Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 184

Korean Folk Art
Folk paintings are an invaluable part of Korea’s cultural
heritage and convey mythology, religion, and views of the
Korean people. They are artistic expressions of individuals
who drew paintings to decorate homes and to celebrate
joyful family occasions, such as weddings and sixtieth
birthdays. It has been said that the tradition of folk painting
endured for so long because they “touched the soul of the
Korean people.”
One is easily charmed by Korean folk art. The unknown
artisans who created folk paintings had an optimistic
outlook on life. In their agrarian society “they perceived a
miraculous order of the universe that they attempted to
express.” They used symbolism to convey their feelings of
happiness, anger, love and delight in everyday life. Humor
and satire are important elements of the paintings.
In Korea, folk art has traditionally been viewed as a secondary art form despite its rich
tradition and widespread popularity. Due to this misperception, minhwa (“folk painting”)
has been devalued or misunderstood and compared unfavorably with the tradition of the
aristocratic class known as muninhwa (“scholarly painting”). Recently, minhwa has
begun to attract serious scholarly attention and is beginning to enjoy long overdue
recognition as an important genre with its own distinctive aesthetic qualities and
historical significance.
Folk paintings are grouped into two major categories of folk belief: wishing for good luck
and repelling evil spirits. Every folk painting contains people’s wish for happiness. Folk
paintings have two underlying themes: longevity and blessings for all people. Wishing
for longevity, artists displayed paintings of the sun, clouds, pine trees, bamboo, cranes,
deer, turtles, water and rocks. The peach and the pomegranate meant plentiful offspring,
long life and bountiful happiness.
Koreans believed in the yin and yang and that people’s life included both good and evil.
They also believed that folk paintings possessed shamanistic powers to protect them from
war, disease and famine. Paintings of animals could drive away evil spirits. The animals
most frequently depicted were the tiger, dragon, the unicorn and the turtle. The tiger was
the most popular motif in this category. Tigers were believed to prevent natural disasters
such as fires, floods and wind and even their skin, bones, claws and whiskers could
exercise mystic powers. The dragon would also protect people from evil forces together
with symbolizing the king and royal authority.
Some additional symbols: fire (benevolence), grain (life), mountain (dignity), magpie (a
harbinger of good news), pheasant (fidelity), bamboo and the pine tree (longevity),
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