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The Import and Use of Qing’s Decorated Letter-Papers by Joseon Royal Family in the Late 19th Century - Centered on Decorated Letter-Papers Housed in National Palace Museum of Korea -

SON KEYOUNG 1

1대구가톨릭대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The decorated letter-papers collected in National Palace Museum of Korea are mostly those used by Joseon royal family in the late 19th Century. Those papers show the culture of letter writing and social intercourse of royal family at that time. As the culture of royal family was admired by the upper class, it influenced directly on the lives of upper class. Again the upper class’s culture went down to those of middle and lower class. So, finding out where the decorated letter-paper culture came from and how the papers were produced and purchased for royal family would be a key point to understand the recording and letter writing culture of Joseon period. Those papers were imported from Qing and the royal family purchased them from domestic market. It is more noteworthy because the paper was a typical item that can explain how closely the goods imported from the late Qing were used for the daily life of Joseon royal family. The decorated letter-papers collected in the Museum are preserved in the same shape as they were sold at that time. The packing boxes and information leaflets made by Chinese manufacturers are also kept in the Museum. The shop names of Qing’s manufacturers are placed on the boxes, and the locations and handling items of shops are recorded on information leaflets in the boxes. The leaflets are from ten or more decorated letter-papers specialized shops based on Beijing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Shanghai and so on. Those shops produced and sold processed papers including decorated letter-papers, brush, Chinese ink, red chop ink, pigments, fan, folding screen, vertical plaques, scroll and so on. They also handled antiques and signboards, and were specialized in bookbinding and picture mounting. The outstanding characteristics of the late Qing’s decorated letter-papers were splendid color and various pattern. Other characteristics were multi-color pattern and fancy shaped envelope. Patterns were various including flower & fruit pattern which were so popular as called flower decorated paper (花箋紙), fish & wild goose pattern which symbolized news, figure pattern which expressed the persons in famous poems, nature scene pattern which drew memorable attractions, rare ancient antiquity and inscription pattern, and other patterns of tea cups, books, instrument, seal style calligraphy. It is expected that the late Qing’s decorated letter-papers can supply many important clues to study how the noticing and intercourse cultures of Joseon royal family were developed and how the papers had influenced on the letter culture of Joseon people since the late 19th Century.

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