Art & Places: Korean Dancheong Art
During my visit to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, I noticed that every building has a very attractive and vibrant paintings.
Curious of finding more about the art, I took pictures for the purpose of studying the design and went Yahoo-ing the net. I didn’t know what the name of the style was, but I just typed in “culture of Korea” and voila! I found a wiki page about the art. It is called Dancheong.
Dancheong is a multi-coloured decorative painting mostly done on wooden buildings and artifacts for the purpose of style and to protect surfaces and conceal the crudeness of materials.
Originally arriving with Buddhism when it was brought from China, the patterns of Dancheong were modified in Korea. It is said that during the Shilla period, Dancheong was even found on commoners’ home. Now it is limited to temples and palaces as well as some musical instruments.
Dancheong is based on five basic colors; blue (east), white (west), red (south), black (north), and yellow (centre).
According to its design, colour and style, Dancheong is classified into five types: Gachil Dancheong, Geutgi Dancheong, Moru Dancheong, Geummoru Dancheong and Geum Dancheong.
There are also special kinds of Dancheong such as Gobun Dancheong, Chilbo Dancheong, Geumbak (Eunbak) Dancheong, Geumni (Eunni) Dancheong and Ottchil Dancheong.
Gachil Dancheong usually uses a green or reddish-brown monochromatic under-painting with no patterns. Geutgi Dancheong adds some decorative patterns by drawing black and white lines on a single-colored under-painting. Moru Dancheong draws a simple-shaped Meoricho (pattern) only on the ends of the bracket, and adds the finishing touches to the middle part of the bracket with black and white lines. Geummoru Dancheong is a crossover of Moru Dancheong and Geum Dancheong, adding some geometric patterns to Moru Dancheong. Geum Dancheong boasts the most colorful paintwork, with various kinds of elaborate silk patterns and Byeoljihwa (decorative pictures) drawn on the whole part of the bracket, except the part on which Meoricho is drawn.
The process of Dancheong is as follows: at first, workers begin to work with polishing the foundation of Dancheong. After applying boiled water including glue to the foundation, they prepare the drafting paper by coating it 5 times.
In order to put figures of drafting paper on a building, they must spread blue & green soil on it. When they tap a powder bag on framework-covered surface, it flows out from a hole and outlines the figures carved in the frame. After, they decorate the building with paint using the basic five colours.
Overall, I really love this one unique aspect of Korea. To me, art truly reflects the culture values of a country and I am glad that I had the chance to experience and see this art form myself.
Here’s my take on Dancheong on watercolor paper with my color preferences. It doesn’t have specific meaning as I was just exploring the design.
45 Comments
MiM
the photos are beautiful…
3p
if u study the motif,
it’s just like batik motif,
but was colour in brilliant bright attractive colour. . .
nkara
so colorful! cantik sangat..bila lah nak merasa pegi sana ntah…:)
Khemy
very vibrant indeed.
Fakhrul
Salam
Nak jadi ‘top commentor’ dah payah dah. If you r selling this , please could you give me the quotation.Wish to give it as the present to a friend. Send the details to my email dellcom86@yahoo.com . Im looking for it
Fakhrul
Salam
Nak jadi ‘top commentor’ dah payah dah. If you r selling this , please could you give me the quotation.Wish to give it as the present to a friend. Send the details to my email . Im looking for it
Fakhrul
I mean the ‘cute mug’
emila
Tak jual mug tu, saya tempah as free giveaway.
fieyona
i love south korea. skang pon sedang berusaha nak buat compilation artworks mase pegi sane last september..
ezna
wow vibrant colours!!!…..
mazny
Dancheong!!! Awesomeness!
mazny
This arts reminds me of those printed on Rumah Melaka stairs.
mazny
Hmm, macam buat batik.
mazny
Batik uses wax to mark the outline.There must be a reason on why they tab a powder bag to the framework, kan?
mazny
And your attempt to Dancheong is simply awesome.
mazny
I notice in arts, nature speaks many languages! – Chinese, Korean, Indian, Arabic, Malay… etc, etc, etc 😉
mazny
And nature motives always evergreen… the pattern could survives for hundreds of years!
mazny
Penggunaan motif binatang tak berleluasa macam tumbuh-tumbuhan.
mazny
Mungkin tidak memberi efek ketenangan yang sama seperti melihat alam semulajadi… mungkin! 😉
mazny
Motif tumbuh-tumbuhan boleh dilihat pada balang kaca, bekas kayu, textile, kertas, hamparan, dan macam-macam lagi. 🙂
mazny
Which reminds me of a childhood incident… my mom commented on my new pyjamas, “Cantiknya baju tidur dia, ada banyak kumbang!”
mazny
“Hah? KUMBANG?!… HUWAAAAA!” Terus lari sambil cabut baju! 😀
mazny
Kumbang yang emak maksudkan tu sebenarnya corak ladybirds!
mazny
Sejak tu, I tak pakai pun baju tidur tu… .
mazny
siapa suruh sebut kumbang?!… Cuba sebut ladybird, kan ke cute! 🙁
mazny
Sayang saja baju tu… sebab adik I lelaki.
mazny
Maksud I, corak yang menghiasi anak tangga rumah tradisional di Melaka.
mazny
I baru teringat, dalam tafsiran al-Quran pun ada sebut! Tapi tak sure surah mana.
mazny
Tulah, I pun fikir benda yang sama!
mestikajiwa
I keep thinking wether is this the place of drama ‘The Great Dae Jang Guem’ was filmed here.
emila
I don’t know. Maybe. Tak pernah tengok movie tu hehe.
jaja
i think the bright colors that they used is kind of play the roles of attracting
if they used dull colors, the feelings will be different..
penaberkala
the first photo tu ingatkan lukisan
Hazural
yer laa… yg 1st foto tu pun.. saya ingatkn hasil artwork K.Emi… rupanya real foto 😉
Hazural
Tapi saya sangat suka artwork yang colourful & warna yang terang2 macam ni…. kelihatan sangat menarik 😀
ainur roslan
so colourful
Lya
Cantik…
Lya
Rs terinspirasi nak melukis dan mewarna..
Lya
Love combination green n red..
Lya
Kan best kalau ada bilik hobi…adore ur artwork sis…
Lya
Nice nice nice
Hazural
colourfull kan… i like!
Hazural
wah.. peminat kak em nii
Hazural
😉
radin fadli
Saya banyak kali pergi castle ni, tapi pertama kali nama ia dari perspektif yang berbeza, nice sharing =)