Main content
Course: Art of Asia > Unit 3
Lesson 7: Joseon dynasty (1392–1897)- The Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
- Inheritance Document of Yi Seonggye, founder of the Joseon Dynasty
- Album of Poems on “Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers”
- Bongsa Joseon Changhwa Sigwon: Poems Exchanged by Joseon Officials and Ming Envoys
- Portrait of Sin Sukju
- Four Preaching Buddhas
- Sajeongjeon Edition of The Annotated Zizhi Tongjian
- White porcelain moon jars
- Moon jar
- Buncheong Jar with cloud and dragon design
- Blue-and-white Porcelain Jar with Plum, Bamboo, and Bird Design
- Yun Baek-ha, a calligraphic handscroll
- Kim Hongdo, album of genre paintings
- Yi Che-gwan, Portrait of a Confucian scholar
- Yun Du-seo, Portrait of Sim Deukgyeong
- Portrait of Kang Sehwang
- Yi Myeonggi and Kim Hongdo, Portrait of Seo Jiksu
- Portrait of Yi Chae
- Kim Jeonghui’s calligraphy of Kim Yugeun’s Autobiography of Mukso
- Chaekgeori-type screen
- Portrait of Yi Haeung, Regent Heungseon Daewongun
- Jar with tiger and magpie
- Gujangbok, a ceremonial robe symbolizing the king’s prestige
- Jeogui: the most formal ceremonial robe of the Joseon queens
- Jeong Sanggi, Dongguk Daejido (“Complete Map of the Eastern Country”)
- Cheonggu Gwanhaebang Chongdo, or “Map for the National Defense of Korea”
- Kim Jeongho, woodblocks of Daedongnyeojido (“Territorial Map of the Great East”)
- Royal palaces of Seoul
- Confucian scholar's house
- Nine Cloud Dream
- Conservation: Korean lacquer
- Dhratarastra, Guardian King of the East
© 2024 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Chaekgeori-type screen
by The British Museum
An array of items from the scholar’s studio
In Korea, screen paintings were essentially used as room decorations. Screens designed for women’s quarters were usually decorated with peonies, symbols of fertility and prosperity, while screens for the men’s quarters (sarangbang), were decorated with (literally books and scholarly ‘equipment’, also spelled chaekgeori). Here we can see books, writing brushes, inkstones, auspicious fruits with many seeds, and Chinese porcelain and bronzes.
As a strict Confucian state, the Choson (Joseon) dynasty (1392–1910) regarded scholars as belonging to a very respectable profession, and having superior social status. Here the depiction of items from the scholar's studio, with traditional bookcases as the main motif, symbolizes success in the national civil service examination, or the holding of a high-ranking government post. The objects portrayed are clear evidence of the civil official's aspirations to rise to the top level of government.
A chaekkori screen was considered ideal for display behind the desk in a scholar's study, where it conveyed an air of dignity, luxury and a reverence for scholarship.
Additional resources:
J. Portal, Korea - art and archaeology (London, The British Museum Press, 2000)
© The Trustees of the British Museum