Dokseodanggyehoedo(2023)

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.2212

Category

Painting

Era

조선시대(1531년 경)

Designated year

2023

Location

종로구, 서울특별시— 서울특별시 종로구 효자로 12 (세종로, 국립고궁박물관)

Coordinates

No precise coordinates are available, so this item is not shown as a map marker. To be added later.

This English description was machine-translated and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the original Korean text for details.

The 'Reading Room Gathering Painting' depicts a gathering from 1516 to 1530 commemorating the meetings of active officials who engaged in private scholarly study at the Reading Room during King Jungjong's reign. Private scholarly study was a talent-cultivation policy implemented first during King Sejong's time, whereby selected young, talented civil officials were given leave to devote themselves to academic pursuits instead of official duties, later reinstated by King Jungjong after periods of suspension. The gathering (Gyehoe) mentioned in the lower seating arrangement list, based on verification of officials' positions in the 'Annals of the Joseon Dynasty' and various literary collections, is believed to have taken place around 1531 (Jungjong 26), with this painting estimated to have been created at that time. This single-scroll work displays the typical composition of early Joseon gathering paintings. At the very top appears the title '讀書堂契會圖' in seal script. In the center, the painting depicts the natural scenery around Dumopo, the Reading Room where private study took place, and the gathering participants enjoying boating on the Han River. The landscape, rendered primarily in ink using single-line dotting and water-splash techniques, clearly demonstrates the painting style of the An Gyeon school (安堅派), with distant mountains expressed in deep blue, notably utilizing stone blue mineral pigment. The lower seating list shows the names of twelve gathering participants: Zhang Yu, Hong Seoju, Heo Ja, Im Baek-ryeong, Song In-su, Song Sun, Zhou Shi-feng, Yi Lim, Heo Hang, Shin Seok-gan, Eom Heun, and Choi Yeon, with detailed records including their courtesy names, given names, characters, origins, birth years, years of private study participation, examination passage years, ranks and official positions at the time of gathering, and biographical information about their fathers and siblings in regular script. This work is the earliest dated Reading Room gathering painting among extant examples with identifiable production dates and is well-preserved. Moreover, unlike the conceptual landscape painting prevalent in early Joseon, it suggests the origins of actual-scenery landscape painting depicting the Han River area, possessing high historical and art-historical value.