Dunhuang:Shaping Regional Cultures In Three Kingdoms Korea

We often have questions about the material and spiritual worlds. It is the exploration and research of these inklings that drives people to think creatively. Having awakened in myself such an adventurous spirit, I felt compelled to reflect upon the world around me. Here in China, the birthplace of one of mankind’s greatest civilizations, it is just such a set of circumstances that has acted as the background and guide for my researches, at the same time stirring in me this intrepidness of spirit. The foundations of civilization consist of multiple elements, including physical, spiritual, social and institutional elements. Engaging in the in-depth study of these phenomena has given me the chance to broaden my understandings of both Korean and Chinese culture.The central line of inquiry the present dissertation follows is based on the comparative study of Korean and Chinese art, focusing mainly on certain time-honored themes present in the arts of Korea’s Three Kingdoms Era (the Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla periods). It takes these, along with aspects of Chinese art, as a basis for the aforementioned comparative researches. First, by making a tripartite division of artifacts from the Goguryeo period (dividing these into early, middle and late phases), analysis is given to tomb murals from this period, inquiring into the influence exerted on these by the introduction of Buddhist art. Researching the content of these tomb murals allows one to envisage the lifestyles, customs and inclinations of people at the time, taking the spaces they created for the dead as a means to understand their beliefs about their origins, about the past, present and future.The second part of the dissertation addresses the art of the Baekje era, for instance, certain patterned or landscape inscribed bricks excavated at the Imperial Baekje tomb of Mu Yeol. Amongst other things, this section of the dissertation also draws attention to certain Buddhist elements included in murals from the Mogao grotto at Dunhuang.In the dissertation’s third segment, analysis shifts to the art of the Silla period. Here attention is given to the Heaven Horse (Tian Ma) motifs included in murals unearthed at the Imperial Silla tomb of the Heaven Horse. Analysis is given also to the origins of certain Tang-style botanical motifs bordering these images.Aside from this, concerning materials relating to Chinese art, the dissertation focuses mainly on the Mogao grottoes at Dunhuang. This choice is based upon the Dunhuang grottoes being an extant historical specimen, proven capable of moving many a beholder. Most people who have traveled to Dunhuang will corroborate the site’s historical value. And yet, this value certainly cannot be comprehended if one relies solely upon what one reads in books or receives by way of hearsay.At every stage of an art’s development, it maintains a close correspondence with certain external structures. It is in this way, via such structures, that we are able to locate it in space and time. Of particular concern here are the various artistic styles of the Korean Three Kingdoms Period. All are the result of constant development and change, filtering down to us today in a natural way, having matured as a small stream does, by passing first into rivers, before finally meeting with the sea.Today, artistic exchanges between China and Korea and the trajectories of their artistic development continue to subsist amid the burgeoning cultures of the present. Historically bound together, growing up amid the artistic currents of the times, the prospect they present is a most splendid one.