From Court to Canvas: Redrawing the Korean Palanquin
History and Introduction
In the extensive history of Korean historical documentation, uigwe (royal protocols) were a defining component of Joseon royal court records. Their importance was recognized internationally when they were inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2007, and many copies were later designated as state cultural heritage by the Korean government in 2016. Uigwe documented state-sponsored projects and ceremonies, representing a genre of historical recording unique to Joseon. (Lee Moon-hyun, NMK) These records included royal orders, official documents exchanged to coordinate events, the division of duties among various government offices, as well as supplies and expenses. (Kim Moon-sik, JKAA) Uigwe were produced in multiple copies and stored across various locations within the sago (史庫) archives to ensure preservation. A special edition known as eoram (御覽), created using the finest materials requested from several government offices, was prepared for the king’s personal use. (Lee Moon-hyun) Due to the wide range of details recorded, large teams were organized for each uigwe, comprising minister-level officials, military officers, calligraphers, and runners. (Kim Moon-sik) Today, uigwes remain a vital reference for the Joseon period and serve as invaluable resources for understanding the dynasty’s administrative practices, ceremonial customs, and cultural influences.
Cover and inner contents of the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe circa 1797 (https://www.ijkaa.org/v.18/0/30/144)
While these documents provided extensive details regarding events in order to develop and note the components that made up an effective event to be referenced, they also included a range of paintings and illustrations.
These pieces of art were divided into two categories: documentary paintings (班次圖, banchado) and illustrations (圖說, doseol). The banchado would illustrate the complete scenery of the King’s royal processions while the doseol would depict the specific items or buildings comprising the royal events. (Kim Moon Sik)
These illustrations proved to be an invaluable resource, even in the 20th century. The Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe (화성성역의궤, The Royal Protocol on the Construction of Hwaseung Fortress) written during King Jeongjo’s rule, the source for this rework project, was used to restore the Hwaseong Fortress after the damage inflicted on it during Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War. The uigwe also holds cultural significance due to it have been created during the height of European painting influx into Korea. While in 1645, Crown Prince Sohyeon had brought back European cultural and scientific artifacts, it had only been from the Kingyeong era’s reforming climate and King Jeonjo’s rule (1775-1800) (EHNE, JeongIn Kim), where European culture began playing an impact on Korean culture. The meticulous documentation of the construction process, architectural designs, and related details reflects a deliberate effort to create a timeless record, capturing the architecture and culture of the period along with associated events like royal procession.
The Palanquin Drawings
Within the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe, there are a series of illustrations depicting the palanquin that carried Lady Hyegyeong (King Jeongjo’s mother) in the grand procession to the Hwaseong Fortress. This procession was to celebrate Lady Hyegyeong’s 60th birthday as well as to visit Crown Prince Sado’s tomb (King Jeongjo’s father). Like the other illustrations and details written in the uigwe, this was written to preserve the artistry and technological prowess executed to create the palanquin. With these drawings, I selected the illustration depicting the palanquin as a whole as well as the back panel. Due to the increasing European influence into Korean culture at this time, I also aimed to investigate the potential Renaissance era motifs within the palanquin design and the palanquin’s depiction in the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe.
Before starting on the process to recreate these drawings, there was a primary issue with the reference source. Although the scans were of good quality, the details, particularly on the back panel, appeared muddied due to how finely drawn the details were. However, to address this, I opted for thin ink pens and referenced repeated designs within the drawing, using clearer versions of the same elements to reconstruct the blurred portions.
Materials and Methodology
For the original sketch work, I used a BIC .5 mm mechanical pencil and a Pentel Rubber Grip Clic Eraser. Due to my goal to later investigate the potential Renaissance era influence, I ensured that I used as thin a pencil as available to me to give the greatest chance of including all of the details. The eraser was chosen for a similar reason, as, due to its pencil-like shape, it allowed me to make more precise erase marks. For the final outlining of the palanquin drawing, I used fine-tipped pens enter the actual pen brand later, using add specific pen size later for the borders and here too for the inner boxes. I opted to keep the more intricate designs in pencil due to concerns of details being lost due to ink bleeding. Fortunately, this choice contributed to the aesthetic of the drawing as the emphasis of the borders created a sense of depth.
For the paper, I used a Fuxi 9 in x 12 in sketchbook meant for pen and pencil sketches. Due to my choice in using pen and pencil to better recreate the drawing, this type of sketchbook was chosen. This sketchbook allowed for much lighter shading and a distinctly rougher surface that made detailing easier than smooth paper.
Reconstruction: General Approach
To perform this reconstruction, I used the common technique of “blocking in” in drawing. This technique merely means to establish the basic shapes as well as proportions to set as a foundation for further details. This allowed me to be able to identify any major problems, such as angles or image symmetry, early on, avoiding the chances of having to erase major portions of the sketch after highly intricate details were drawn in.
After this, I would draw larger details such as the specific bordering designs that will be discussed specifically for each drawing. For the last step, the small details were added in.
Reconstruction: The Full View Palanquin Drawing
First, I lightly sketched the main box of the palanquin where Lady Hyegyeong would have sat, and roughly outlined the other components of the palanquin relative to the first box sketched.
Then, I carefully used the initial rough outlines to draw the poles that shoot out from the central box. Then, I used these poles as reference points to draw the tarps and ropes connected to the poles. This took several trials of erasing and redrawing, as depending on the angle of the initial pole, the resulting tarps and ropes would be stretched too thin or condensed together. This drawing especially required this to be carefully done since the details added later, such as the extensions of the small wooden frame on each bottom corner of the primary box, had to be drawn in a three-dimensional perspective.
After the outlines were done, I started adding small shapes and outlining in pen. This drawing did not take much time compared to the second drawing due to the straightforward shapes and relatively small number of details.
Reconstruction: The Back Panel Illustration
Due to the higher detail required for this drawing, I dedicated more time to blocking in. If there were boxes that were too small relative to the original drawing, I would not have been able to have enough space to draw in the artistic details that I planned on analyzing later.
Once the blocking in was done, I refined the boxes containing the intricate details into the distinct hourglass and indented rectangles. The intricate designs were then drawn in. The sketching of the intricate designs took the majority of the time needed to recreate this drawing. Oftentimes, the designs would take much more space than I expected, requiring me to carefully erase and redraw. Another problem that I ran into was that some details simply required too thin a pencil for me to feasibly recreate. To avoid this problem, I sacrificed some of the smaller details that only showed up as a few pixels in order to focus on the larger motifs.
Once all of the sketching was finished, like the first drawing, thin-tipped pens were used with much of the detailing left alone.
Reflection: Areas of Improvement
While I believe I gave myself overall enough time for the drawing, I think I rushed through the “blocking in” stage and didn’t give myself as good of a foundation as I should have. Much of my work was freehandand I didn’t utilize rulers due to past experiences of sketches becoming more uneven with ruler use. However, I do believe that if one were to accurately utilize a ruler, the actual proportions would be precise and may lead to a better opportunity to rework the drawing 1:1. This was especially apparent for the back panel illustration as some details had to be omitted due to a lack of space. However, it seems that the original artists also had a problem with the space available in the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe as repeated motifs often had
Another area of improvement that would enhance my reconstruction would be utilizing brushes in order to better illustrate the flowy nature of the designs. There were many times when I would be drawing a curved line and the pencil would catch onto the sketch paper and create either shaky or jagged lines. With a brush, I imagine that the flowy nature of the artistic motifs would be recreated significantly better. However, I believe I would personally have done worse on the rework if I were to attempt it again with a brush due to the skillset required to create the multiple small designs necessary. In this way, the illustrations demonstrate tacit knowledge obtained by the calligraphers and official painters to elegantly paint the patterns depicted.
Overall, due to most of the drawings being replicated, I believe it still emulates the original artwork, as not all copies were perfectly replicated across all versions. I do believe there is plenty of room for improvement, however.
Reflection: Renaissance Influence
As previously mentioned, the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe not only served as a historical record but also captured the cultural atmosphere of King Jeongjo’s reign, during which European influence began to take root in Korea. Due to this, there have been arguments made that the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe shows artistic motifs reminiscent of the Renaissance era. Building on this context, I turn to a closer analysis of the reworked palanquin illustrations to see if these motifs are present.
A common motif present in how Renaissance art creates depth is the use of a one-point perspective, noted by one rigid point where all lines (involved in creating depth) converge. (Hoyoung Kim) Another variation of the use of intersecting lines is a herringbone/fishbone perspective, which has several intersecting lines under one vertical line. (Hoyoung Kim)
However, both cases do not seem to be present. Since the back panel illustration does not show depth, it was omitted for analysis. The resulting overall illustration of the palanquin was analyzed, focusing on the poles that depict the greatest sense of depth. When the lines were extended similar to past research, the lines neither converge at a singular point nor do they create a herringbone/fishbone configuration.
I then looked at the designs within the illustrations to see if they mimicked the common patterns featured in the Renaissance. While there are a variety of designs that were featured in the Renaissance, interlaced coords and leaf and branch patterns were prominent in many works requiring a repeated pattern. Therefore, I chose to investigate if this was present in the recreated drawings.
While the outer view of the palanquin did not show many details, the back panel of the palanquin offers several designs that can be carefully analyzed. Similar to Renaissance fabrics, the usage of a leaf and branch pattern is apparent in almost all of the smaller panels. Furthermore, in Renaissance era patterns, the motifs typically surround a central point, shown by the repeated designs around a central figure. While these designs are not exact replicas of patterns shown in the Renaissance era, their features are reminiscent of them.
This leaves the overall perspective on Renaissance era influence on the Joseon era uigwe ambiguous. While there aren’t any distinct vanishing points or herringbone/fishbone configurations of lines, the usage of Renaissance designs implies that perhaps the actual structures made in Joseon had Renaissance motifs but the drawings within the uigwes had not become influenced by that point. However, due to the illustrations such as the Janganmun gate having herringbone/fishbone lines, it may have been a matter of personal choice. With this perspective into the past, it leaves an interesting idea of how much King Jeonjo’s influx of European culture had influenced production culture at the time at which the Hwaseong Seongyeok Uigwe was made.
