Words and Images Representing Real Places : Chŏng Sŏn’s Picture of the Thousand Buddhas Rocks and Pictures of the Terrace of Splendid Waves
Authors: Pak Hyoŭn 
Published: April 2023

This paper reveals the location depicted in Picture of the Thousand Buddhas Rocks (千佛嵓圖, ‘Ch’ŏnburamdo’), the last unidentified image in Album of Famous Sights of East Kangwŏn Region (關東名勝帖, ‘Kwantongmyŭngsŭngch’ǒp’) by famous Korean painter Chǒng Sǒn (鄭敾, 1676-1759), and identifies the subject of the painting as the Terrace of Splendid Waves (凌波臺, ‘Nŭngp’adae’) in present-day Tonghae City. The location of the painting’s subject can be derived from the evidence of Chǒng Sǒn and other well-known figures’ visitation to the scenic spots in the vicinity of Samch’ŏk during the Chosŏn Dynasty. Chǒng Sǒn’s painting of Nŭngp’adae as Ch’ŏnburamdo and the evidence of his visitation, including two rock epigraphs (one on the left side of Yongch’u Waterfall, the other beside a flat boulder known as “Murŭngpansŏk”), as well as the large quantities of poetry and prose detailing and praising the beauty of ‘Nŭngp’adae’, were largely unknown until now. The aim of this paper is to examine from iconographic and painting subject perspectives the region and location depicted in Ch’ŏnburamdo, and to analyze the process of representation in 18th-19th century visuals in regard to the famous sights of the East Kangwǒn Region, thus confirming the location of Ch’ŏnburamdo as Nŭngp’adae and further deepening the understanding of Chǒng Sǒn and other late Chosŏn painters. First, a literature review inspecting the validity of Ch’ŏnburam’s location in the existing research will be conducted, through which two potential candidates for the location of Ch’ŏnburam – Haegŭmgang and Nŭngp’adae – will be examined in terms of their place specific characteristics vis-a-vis Ch’ŏnburamdo. Next, the depictions of the scenic sights in the East Kangwŏn region by Chǒng Sǒn and other 18-19th century Korean painters will be discussed with a focus on the famous east coast locations depicted in 9 paintings in Kwantongmyŭngsŭngch’ǒp. The establishment of these locations as icons and imagery of landscape painting subjects as well as the progressions and changes of these depictions will also be detailed. Also, it can be derived that interactions with Lee Pyǒngyǒn, the magistrate of Kŭmhwa in the early 1710’s and who would later govern the entire Samch’ŭk region in the early and mid-1730’s, were decisive motivations for the representations of East Kangwǒn’s famous locations. It can also be derived that Chǒng Sǒn would record landscape sketches at every available opportunity so that these sketches could be used in the creation of new paintings. These sketches are also the key foundation of the proposition of the existence of Nŭngp’adaedo – a drawing of Nŭngp’adae by Chǒng Sǒn. Lastly, the source painting of Ch’ŏnburam (Nŭngp’adae) in Chǒng Sǒn’s painting sketches explains how Kwǒn Sinŭng’s later imitation painting of Chǒng Sǒn’s work, Nŭngp’adaedo, resembles Ch’ŏnburamdo in both form and structure, why thousand buddhas – the rocks’ namesake – is mentioned in Kwǒn Sǒp’s poetry and prose of the same imitation painting, and how Lee Yunyǒng created a new Nŭngp’adaedo as a way to diverge from Chǒng Sǒn’s influence. As a result, we can conclude that in the 1730’s and early 1740’s, Chǒng Sǒn painted Ch’ŏnburamdo (Nŭngp’adaedo), which then inspired Kwǒn Sinŭng in 1744 and Lee Yunyǒng in the 1750s to paint their own versions of Nŭngp’adaedo. It can also be concluded that, in 1788 and beyond, Kim Hongto and his followers would paint new versions of Nŭngp’adaedo as a continuation of this artistic flow. Until now, visual recreations of Nŭngp’adae were viewed mainly from the perspective of Kim Hongto’s work and without understanding how Chǒng Sǒn’s work and influence impacted future generations of this piece. But now, Chǒng Sǒn and Kim Hongto’s Ch’ŏnburamdo and Nŭngp’adaedo can be placed side-by-side in the history of true-view landscapes. Additionally, the imagery of these paintings, including the iconic Ch’ottaepawi Rock, rocky coastal cliffs and hills, pine forests, and staffage have now also been clearly identified. Thus, for future identifications of regions, places, and time periods in landscape paintings, this paper calls for specific attention to be paid to how text can be more subject to change than imagery vis-à-vis the conveyance of the characteristics of a region or location in a landscape; how the similarities in imagery between works in a clear chronological era can provide more conducive evidence than a written document or record; and how, despite the aforementioned points, text can still be a decisive force in identifying the real locations of landscapes, such that a more minute discussion of the historical reality of the subject, imagery, and artistic context of landscape paintings can be theorized.