| Dancheong | |
|---|---|
Dancheong on the Junghwajeon building of Deoksugung Palace, Seoul. |
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| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 단청 |
| Hanja | 丹靑 |
| Revised Romanization | dancheong |
| McCune–Reischauer | tanch'ŏng |
Dancheong refers to Korean traditional decorative coloring on wooden buildings and artifacts for the purpose of style. It literally means "cinnabar and blue-green" in Korean.[1] It is based on five basic colors; blue (east), white (west), red (south), black (north), and yellow (center).[2][3] Dancheong has various symbolic meanings. Dancheong also represented social status and rank by using various patterns and colors. It functions not only as decoration, but also for practical purposes such as to protect building surfaces against temperature and to make the crudeness of materials less conspicuous. Applying dancheong on the surfaces of buildings require trained skills, and artisans called dancheongjang (단청장) designed the painted patterns.[3][4][5]
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The origin of dancheong can be traced from cave paintings and wall paintings which appeared more than 20,000 years ago in the history of mankind, although they may be served for different purposes and functions from the stylized dancheong.[5]
In the 12th century document titled Gaoli tujing (高麗圖經) which literally means "Illustrated Account of Goryeo" (918-1392), the Chinese author Xu Jing described the majestic appearance of Goryeo's royal palaces as well as the luxurious dancheong on the places at that time. He said that Goryeo people liked building royal palaces and the structure of king's residence was built with round pillars and a square headpiece. The colorfully adorned edge of the roof in connection looked like it flied to the sky. The book illustrates the resplendent dancheong in detail that the handrail was painted in red and decorated with vine-flowers. Not only were the coloring and patterns very vivid, but also beautiful, so that the palace stand out among other royal palaces.[4] There are several examples to exhibit the dancheong produced in the Goryeo period such as Josadang (조사당) of Buseoksa Temple in Yeongju, Geukrakjeon (극락전) at Bongjeongsa Temple in Andong, and Daeungjeon (대웅전) of Sudeoksa Temple in Yesan.[5]