南塘 韓元震의 深衣幅巾像

Abstract

Namdang Han Wonjin is the savant of Hohak (the school of Chungcheong-do Province) which genuinely inherited Neo-Confucianism of Giho (Chungcheong-do Province), the leader of the in-law government of the late Joseon period. Han emphasized Hua-Yi distinction (Sino-barbarian dichotomy) and Cheoksa (the theory of rejecting heterodoxy) in particular. His ideology spreaded throughout Hongju culture area (South Western Chungcheong-do Province), and it had a great influence on the development of the Wijung Cheoksa (defending orthodoxy and rejecting heterodoxy) movement and the emergence of the righteous armies, or Uibyeong since the late 19th century, when the imperialist pillage moved into high gear with the western powers occupying Asia and forcing to open ports. As Han’s works on Neo-Confucianism affected the late Joseon period, Han's portrait is also noteworthy in that it delineates how Sim-ui Bok-geon (attired in formal Confucian dress, with a top for exalted personage and a formal bandana) portrait - the most beloved form of Yuhyeon (eminent Confuscian scholar) portraits, including those of Song Siyeol and Gwon Sangha - was inherited and proliferated since Neo-Confucianism became indigenous in the late Joseon era. The Sim-ui Bok-geon portrait of Han Wonjin was first drawn by Jin Eung-hoe in 1740, through the good offices of Han's pupil Gim Geun-hang. Afterwards, in the late 18th century and the early 19th century, Han's students, admirers and descendants enshrined and revered his portraits in private, resulting in the diffusion of the paintings. Furthermore, the Confucians of the early 19th century proposed to build the shrines and private Confucian academies, or set up Han’s memorial tablets and portraits in shrines and private academies of footholds, where key figures of same school or faction with Han are enshrined. When both ethnic and national existence of the country was threatened by the invasion of the Western powers and the Empire of Japan since the late 19th century, Joseon shedded light on Han's ideology that emphasized Hua-Yi distinction and Cheoksa theory to uphold orthodoxy and eradicate heterodoxy, and also on his portraits as visual representation which symbolized his ideology. During its repeated succession and proliferation, Han's portrait was replicated in creative ways in order to enshrine the optimal form of the portrait according to each period. Not only the icon but even the appearance of the portrait were modified, but not to the extent of marring the original countenance. Contrary to the common misconstruction that the portrait of late Joseon period pursued "naturalistic realism" under the slogan "Ilho Bulsa (One different hair, whole different person)", the variations of Han's portraits demonstrate the "ideal realistic" tendency in the Joseon portrait, ameliorating the features not to such an extent that these alterations did not impair the essence of the model's appearance.