Throughout East Asian traditional art as a whole including that of the Joseon Dynasty period(1392-1910), 'Closed-eyes' has been represented in various images. These images take a wide range of forms without any set specific field or iconic characteris...
Throughout East Asian traditional art as a whole including that of the Joseon Dynasty period(1392-1910), 'Closed-eyes' has been represented in various images. These images take a wide range of forms without any set specific field or iconic characteristics. This study defines this as a single concept called 'Sleep(睡眠)'. This master's thesis aims to study the symbolic meaning of sleeping image and its formation and development in the genre of literature and painting. In addition, this thesis will shed light on the expression and symbol of the image with the late Joseon Dynasty period as the central era.
'Sleep(睡眠)' has, of course, a primary meaning of sleeping and the secondary indication of getting a rest from an activity. In this thesis, the latter was chosen as a key notion and also includes the activity of sleeping, dozing, resting, and dreaming.
The formation of the sleeping image has many things to do with the birth of figure painting. The pictorial portrayals in early period are found in Northern and Southern dynasties(420-589) <竹林七賢榮?期>. The Song Dynasty period is assumed to be the time when the painting started to be drawn in earnest, which is possibly considered the start point for the standardization of the sleeping image. Zen Painting(禪宗畵) made it possible to express the sleeping image containing philosophical discourses beyond the primary meaning of 'sleep', and the literati culture, which took root in the ground with this, played a decisive role in the development of art painting. Reclusiveness(隱逸) or in other words, unworldliness(脫俗), one of the fundamental attributes in the literati culture, is continuously used as a main topic or material of paintings.
Due to the lack of existing works, it is a bit difficult to grasp the exact history of the sleeping image in the early years of Joseon Dynasty period. One example of that era is (傳)申末舟 筆 <十老圖像契軸>. According to other documentary records, it seems that several works whose subjects for painters were historical figures(故事人物) were made. Especially, it was confirmed that there were still more drawings left whose subjects were 醉睡·醉眠, not only the works of Chen Tuan(陳?) or Zhuge Liang(諸葛亮). Moreover, some records related to animals such as 睡雀·睡鴨·睡雁 were also perceived.
Painting manuals introduced to Joseon, as well as the publication culture of the late Ming Dynasty period, are presumed to have affected the standardization and systematization of the sleeping image in the late Joseon Dynasty period. 『唐詩?譜』, a collection of illustrated poems(詩?集類), depicted the image with poems on the nature, alcohol, and the literati's everyday life. In contrast, 『程氏墨苑』, with maximized commercial elements included, adorned the image mainly with stories about dream. Additionally, many of the sleeping images were blended with those of Taoist hermit in 『三才圖會』, 『列仙全傳』, and 『釋氏源流應化事蹟』.
In terms of type classification, the sleeping image in the late Joseon Dynasty period can be divided into 坐位 and 臥位, which was based on the pose classification standard in the painting manuals. This classification can be subdivided into 6 types such as 正坐·抱膝·半坐·伏臥·側臥·仰臥. Each pose is either shared or distinct and every pose was differently expressed from one another according to social stratum. The pose of 正坐 in paintings doesn't seem to have been a preferred icon. In case of the pose of 抱膝, whose icon was designed in 「人物屋宇譜」 of 『芥子園畵傳』, it appeared mainly as the images of boy attendants(侍童) or Taoist hermit boy(仙童) and was used in a variety of forms in Taoist and Buddhist figure paintings. 半坐 pose is thought to be the most flexible type. 伏臥 pose includes a figure sleeping in the ideal of 江南景 and is thought to involve a meaning of disguised fisherman(假漁翁), when it comes to 浮家泛宅. There are just few obvious distinctions between the usage of 側臥 pose and 仰臥 pose, but the former is considered to be in relation to Sleeping Method by Chen Tuan, and the latter was drawn as a figure of fisherman(漁父) rather than disguised fisherman(假漁翁) figure, due to the pose's 開放形 shape. 仰臥 type of fishermen depicted in 『顧氏畵譜』 and 「人物屋宇譜」 of 『芥子園畵傳』 tell us that this kind of standardized images were continually used.
18th century was the time when the sleeping image was more actively represented in many art works than any other periods. The figure that the image indicatively points out in figurative paintings about the ancient stories is assumed to be Chen Tuan(陳?). This kind of discussion is highlighted thanks to other many paintings with Chen Tuan(陳?) as their main subject. However, one can only presume about that because the symbolic appendage, so to say the characteristics of iconography of Chen Tuan is rather vague. After that, with the publication of Chinese literature and the appearance of poetry-based paintings(詩意圖)affected by painting manuals, there occurred some changes in the sleeping image. Especially, the recreation life(餘暇性), which received spotlights in the late years of the Joseon Dynasty period, played a crucial role in adding some variety to the meaning of the sleeping image at that time. This change can be observed in Long Days in the Quiet Mountains(山靜日長圖). The Long Days in the Quiet Mountains(山靜日長圖) focused on behavior of the figure in his retreat rather than on representing the figure's previous ideal retreat. In this painting, everything converges into real life from learning solely through landscape(山水) or saints(聖賢). The expansion of the base literati culture and increasing attention for TONG-SOK in the late days of the dynasty period gave changes to the sleeping image in fisherman paintings(漁父圖). The literati in the Joseon Dynasty pursued fisherman image as 物外閑客 enjoying the nature or delight of life. The altered sleeping image remained until the closing period of the dynasty.
Through the study above, we have considered the sleeping image according to the flow of paintings in the Joseon Dynasty period, which was previously fragmentary and limited to the study of only specific works. It is expected that one can comprehend the meaning of the sleeping image and, at least, its changing history. Thorough this, one can also hope that discussions on various images in the traditional paintings in the Joseon Dynasty period will be more abundant.
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