Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 177

Fifteen Thousand Buddhas During the Goryeo
dynasty the greatest achievements in painting were Buddhist. These paintings are high standard
works of art, richly detailed and meticulously painted, revealing the gracefulness characteristic of
Koryo art. The artist’s objectives were to glorify the compassion and virtue of the Buddha and to
help people understand the Buddhist scriptures by illustrating them visually. Fifteen Thousand
Buddhas appears initially to be one Buddha, but upon examination one sees thousands of
Buddhas painted in gold with faces about 0.2 inches in size.
The Changdok Palace retains the
grandeur and dimensions of a representative Joseon period royal palace. The palace was built in
1405 as a royal villa by King Taejong, the third ruler of the Joseon dynasty. The palace is set
within a large park in Seoul and is one of five grand palaces built by the kings of the Joseon
dynasty. The palace grounds consist of a public palace area, a royal family residence building,
and a beautiful secret garden. Known as a place of rest for the kings, the garden contains a small
pond, a pavilion, and a tree that is over 300 years old.
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