'Dokseodang Gyehoe-do,' Depicting Young Officials' Boat Outing, Designated as Treasure

Painting Repatriated from the U.S. as a Treasure Along with 'Suneung Eomgyeong Uihae Volumes 9-15'... High Historical and Art Historical Value

The Foundation for Cultural Heritage Recovery Abroad will manage the 'Dokseodang Gyehoedo (讀書堂契會圖)' repatriated from the United States last year as a treasure. On the 28th, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced that it has designated it as a national treasure along with the 'Anseong Cheongryongsa Gilt-bronze Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (安城 靑龍寺 金銅觀音菩薩坐像)', 'Suneung Eomgyeonguihae Volumes 9?15 (首楞嚴經義海 卷9~15)', and 'I Hangbok's Regular Script Thousand Character Classic (李恒福 楷書 千字文)'.

Doksodang Gyehoe Painting

Dokseodang Gyehoedo is a painting depicting a gathering of officials who were granted leave to study. It is estimated to date from the mid-Joseon period, between 1516 and 1530. The Cultural Heritage Administration explained, "By verifying the official positions of the individuals mentioned in the seating list (座目) at the bottom with the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and various literary collections, it is believed that the gathering took place around 1531 (the 26th year of King Jungjong's reign). The painting was likely created at that time." Sagadokseohan (賜暇讀書) was a talent cultivation policy that selected young and capable civil officials and granted them leave to devote themselves to scholarship.

Dokseodang Gyehoedo is in the form of a single hanging scroll. At the very top of the painting, the title 'Dokseodang Gyehoedo' is inscribed in seal script. The central image depicts the natural scenery around Dumopo (豆毛浦, present-day area along the Han River in Oksu-dong, Seoul), the Dokseodang, and the protagonists of Sagadokseohan enjoying boating on the Han River. The ink-painted landscape follows the style of the An Gyeon school (安堅派), a landscape painting school inspired by An Gyeon. Distant mountains are depicted in a deep blue color using stone blue pigment. At the bottom, the seating list records in regular script the twelve attendees' pen names (號), names, courtesy names (字), clan origins, birth years, years of Sagadokseohan, and years of passing the civil service examination. The Cultural Heritage Administration stated, "Among the gathering paintings with a top title, central image, and bottom seating list produced later, this is the earliest. Unlike the conceptual landscapes popular in early Joseon, it is a true-view landscape painting depicting actual scenery around the Han River, which gives it high historical and art historical value."

Anseong Cheongryongsa Gilt-Bronze Seated Avalokiteshvara Statue

The Anseong Cheongryongsa Gilt-bronze Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is a bodhisattva statue in the lotus position made in the late Goryeo period (14th century). It wears an ornate crown and a robe with wide sleeves. The right hand is raised and the left lowered, with the index and middle fingers touching in the preaching mudra (?法印) hand gesture. The slender face, serene expression, the crown and earrings, and the slightly stooped posture with the head leaning forward resemble a group of bodhisattva statues understood as traditional late Goryeo style. The somewhat narrow and small shoulders, long torso, and high knees reflect transitional changes from the late Goryeo to early Joseon period. The Cultural Heritage Administration evaluated, "Unlike most bodhisattva statues of the same style made of wood, this one is made of gilt bronze. The restoration inscriptions found in the robe confirm its provenance, which adds to its high historical and art historical value."

The Suneung Eomgyeonguihae Volumes 9?15 correspond to volumes 9 to 15 of the thirty-volume annotated commentary on the 'Mah?buddha Peak Tath?gata's Secret Cause of Cultivation and Realization and the Definitive Meaning of the S?tra of the Ten Stages of Bodhisattvas' (大佛頂如來密因修證了義諸菩薩萬行首楞嚴經), originally translated into Chinese by the Indian monk Banramilja and compiled into thirty volumes by Han Hui during the Southern Song dynasty in China. The colophons at the end of each volume record the publication date, place, and publisher, confirming that the woodblocks were made and printed by the Ganggyeongdogam in the 8th year of King Sejo's reign (1462) in Joseon. The Ganggyeongdogam was a temporary government office responsible for translating and publishing Buddhist scriptures from 1461 to 1471. The Cultural Heritage Administration explained, "It preserves about one-quarter of the entire thirty-volume edition of the Mah?buddha Peak Tath?gata's Secret Cause of Cultivation and Realization and the Definitive Meaning of the S?tra of the Ten Stages of Bodhisattvas. The printing quality is excellent, and the preservation state is good."

Ihangbok's Version of the Thousand Character Classic

I Hangbok's Regular Script Thousand Character Classic was written by I Hangbok (1556?1618) in 1607, the 40th year of King Seonjo's reign, to teach his grandson I Sijung (1602?1657). It consists of 125 pages of main text and one page of colophon. On the reverse side of the front flyleaf, two white seal stamps (白文方印), 'Cheongheon (聽軒)' and 'Wolseongsega (月城世家)', are stamped. The former is the pen name of I Gyeongil (1734?1820), the sixth-generation descendant of I Hangbok. The main text of 125 pages contains 1,000 characters written in regular script. Below each character, the Korean pronunciation and meaning are written in Hangul.

At the end of the book is a colophon written by I Hangbok in semi-cursive script: "In the early summer of the year Jeongmi (1607), I write this for my grandson I Sijung. The fifty-year-old elder sweated and endured hardship while writing; do not throw away this intention as if casting it into a valley [丁未首夏, 書與孫兒時中. 五十老人, 揮汗忍苦, 毋擲牝以孤是意]." This passage reveals not only the creator and production date but also I Hangbok's concern and affection for educating his descendants. The Cultural Heritage Administration evaluated, "Each character is about 8 cm, making it the largest and earliest handwritten Thousand Character Classic. The Hangul pronunciation and meaning below the Chinese characters are important linguistic historical materials for studying the evolution of Hangul during this period."