Woodblock Of Korean Syllabary, Animals And Astrological Charts (Banjeol-Pan)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 24 Feb 1886
name: label: Donor Name
content: Ensign U S N John B. Bernadou
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Raised letters in Corean and ? Illus. in USNM AR, 1891; Pl. 23, p. 476."
label: Notes
content: Illustrated p. 80 in Taylor, Paul Michael, and Christopher J. Lotis. 2008. Flagship of a fleet: a Korea Gallery guide. Washington, D.C.: Asian Cultural History Program, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution. Identified there as Woodblock of hangeul syllabary; Wood; 45 x 19.5 cm; 19th century. Sheets of paper printed from this wookblock were used to teach the hangeul syllables and other subjects. In the center of the woodblock is a table that shows the properly formed syllables. The small animals along the top edge helped teach the sounds of letters. The hangeul syllables read from top to bottom.
label: Notes
content: "Cyclically dated in accordance with 1819 or 1879. Wood. Both ends of this printing block are wedge-shaped, designed to fit into a holder and used for hand printing. The major section of the block contains a table of the Korean alphabet or, more accurately, the Hangul syllabary carved in relief Above this section is a group of animal figures. Each figure corresponds to a syllable: for instance, gae (dog) for the syllable ga, nabi, (butterfly) for na, and so on. Added to the main section are astrological charts based on a sexagesimal cycle predicting the fate of human beings. There also is a marriage horoscope, the so-called gunghap, drawn up in accordance with astrological data to predict the compatibility of a male and female. Another chart deals with the fates of individuals born under different planetary influences... Collected in Seoul. Ref: Hough Korean Catalog pl. XXIII; Bernadou Field Notes 5." [from: "An Ethnography of the Hermit Kingdom: The J.B. Bernadou Korean Collection 1884-1885", Chang-su Cho Houchins, 2004, number 117]
label: Record Last Modified
content: 14 Mar 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Korea, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Not Given
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 016970
label: USNM Number
content: E77018-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Printing Block
physicalDescription: label: Height
content: 31 cm
label: Width
content: 19.5 cm