안평대군의 상서(祥瑞) 산수: 안견 필 <몽유도원도>의 의미와 기능

Abstract

Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land, drawn by a distinguished painter An Gyeon during the reign of King Sejong, is renowned for having depicted the story of Prince Anpyeong’s dream on the twentieth night of the fourth month in 1447. The account of his dream, “Record of Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land,” is comprehensively detailed next to the painting. However his scholar friend Bak Paengnyeong and the writers who have respectively written the painting’s preface and poetry/prose have designated a differentiated title called Dream of the Peach Blossom Land. The reason stems from the idea that the drawing does not delineate the account of the dream. Plainly stating, Prince Anpyeong elaborated on his dream journey only after An Gyeon completed the painting. The rationale behind the unconventional unfolding of the painting from left to right is that the painting has symbolically portrayed the land located northwest of Mt. Baegak. This coincides with the story in which Prince Anpyeong spots a peach blossom land situated on the ‘north valley.’ He wrote that in 1450, three years after his dream, he had fortuitously discovered a place that was similar to that which appeared in his dream. Within his written record, it states that the place was called Mugye Jeongsa, built on the side of the mountain, northwest from its peak. The painting of An Gyeon insinuates a depiction closer to the actual scenary of Mugye Jeongsa than the dream of Prince Anpyeong. The annals of Joseon history reports the reign of King Sejong as the time period in which most Fung Su (geomancy) related articleswere researched. Since Fung Su is concerned with the telling of people’s fortune by reading the geographical features, the pivotal element of Fung Su could be said to be the vigor of land. As a schemer of Prince Anpyeong, Yi Hyeonno was a proficient expert in geomantic studies, also known as Bi Bo - Fung Su. At the time, Yi Hyeonno apprised the family members of the court of the consequences resulting from the failure of building a palace at the northwest of Mt. Baegak. He cautioned that the second son might take the king’s position instead of the eldest. Thus the construction of Mugye Jeongsa at the northwest of Mt. Baegak and Prince Anpyeong’s new pen name as the master of landscape suggest his use of Bi Bo - Fung Su. As a concluding analysis after a meticulous examination of the painting, it looks rather flat and stiff. It also includes mixtures of different views and perspectives such as the bird’s eyes view, connoting a sense of artificiality and dramatic composition. It is also noted for its depiction of the peach blossom land that gives an impression of desolation. I believe that many of these visual features and sentiments are due to or in relation with the drawing’s function as an auspicious-omen painting.