Some of the best Korean paintings are being displayed at the National Museum of Korea, proudly marking the 100th year of museums in Korea. 

From early October to November, the special exhibition will show a total of 150 highly valuable artworks and artifacts from both home and abroad – so you had better hurry, because many are actually “lost” treasures of Korea that are owned in other countries and therefore must return abroad after a limited period on display.

Dream of Paradise

The biggest highlight by far is the temporary return of “Mongyudowondo” from Japan, the 112-meter landscape painting from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) that had a profound impact on the development of Korean art. Drawn by court painter Ahn Gyeon in 1447, the title roughly translates as “Dream Journey to the Peach Garden of Paradise” and depicts the real world in the left-hand corner while the rest is covered with a dream landscape with peach trees and cliffs.















The painting is said to have been inspired by a dream that Prince Anpyong had one night. Prince Anpyong (1418-1453) was the third son of King Sejong (1397-1450), the great scholar-king who created Hangeul, the Korean writing system. 

The landscape itself isn't big, just 38.7 cm in height and 106.5 cm in length. What fills the remaining space is the poetry written by some twenty top literary figures at the time, including Shin Sook-ju, Seong Sam-mun and Park Paeng-nyeon that makes the whole artwork a perfect harmony of literature, calligraphy and art.

The painting is currently owned by Japan's Tenri University. How it ended up in Japan is still unknown, although some suspect it happened during the Imjin War (1592-1598), the period of Japanese invasion of Korea in the late 16th century. The piece is currently designated one of the national treasures in Japan. This is the first time the painting has come to Korea in 13 years, its first ever display here being at the Hoam Art Museum in 1996. The painting is on view for just over a week from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7.

Great paintings coming home for the first time include “Suwol gwaneumdo” (Water-moon Avalokitesvara) from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and “Chiseonggwang Yeorae Wangrimdo,” a rare Buddhist painting from Goryeo times (918-1392) from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. There are only about 160 Goryeo Buddhist Paintings left, lost during the period of war and confusion.

The Central Museum is also displaying some of the best treasures it has kept out of public view for past 12 years. “Cheonma-chong Cheonmado” (National Treasure no. 207), which is a picture of a heavenly horse carved on the birch tree, stands as one of the best.

Because of the difficulty of preservation, this piece, together with the “Hunminjeongeum haeryebon” (Explanations and Examples of the Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People), the early book on Hangeul, will be displayed only from Sept. 20 to Oct. 11.

Other interesting writings aside from Hunminjeongeum will be letters written by King Jeongjo (1752–1800), who tried to introduce many practical and scientific ideas in Korea as reflected in the construction of Suwon Fortress. 

Another treasure is the Buddhist script “Mugu jeonggwang dae daranigyeong” (Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light) found in Seokgatap Pagoda. It is the world's oldest existing wood block printing, from around the early 8th century. This will be displayed from Oct. 8 to 18.

To be on display soon is the Gangsan Mujindo (Mountain and Rives without End), one of the representative landscape paintings by late-Joseon period painter Lee In-mun (1745-1821). It will be available for viewing from Oct. 20 to Nov. 8. Then there is the royal portrait of King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 8.

Call 02-2077-9000 (Korean) for more information or visit the website:   For free interpretation service: 1330 (Korean/ English/ Chinese/  Japanese)

By Kim Hee-sung
Korea.net Staff Writer