Korean Crafts History by Hwang Su-young and Chin Hong-sup : Current Historiography and Future Prospects

Abstract

Hwang Su-young and Chin Hong-sup conducted historical researches on Korean crafts mainly in 1960s and 1970s. Covering various types of crafts and preserving primary sources that had been disappearing, their researches represent the emergence of the field of Korean crafts history. This article examines their researches in Korean crafts history from historiographical perspectives along with changing research environment and tasks for future prospects in the field. Hwang Su-young, who was a professor in the Dongguk University, wrote excellent articles on Buddhist crafts such as Buddhist bells, bronze gong, incense burners, and Buddhist reliquaries. He carried out in-depth researches about ancient Korean pagodas and Buddhist reliquaries, focusing on the relic enshrinements of the wooden pagoda in Hwangryongsa temple site and of the five-story stone pagoda in Wanggungli temple site. In 1978, he founded the Research Association of Korean Buddhist Bells together with Professor Yeom Young-ha in the College of Engineering in the Seoul National University, initiating interdisciplinary studies about Buddhist bells. While serving as the director of the Gyeongju National Museum in 1950s, Chin Hong-sup made great endeavor to excavate ancient archaeological sites in Gyeongju and to preserve metal works such as golden crowns from ancient tombs of Silla. At the same time, he organized special exhibitions of Korean arts in foreign countries including, but not limited to, the US. his overseas experiences gave him much broader perspectives on methodologies in art history and museology. As a professor in the Ewha Womans University, he excavated ancient tombs, pagodas, and kilns with many students and researchers in the university museum. In addition, he wrote several preliminary research books on Korean metalcrafts and ceramics for education. The shared methodology of the two scholars in their studies of Korean crafts history, that is, close and detailed examination of objects, is still valid in current research in the field. However, the research environment in Korean crafts history has dramatically changed since the late twentieth century with the newly excavated artifacts using more advanced archaeological methods; the development of conservation science; and the increasing prevalence of digital materials. For example, various textual records including the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty have been computerized; images of artifacts collected in museums became accessible on the internet; replicas made with the technologies of three-dimensional scanning and printing began to appear. These changes in research environment in Korean art history greatly have affected current scholars in the field of Korean crafts. Under these circumstances, future studies in Korean crafts history have to be processed by combining the traditional method of careful observations on the original artifacts with a new method of scientific investigation.