Daesaryedo Painting

This is a handscroll (hwagwon) recording the Daesarye archery ceremony held on the seventh day of the intercalary fourth month of 1743 (the nineteenth year of King Yeongjo). It is notable for being in handscroll form, a format rarely used for Joseon-period ceremonial record paintings. The Daesarye was a rite belonging to the category of military rites (gunnye) among the Five Rites (orye); it had been abolished after the Japanese invasions of 1592–98, and King Yeongjo revived it, updating its ceremonial texts to suit the times. The content of Daesaryedo can be established in detail from the Daesarye Uigwe (Royal Protocols of the Daesarye Ceremony, 1743). Daesaryedo consists of three painted scenes divided into Eosado (the King's Archery), Sisado (the Attendant Officials' Archery) and Sisangdo (the Awarding of Prizes); the king's archery score, recorded as "Eosa samhoek" (the king scored three hits); the official titles and names of the master of ceremonies Yi Deok-in and the officiating officer Yi Seop-won; the roster and scores of the thirty attendant archers headed by Milchang-gun (1677–1746); and the "Preface to the Daesaryedo," written in the eighth month of 1743 by the Minister of War Seo Jong-ok (1688–1745). The depiction of the ceremonial flags, musical instruments, ritual objects and costumes used in the ceremony closely matches the written records, and the detail is meticulous. The landscape painting style reflects that of the mid-eighteenth century. At the start of the scroll are three seals relating to former owners: the intaglio seals "Bomungwanjang" (Seal of Bomungwan) and "Hakmuamun-ji-in" (Seal of the Hakmu Amun), and the relief seal "Yonsei University Museum Treasured Collection." Since the ink colours of the three seals all differ, they are thought to have been stamped at different times. The Hakmu Amun (Ministry of Education) was established during the Gabo Reforms of 1894 and was renamed Hakbu in 1895. Bomungwan was a publishing house founded in 1905 by the independence activist Gwon Dong-jin (1861–1947). At the end of the handscroll is written "Held by the Institute of Oriental Studies, Yonhui University, 14 November 1955," showing that Daesaryedo was once held by an official who had worked at the Hakmu Amun, Gwon Dong-jin among others, before becoming part of the Yonsei University collection after 1955. Judging by its painting style, this work is an original painted at the time of the 1743 ceremony. Few surviving ceremonial record paintings depict rites in the military-rite category, the Daesarye Uigwe clearly corroborates the content of the painting, and the level of pictorial description is excellent; for these reasons it can be considered a representative ceremonial record painting from the reign of King Yeongjo in the eighteenth century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seodaemun-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산