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A study on aesthetic consciousness of 「Grass and insect painting」 by Shin Saimdang

  • Journal of Korean Classical Chinese Literature
  • Abbr : 한문고전연구
  • 2011, 23(1), pp.69-96
  • DOI : 10.18213/jkccl.2011.23.1.003
  • Publisher : The Classical Chinese Literature Association of Korea
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature

Yu Jeong Eun 1

1강원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this thesis is to study aesthetic consciousness of 「Grass and insect painting」by Shin Saimdang. Beauty is our harmonious feeling about some object and respectful, valuable things as a substantial phenomenon not abstract idea going beyond our daily life, which makes us be happy. Accordingly, feelings welled up in our life are all essences of the arts, and nature and things around us are beauty itself respectively. Shin Saimdang was born in Chosun dynasty, the rigid Confucian society some 500 years ago. She not only held up as a model of Confucian ideals for a good wife but also was a respected artist who was excellent in poetry, calligraphy, and paintings. Especially, 「Grass and insect painting」is works created from benevolence and virtue of Shin Saimdang. Objects of 「Grass and insect painting」are small things which can be easily seen in a daily life and she gave a tender and warm mind to them, which makes the painting vivid. This study dealt with then background, introduction of 「Grass and insect painting」, aesthetic consciousness of 「Grass and insect painting」such as natural beauty; simple beauty, and emptiness beauty; Confucian aesthetic consciousness; cultivation of aesthetic consciousness. Her paintings show Korean beauty that is simple and frank. In 「Grass and insect painting」, very small creatures and worthless, ugly ones appear - too small to see or not aesthetic objects. This reflects her ‘mind of benevolence’ - unusual love extended to small and insignificant creatures. ‘mind of benevolence’ is a main body of Four clues mind which embrace and considerate for all beings, and is a principle of love. Therefore, The author would like to say that source of beauty starts with ‘benevolence’. Thus these are alive in 「Grass and insect painting」- alarming life, simple beauty, and woman elaborateness - and shows high completeness as a work, which allowed the painting special artistic value. She painted her own unique works and developed Korean painting to independent painting style with Korean characteristics. As a result, her paintings have a large meaning that her paintings were free from China’s influences. Her works represent Korean aesthetic beauty in the fact that she harmoniously arranged simple and worthless materials and sublimated them to noble arts painting on a canvas noiselessly.

Citation status

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