean art with new concepts and methods.

C

Architecture

Korean architecture incorporates Eastern philosophical principles that emphasize harmony with nature and the universe. It is believed that architecture based in these principles can foster social and political harmony as well. Temple architecture followed forms introduced from China. One of South Korea’s renowned Buddhist temples, Pulguksa, was built in the 8th century under the royal patronage of the Silla kingdom, which formally adopted Buddhism in the 6th century.

The three surviving royal palaces in South Korea date from the Chosŏn period and are located in Seoul, the capital of the Chosŏn dynasty. Changdeok Palace, originally constructed in 1405, is the best-preserved palace and a World Heritage Site. Korean palaces largely followed Chinese models. They were built of wood, with stone foundations and tile-covered rooftops that extended beyond the main structure to form broad eaves. The undersides of the eaves were colorfully painted in intricate designs.

During the period of Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, many historic sites and artifacts were destroyed or confiscated. Western influences became more predominant. Since the Korean War (1950-1953), which also damaged historic sites, many monuments have been reconstructed, and priority is given to their continued preservation.

See also Korean Art and Architecture.

D

Music and Dance