Nat'l Master Doseon Guksa: His Pungsujiri Legacy

Professor David Mason, of Chung-Ang University, is a long-time researcher (32 years in Korea) on the religious characteristics of the mountains in Korea. In 2011 he was appointed Honorary ambassador of the Baekdu-daegan ranges by the Korea Forest Service. He has authored 10 books on Korean culture and tourism, including the Encyclopedia of Korean Buddhism and Spirit of the Mountains, which is about Korea's traditions of spiritual mountain worship. His has a website on sacred Korean mountains and mountain-spirits.

Back in May 2015, Professor Mason presented at the RAS on Doseon Guksa:

Doseon Guksa [Tao-Abundance National-Master] (826-898) is one of the most important and interesting Buddhist leaders of Korean history, but often remains overlooked, including by the mainstream Jogye Order. He lived during the collapsing end of the Shilla Dynasty, presaging the foundation of the subsequent Goryeo Dynasty. He was both a great Buddhist master of meditation of the Seon [Zen] tradition as well as an enlightened Sutra-Master, an extremely rare combination of achievements. But the main reason for his fame are his masterful creation of Korean pungsujiri (geomancy), the concept of the Baekdu-daegan mountain-spine-of-Korea, and the establishment or improvement of some of our greatest extant temples. Professor Mason will explain Master Doseon’s biography and explain Master Doseon's significance in the shape of Buddhism today.

National Master Doseon Guksa: His Legacy of Pungsujiri & the Great Temples

Brief biography

• Doseon Guksa, literally "Dao-Abundance" (826-898), was uniquely double-enlightened. 
• He presages the unification of Korean Buddhism.
• He was a Buddhist master of geomancy and became the creator of Korean punsujiri-seol.
• He created the concept of the Baekdu-daegan (spine of the Korean mountain).

Birth and early life

• Born in Yeongam-gun [Spirit-rock county] of Jeollanam-do, on the western slopes of Wolchulsan. Popular thought is that he descended from a secondary son of Silla's Great King Taejong Muyeol (r. 664-681).
• His mother had a conception-dream of her swallowing a beautiful pearl, very propitious, so during her pregnancy she chanted Buddhist scriptures and like a good Buddhist abstained from meat, onions and garlic.
• From infancy Doseon was a Buddhist prodigy, learning to chant Buddhist sutras soon after he learned to talk. 
• One local myth has it that he was accidentally abandoned after birth, but was protected by birds at a gigantic boulder called Guksa-am [National Master Rock], located behind Wolchusan's Gukam-sa hermitage.

Becoming a monk at Wolchusan

• Doseon spent the latter part of his childhood at Munsu-am [Boddhisattva of Wisdom Hermitage] on the wester slopes of Wolchulsan.
• At Wonam-sa [Moon-south Temple] on the southeastern side of Wolchulsan his hair was first shorn as he officially became a novice-monk. 
• At the age of 15 he moved to Hwaom-sa in Jirisan, [Exquisite Wisdom Mountains] but locally known as "the mountain of the odd and wise people", where many people devoted efforts to seek truth and happiness. There he was accepted to study Hwaom Buddhism. 

First enlightenment at Hwaom-sa, Jirisan

• Legend has it that he attained "the ineffable wisdom of Munsu-bosal and the mystic gate of Bohyeon-bosal, penetrating the great meaning of the Hwaom-gyeong Sutra" in only three years!
• He was given the name "Yeong-gi", which was a great honor as that was the name of the missionary-founder master-monk who first built Hwaomsa in 544.

Monk at Taean-sa

• By age 20 he was already highly respected as "a very wise adept with unusual spiritual powers of the sort usually attributed to Daoist masters", and he began to study Seon [Zen] under the great master and sect-founder Hyecheol Jeogin-seonsa (d. 861) at Taean-sa monastery.

Second enlightenment as monk at Taean-sa

• He achieved full Seon enlightenment at Taean-sa, receiving the mubeob-beob [the Dharma without Dharma] transmission from Hyecheol, in just 3 years, becoming Hyecheol's leading successor.
• As a result, he was "double-enlightened" in both scholastic Hwaom and Seon schools, the only known case from ancient and medieval times. (300 years later the Unification of Korean Buddhism was accomplished by Ji-nul Bojo Guksa and these two schools were no longer separated in large ideology.)

Studies in China

• Around 850, Doseon Guksa then traveled to China for further advanced studies, which focused on esoteric Daoist and Buddhist astronomical, astrological, mathematical, geomantic (feng shui aka pungsujiri), cosmological and I Ching (Juyeok-gyeong) teachings. [Some modern scholars, perhaps for reasons of national pride, doubt whether he went to China at all.]

Return to Korea: Establishing Dogap-sa

• Legend says that upon Doseon's return from his studies in China, he reconstructed Wolchul-san Munsu-am on the upward parts of a valley and renamed it Dogap-sa. [All that scholars know for sure is that Dogap-sa was large, famous and prosperous during the Goryeo Dynasty, and its official history claims Doseon as its founder. The temple is within the Wolchulsan National Park and is well-known today. It promotes Doseon as the leading factor of its legacy and now has a museum dedicated primarily to him.]

Return to Korea: Observant wanderer

• After establishing Dogap-sa, Doseon trekked widely around the Korean peninsula, observing its geography and searching for the source of its unique energies, refraining from basing himself with any particular temple.

Return to Jirisan

• After his extensive travels, he built a hut to rest, located on Nogo-dan, Jirisan.

Pungsujiri

• In Jirisan at "Sand Chart Village" sanshin appeared to him, offering the deepest of pungsujiri as (another "method by which great Bodhisattvas grant salvation to humankind." [Perhaps a nationalistic claim that his pungsujiri system/wisdom came from an indigenous-Korean source and not from a Chinese feng-shui source.]
• Punsujiri, aka Korean geomancy, is derived from Chinese feng-shui, but is in some ways different. Doseon applied it to Korean geography and outlook. 
• Pungsujiri had been practiced for over 1100 years and by all Korean traditions: shamanists, Buddhists, Neo-Confucianists, Daoists.
• It applies to tombs, buildings, towns, gardens, temples, etc, but Doseon raised its practice to a national scale.
• Doseon's system is often called "bibo-pungsujiri", bibo being the Chinese character for "hidden treasure" or "national property", and this style focuses on "harmony of nature". 

Baekdu-daegan [White-head Great-ridge]

• Doseon conceptualized it as "the spine of Korea".
• Mountain system running down the entire peninsula with a mildly sacred character.
• Baekdu-daegan is comprised of:

• divider of regions

• magnificent scenery

• origin of spring waters

• Buddhist temples

• Neo-Confucian shrines

• shamanic shrines

• historical and folk sites

• passes through 7 National Parks and 4 Local Parks

Two maps of the baekgu-daegan - the right map focuses on the primary mountains of the Koreas, and it was on these primary peaks, which Doseon believed flowed with natural earth energy, and where he built his primary temples most fiercely associated with pungsujiri principles.

Settling at Baegunsan

• Doseon finally settled down to teach disciples in what he called Baeghak-dong [White Crane Village, paralleling Jirisan's Azure Crane Village] on the southern slopes of Baegunsan [White Clouds Mountain] after determining it as an ideal geomantic location and would be safe from troubles. 
• He then founded, constructed and lived at Okryong-sa [Jade-Dragon Temple] in what is now Gwangju city, and subsequently taught there for 35 years with occasional travels around Korea. He assisted hundred of adepts to achieve enlightenment.

portrait of Doseon at Baegun-sa Unam-sa

Great Master of Silla

• He is said to have been a man of few words, teaching the mubeob-beob by museol-seol [the explanation without explaining], and was able to spark realization with only a piercing gaze.
• His reputation for wisdom and insight-powers eventually got him proclaimed as Silla's leading Master Monk by King Heon-gang, and Doseon was invited to lecture at the palace in Gyeongju several times.

Doseon became a builder of temples:

Seoul's Samgak-san Doseon-sa

Seoul's Ansan Bongwon-sa

Seoul's Bulamsan Bulam-sa

Posthumously the advisor to Goryeo Taejo Wang Geon

• Doseon was the most influential advisor to Wang Geon (born 877), destined to become Goryeo's King Taejo (r.918-943) in founding the Goryeo Dynasty ... although they never met.
• The tale often told is that in 875 Doseon passed by a mansion under construction at Songak-san (near today's Gaeseong City) and recognized the grand auspiciousness of the site that would confer a fresh mandate of heaven, and predicted the birth to a son who would grow up to be a great man, to lead a new age for Korea. He gave the man a sealed document and told him to keep it safe and secret, only giving it to the boy when he attained maturity. This was done ...

Architect of Goryeo Dynasty

• The advice and ideas Doseon left behind him, especially in the Doseon-bigi, were important in choosing the site of the capital and other important cities and fortresses, and in constructing many new grand Buddhist temples at geomantically-auspicious sites around the nation. It is recorded that when Taejo Wang Geon had defeated the last of the rivals and re-unified Korea, he first built Gaetae-sa [Exalted Beginning Temple] in a long narrow valley just south of the highly sacred Gyeryongsan, which Doseon had recommended, to express his gratitude towards the Buddhas and mountain-spirits, and to seek their further beneficence.

Improvements to Hwaom-sa

Passing on to Nirvana

• Doseon is recorded to have died in 898 while sitting in the lotus position in front of his many disciples at Baegunsan, Okyong-sa, but no budo was found there.
• The remarkable budo behind Jirisan Yeongok-sa might be his, and its architectural elements support this theory, but its accompanying biseok is missing (probably destroyed) so we can't be sure.
• Some Koreans believe that Doseon actually became a shinseon [Daoist-type "immortal"] upon achieving nirvana, and continued to advise Taejo Wang Geon and than Muhak Wangsa, founder of Seoul, in spiritual form.

Legacy of temples

• Around 70 monasteries, both large and small, are claimed to have been founded either under Doseon's supervision and direction or by the orders of Taejo Wang Geon (following Doseon's recommendations). Most of them still thrive.
• The 22 temples said to have been founded by Taejo Wang Geon under Doseon's influence are all fairly minor today; the most significant among them is probably Gyeryongsan Gaetae-sa.
• Temples that are claimed to have been established either by Doseon or Wang Geon at the places that Doseon decided would be most auspicious are called bibo-sacheol, and pagodas built at such places are bibo-satap.
• There are dozens of pre-existing temples that are thought to have been reconstructed, renovated or added to (usually with a pagoda) due to Doseon's influence. These include some of Korea's greatest, such as Jirisan's Shilsang-sa, Yeongok-sa and Jongyesan Seonam-sa.
• Additionally, a dozen important stone-carved Buddha statues and pagodas are said to have been carved or built by Doseon himself, including the famous gigantic Gwanse-eum-bosal relief at Doseon-sa, not to mention a dozen caves and crags around Korea that claim to be sites where he practiced his mystical arts.

Mokdong Archery Experience

Traditionally, Korean archery is a meditation sport and so when there was a posting through Yeoksam Global Village Center for archery participants, I was eager to give the reflective Korean archery a try. Was slightly disappointed when I got to the Mokdong Archery Experience area and discovered it was western archery we would be giving a try. Well, new experience there too but I knew we wouldn't be taught any kind of self-reflection or skills on "the movement of tranquillity" in shooting but rather would just be focused on hitting the target and having a good time while doing so.

Directly beside our practice shooting range was a Korean archery range, and another beyond it. During our two hours of basic target practice, three other groups walked in to exercise their minds while shooting. They followed some of the principles of Korean archery like not shooting alone, not congratulating each other or themselves on good shots or making comments on poor shots, but I think their shooting was not very peaceful or reflective. Our group of Westerners was loud and silly and having a great time. If we were practicing Korean archery, we would have had to be silent, reflective and be more attentive of others while shooting. The other groups kept looking over at us and I feel we disturbed their reflection; however, they seemed rather to be entertained. But then to shoot at this particularly range in a downtown area beside a busy riverside, they could only expect noise, so I would think that this range is more of a stress outlet than a spiritual journey for them.

Our archery instructor had the patience of a saint as he tried to organize us untamed and untrained westerners into some kind of order. Unlike the traditional Korean method of training archers, training western archers must be like trying to herd cats.

Our brave instructor walking in front of young untrained archers with arrows in their bows. We were pretty good, however, about obeying his command to stop shooting and retrieve arrows and then his command for us to collective string our bows again.

The range wasn't even 10 meters away, but the point of this exercise was to give us experience in shooting and to learn how to control our bow and aim. The traditional Korean bows don't have an aiming devise on the bow but are aimed through mind control and feelings centered in the mind/heart.

After several tries, most of us were hitting within the target and some were pretty consistently hitting near the bull's eye.

Our group of young archers. From the languages and comments I heard, we represented a wide variety of Western backgrounds. From my end of the shooting range, there were two Americans, a Canadian, a couple of Germans, several Russians, and a Philippina ... a fairly good ethnic representation of foreigner workers and students in Korea.

Sanko Lewis and the Philosophy of Taekwondo

Sanko Lewis is an English literature professor who has a special passion for poetry. He writes, edits, is a martial arts instructor, and just recently, he got his PhD in the philosophy of martial arts. No, he did not have to spar physically to get the degree, just verbally.

His research centered around the East Asian philosophy of martial arts—Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Moism, Bushido (the Way of the Warrior aka the Samurai Code) — and his interest is in their philosophies, their morals, and how both of these might have influenced their individual development of martial arts. 

Sanko Lewis

While Sanko is familiar with tangsudu, Brazilian jiu jitsu (which by the way originated from Japanese jiu jitsu), and parkour or urban free-running, his primary focus and bulk of knowledge is on Korean martial arts. He has a fifth-dan in taekwondo, a third-dan in hapkido, practices taekyun, as well as does some yulsu (sp?) (a type of Korean wrestling). He says that martial arts aren't only about fighting but are also the embodiment of the culture. 

How do martial arts change a person physically?

• taekwondo and other quick-moving martial arts are more for developing long, lean muscles that are very flexible for quick kicks

• jiu jitsu and other grappling martial arts create a more bulky body with strong core muscles, bigger shoulders and arms, more back strength

How do martial arts change a person mentally (the more interesting question)?

According to Sanko, there are three words that translate to martial arts in Korea: 무술, 무예, and 무도, and each of these words functions as a paradigm of one's growth in the "arts." Basically, the stages of one's growth. (무 translates as "military")

• 무술 — learning the "military skills/techniques" and this takes years

• 무예 — when the movements become intuitive and the actions flow, the person is now achieving the level of "military art"

• 무도 — when the military art has become a lifestyle and a symbol of life, it has become like "Dao", the Way. (도 stems from Dao)

Sanko was first introduced to taekwondo in South Africa. He and his brother watched a lot of kungfu movies as teenagers and wanted to learn, but there were no places to learn kungfu. However, they did come across a taekwondo school. Not knowing what it was, they found in the newspaper it was referred to as "the best of the best" which alluded to a movie that came out in the 1980s. It sounded good and they wanted to learn a martial arts so enrolled. 

The guy who ran the school was a South African who had learned from another South African. The latter South African had obtained a textbook on taekwondo from some unknown place and ended up, traveling to Singapore to learn the art. In Singapore he studied under Rhee Ki Ha, first Grand Master of taekwondo. (Most of the Grand Masters of taekwondo are still living, as is Rhee who currently lives in England.)

The student of Rhee Ki Ha returned to South Africa in 1976, bringing taekwondo skills with him, and the first taekwondo school in South Africa was opened. So basically, Sanko's taekwondo education is an inheritance of the Grand Masters. (Choi Hong-hee, who was a general in the Korean military, was the founder of taekwondo.)

________________________________________________________________________

This summary comes from his June 21, 2016 KBS radio interview.

Sanko Lewis also blogs on taekwondo under his Korean name, Soo Shim Kwan 水心館수심관.

Seal (인장) Carving Tutorial

National Museum of Korea hosted a seal-carving class for foreigners to experience Korean culture. In two hours a group of us were to be instructed briefly on the history of seal carving, design our own name (simply of course) on a roughly 2 cm square seal, and carve the name. Rather ambitious but carving on soapstone really is quite simple. I had a seal carved a few months ago out of a regular stone and the professional took a full hour - a very interesting hour for me as I watched and talked intermittently with him on the process. See "Carving an Artist Mood Seal".

Korean Traditional Seal Making : 한국을 새기다

What is a seal (인장)?

• a stamp with letters or patterns, and in modern times, pictures or symbols
• has been used since 4,000 BC
• helps to identify a person's social class and their grade or level of social achievement
• symbol for denoting possession

In the Korean Times article "Injang: A square inch of art" the definition of a seal is more clearly explained:

"Injang" refers to personal and official seals in Korea. The origin of the seals goes back to "jeongak" in the Neolithic age, referring to a carving a person makes on trees and stone walls to leave a trace or to communicate with others. 

During the Joseon Kingdom, seals were widely used by artists to leave their signatures on their paintings and calligraphy. 

Wood, stones, metals and ivory are great materials for making a seal. During the Joseon Kingdom, Confucian scholars made their own seals from wood or stone, retaining the material's natural and unique style. From the 1800s, however, traditional Korean seals were influenced by Chinese styles, which were flamboyant in technique and decoration.
In East Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan, seals instead of signatures are widely used for identifying a person or for government documents, such as in financial and business transactions, and communication.

There has also been a preference for a seal that can simultaneously function as an amulet to be carved from the lightning-struck wood of a jujube tree. Such wood is filled with the energetic power of fire, one of the five elements, and therefore believed to repel evil spirits.

"The temperature of lightning is around 30,000 degrees C or six times as hot as the surface of the Sun. It is believed that sap is one reason trees are common targets for lightening because sap is a better conductor of electricity than air. When lightning strikes a tree, the energy is discharged through the tree turning the sap into steam, which causes the bark to split apart. 

In Chinese folklore, a special divination system called lingqijing uses lightning struck wood as the material from which to make the divinatory objects. The word lingqijing consists of three characters – ling means 'magic' or 'spirit' or 'supernatural', while jing is simply 'book' or 'classic'. Traditionally, the disks were made from wood taken from a tree that has been struck by lightning, and prepared over a 60-day cycle in a rather involved ritualistic process, with the characters being inscribed with a cutting tool and then filled with red pigment. Lightning-struck wood is ideal for seals, since lightning is powerfully yang and wood is powerfully yin, and in Chinese mysticism lightning-struck wood is regarded as good for expelling ghosts and malevolent spirits. 

To consult the lingqijing you need 12 flat wooden disks. Four are inscribed with the Chinese character shang, meaning nothing more complicated than 'above', four with zhong, 'middle', and four with xia, 'below'. The backs are left plain. You throw the 12 disks to the ground all at once and arrange the fallen disks into a trigraph of three rows, according to their inscribed positions, of which there are 125 possible combinations. (The term 'trigraph' was brought into usage by Ralph D Sawyer, to avoid confusion with the three-line figures associated with the yijing, the 'trigrams'.)" (SOURCE)

Source

Chinese (and Korean) seals were initially a symbol of political power, and were used to authenticate a signature on a document for the appointment or removal of governmental officials in the past. All the official documents should be affixed with an official seal. Later on the literati and officials also used seals as identification to show their social status, ownership, and authorship. Over time seals broadened to include predominantly three groupings: name-carving, zodiac and mood/object seal.

There are three ways to make a seal: carving, casting and clay-baking. The materials used range from gold, copper, iron, jade, ivory, stone, wood, porcelain to crystal and glass. Characters carved on seals could be in relief (yang) or in intaglio (yin). The script on the seals developed with the evolution of Chinese characters over the past 3,000 years and displayed different features in different times. For a clearer history on the Chinese seal, see "Buy Chinese Seal". 

Three classes of seals

• The imperial seals - a symbol of power and authority; having the mandate of heaven 
• The official seals - a token of office and authority
• The private seals - (two kinds) seals with names and pen names and used as a signature; leisure seals having a quote from a famous writing or saying

The materials from which the seal were carved often depended on social status, rank and wealth. Many variables came into play when deciding material but typically:

• royal family - gold, silver, jade
• commoners - wood, stone
• lowest class (the illiterates) - traced around their hand 

Structure of Eastern seals

Seals are comprised of four key parts: the 뉴, 인신, 인면 and the 인문.

• 뉴 - the top or head shape of the seal; different shapes originally based on one's class or status (a king or high official would have a dragon, tiger, turtle on the top; only a king could have a dragon)

• 인신 - who and when the seal was made (in old-style, specific dates were not used but rather the season in which the sentiment was flowing and therefore the seal carved. [In Eastern thinking, each of the typical four seasons was further divided into three sub-seasons, e.g. early-spring, mid-spring, and late spring.)

• 인면 - the "face" of the seal; generally square-shaped, but circles or irregular-shaped stones often used

• 인문 - the carved space, whether relief or intaglio

The actual seal carving

Materials needed: carving clamp, carving knives, soap stone or other carving material, clear tracing paper (optional), glove to protect non-carving hand (optional).

Insert the stone in the clamp. Tip: If afraid of scratching the stone or the stone is irregular and therefore slippery, wrap the area to clamp in tissue paper and then clamp.

Next, decide how you want your seal -  relief (yang - easiest to carve) or itaglio (yin - time-consuming as detail work can be intricate).

Draw your name or pen-name differently than how you write; this is a stylized version. Or you can plan to carve out a zodiac symbol or a mood seal with sentiment or even a object that inspires you. Once that is drawn how you like, draw it on the clear tracing paper and turn the paper over. The reverse side is what you will draw in pencil on the 인면 or "face" of the seal. Go over the pencil marks with a felt-tipped pen when done, and if mistakes are made, an alcohol solution can probably remove the ink and you can start over. Then carve. Carving an Artist Mood Seal is a pretty clear step-by-step carving process.

의인 means "someone's name"

Obviously I made little "scratches" where the blade slipped a bit. This is not a problem at all.
It lends character to the final seal and it makes the seal harder to counterfeit.

And my finished product! Lecture, planning and carving done in the two hours allotted!

Dr. Royer: Traditional Korean Medicine

Dr. Raimund Royer, KMD, PhD, who is the Head of the International Clinic at Jasaeng Center for Alternative Medicine, gave an introductory lecture at the Itaewon Global Village Center on what is traditional Korean medicine and a bit on its efficacy.

In Korea, there are two kinds of medical therapy. One is the Western medical science called “yangbang”, and "hanbang" is for the Korean traditional medical treatment system. Similar to other Asian therapies, hanbang utilizes natural components to cure the human body. Instead of removing or focusing treatment on bad parts of the body, it tries to strengthen related organs and help the body to overcome the disease itself.

The philosophy behind Korean medicine, along with other Eastern medicines, is based on three points of view:

• Universal view: Everything is a unique entity.
• Nature is motion: Motion is change; motion is qi.
• Nature is interrelated: Everything is somehow related to everything else.

Source

The five elements reflect on aspects of the whole body, and when the elements are in balance, the yin and yang of the body are also well balanced with the overall outcome being a body filled with the vitality of the elements in good flow and circulation and therefore being in a state of good health.

The above picture might suggest that traditional Korean medicine is simplistic, when in actuality it is a complicated system of yin and yang, ebb and flow, 27 pulses, and a whole lot more. A chart characterizing the normal relations between the five elements is below. [Click to enlarge]

WOOD - yang power

• Beginning, like in spring when sprouts break through the soil, and new life comes into existence.
• Strong upward and spreading character
• Viscera: liver -- birth, spring, wind, tendon, eye, anger

FIRE - yang power

• The yang energy reaches the extreme, as in nature, flowers bloom.
• Heat 
• Viscera: heart -- spirit, blood vessels, tongue, joy

EARTH - yin and yang power

• Earth harmonizes with wood, fire, metal and water.
• In the circle spectrum, earth holds center position and has energy to change and transform external growth into internal maturity.
• Viscera: spleen/pancreas -- digestive tract, energy supply for whole body, flesh, lips, thinking

METAL - yin power

• Solid and cold
• Growth of spring and summer stops, fruits ripen
• Dispose of unnecessary things
• Viscera: lungs -- respiration, skin, nose, voice, sadness/grief

WATER - yin power

• Cold and icy
• Water stores all energy and essences and prepares for new spring
• Mostly yin character but contains yang energy too for preparing for spring
• Viscera: kidneys -- storage of vital essence, vitality, bones, ear, hair, sexuality, fear

Qi (Vital Energy) and Meridians

• Basic energy element that constitutes the cosmos
• Produces everything in the world through its movements, changes and transformations
• In the human body, the refined nutritive substance that flows within the human body
• Circulates in a circuitry system much like the Seoul subway lines; the system connects organs, extremities and all tissue.
• Accu-point - Certain point along a meridian that strongly responds to stimulation; considered as a reservoir of qi with high therapeutic response.

Deficiencies

Qi deficiency

Fatigue and low energy
Sweating even without exercising
Weak pulse
Hernia

Blood deficiency

Pale face, lips and nails
Light-headedness, tinnitus, palpitation
Irregular periods, reduced flow, in severe cases no menstruation

Yin deficiency

Weight loss, dry mouth, dry skin, tinnitus
Dizziness, palpitations, anxiety, sleeping disorder
Night sweating
Sexual dysfunction

Yang deficiency

Feels cold
Cold feeling in lower back and knees
Weak in legs with walking problems
Diarrhea, frequent urination
Low sexual function

Principle of holistic medicine

The human body possesses innate recuperative power so treatment is to (1) promote individual health via the treatment of organic dysfunction, and (2) harmonize the mental state and social relationships.

Herbal Medicine

The basic idea is that each plant, mineral, etc. has certain characteristics and energetic properties

Example: Ginseng

• Qi-tonifying medicinal with over 200 active chemical substances
• Flavor - sweet, bitter
• Qi - warm
• Meridian/organ entry - spleen/pancreas, lungs, heart
• Effect - dispels fatigue, sexual dysfunction, digestive problems, anxiety

In using herbal medicine, the recipe consists of different herbs as based on each individual's needs. The 8 main therapeutic purposes for using herbals are:

1. Perspiration - induces sweating
2. Emetic - induces vomiting
3. Purgative - promotes defecation
4. Harmonization - balancing
5. Warming - supports yang energy
6. Heat-clearing - reduces internal heat
7. Tonifying - treats qi, blood, yin and yang deficiencies
8. Resolving - dispenses sores, ulcers, etc. 

Bee venom therapy, for strong anti-inflammatory pain relief and for strengthening the immune system, is also used. Pharmacopuncture also figures into traditional Korean medicine and is used for pain control and supporting muscles/ligaments along the spine.

Dr Royer checking the pulse -- three pulses on the left wrist and three more on the right.
Each pulse corresponds to a different organ.

Korean Traditional Painting: Symbolism

The National Museum of Korea hosted a special painting class using traditional paints. The focus was on educating foreign participants on the Confucian iconic imagery in traditional art imbued with symbolic meanings. Much of the visual iconography in paintings is for giving a message, something that Westerners are unaware of when viewing Korean pictures, clothing, architecture, etc. Before participants actually started painting a picture of each person's choice, they were briefly instructed in the various meanings of some typical flora and fauna commonly featured in Korean traditional art:

FLORA:

• peony - symbol of the king, queen or royalty - typically appearing on folding screens, royal paintings or even clothing
• lotus blossom - not only the iconic symbol of Buddhism but also symbolizing fertility and purity

FAUNA:

• butterfly - symbols for seniors or people of old and venerable age; also a fertility symbol and features on wedding pictures and bedding of newly-weds

examples of the use of symbols in Korean traditional art

• duck - a symbolic prayer for the passing of a test, especially for becoming a government official; the underlying meaning is "to win first place in a scholarship competition."
• magpie - bringer of good news, or a sign of a close friend soon to visit
• fish - featured as a pair as are many symbols of fertility; the pair of fish symbolizes conjugal harmony
• tiger - a most popular motif in Korean folk painting, likely originating from the mythical "white tiger" guardian spirit of the east, and so the animal is seen as a protector. The tiger is usually depicted as comical and friendly, even a stupid animal, and as such, it is a symbol for driving away evil and therefore bringing luck. It's a very complex symbol but one that typically has very positive meaning.

So many more symbols exist, but this was an introduction. After the quick introduction to the symbols, some large laminated traditional pictures, having some of the symbols described, were passed around and participants were given an art frame for painting, a tray of the basic colors of traditional paints, brushes, and a sheet of carbon paper for tracing and transferring a portion of a traditional painting to the art board.

I wasn't particularly interested in copying someone's art. Plagiarism in traditional Korean art is not considered negative in any sense, but rather is a mark of having mastered a skill. But I wanted to design and paint my own picture and, for some reason, lately I've become fascinated with cranes and ibises, symbols of longevity as are pine trees and mountains and other sipjangsaeng images, so I looked up some Asian art pictures on my smartphone and found a picture that appealed.

Painting with Korean watercolors

Korean (and Chinese) traditional watercolor paints are different than western paints. Because Korean and Chinese watercolor paints were/are typically used on rice paper, which is fragile but highly absorbent, the paint needs more starch as a binder to adhere to the paper. Because of the binder, the watercolors do not bleed as much as western watercolors which are known for running, smearing and puddling. Korean and Chinese traditional paints are also made with natural dyes and minerals rather than the finer pigment particles in western watercolors. Because of this, some of the colors are opaque (the minerals) and others (the pigments) are transparent. I read somewhere that Marie's set of 12 Chinese watercolors has seven transparent colors and five opaques, which makes the colors blend, outline and wash in very exciting complimentary ways. For this reason, the Korean or Chinese watercolors are ideal for using inksticks, sumi ink or India ink; they blend well with the ink, and unlike western colors which become muddy when blended, these make beautiful gray washes.

A simple repertoire of colors plus calligraphy ink ... to make amazing expressions on paper!

After sketching my cranes on a scrap paper (the fibers we were working with do not take eraser well at all), I very lightly transferred the sketch to the board.

It's amazing how a few simple Korean watercolors plus calligraphy ink can make such a colorful picture. The paper on the right is a unique, modern watercolor-palette paper. It replaces the palette and after use is just tossed! Very handy!

My interpretation of a painting I found online.

A History of Korean Housing

The Korea Foundation offered a series of lectures on Korean architecture, and I jumped at the opportunity to take be a participant in the five lectures. Tonight the speaker was Professor Jeong BongHee, Phd in Architecture working at Seoul National University. I've heard many western presenters on the topic of the hanok, but here was a chance to hear an entire lecture series on Korean architecture, and this lecture targeted the development of the hanok. Of particular interest on Professor Jeong's professional career printout, I was particularly fascinated to see his recent research interests on Korean architecture:

• The Usage of Traditional Roof Frame and Fire Prevention Design in the Deajojeon Complex Reconstruction in Changdeokgung during the 1917 to 1921 period (2004)
• The Time of the Effect of Neighborhood Unit Principle to the Planning of Residential Areas in Seoul in the Japanese Colonial Times (2011)
• A Study on the Transformation of the Old Palatial Buildings into Hospitals (2012)
• characteristics of Communalization of Government Managing Apartment Houses Built in Korean from the 1960's to the Early 1970's (2012)
• A Parametric Modeling Methodology Optimized for Korean Traditional House (2012)

He also listed five books as being authored by himself, and the content of this lecture on the history of the hanok comes from his 2012 book, Hanok and the History of Korean House.

Definition of the hanok

Against the expectations, the term hanok was not coined so long ago. With the opening of ports to outside influences, the term was coined to separate Korean traditional housing structures from foreign modern architecture. Similarly, hanbok and hansik were coined to specify the difference between the indigenous and that of the outside. The terms hanok and yangok -- western-style house -- were first shown together in "Papers about Houses" written in 1908.

So, what is the most distinctive difference between hanok and yangok? Hanok adopts Chinese wooden architecture, which separates it from western and other architectural styles that tend to incorporate bricks, masonry, logs and styles employing iron elements. In Chinese wooden architecture which was used in Korea, China and Japan, wooden brackets and beams were fitted together only through the use of 90-degree angles in order to support the weight of a roof. These structures were supported by wooden columns and regimented distances denoting the khan, a measurement used in sizing buildings and ultimately gathering rooms.

Hanok architecture in a government office or a house are shoe-less gathering places, that is, they must be maintained as clean spaces separate from the outdoors and places of comfort and relaxation. Hanok use both ondol and maru to acclimate to summer and winter. The evolution of the hanok to incorporate the economical heating system has taken hundreds, if not, thousands of years.

Development of hanok in prehistoric and ancient excavation sites

The first ancient homes in Korea are presumed to be those of partially dugout spaces covered by grass roofs. In ancient times, semi-permanent houses were constructed with columns and walls built on the hard-packed earth and having thick, hard tiled roofs.

The early ondol were seen in Manchuria and the Maritime Province of Siberia, and covered only a portion of the ground, much like the heating in today's Kang of Northeast China. It is assumed that by the middle of the Goryeo dynasty, ondol encompassed the entire floor of the typical dwelling. An example of this has been excavated at the Hoeamsa Temple constructed during the Goryeo dynasty.

Maru has two origin stories. The first is, the maru has its roots in a raised cottage which can be built on slanted ground or over a body of water. Such examples of maru appear in Southeastern China, Japan, and South-east Asia. The raised floors were essential for keeping pests and vermin out while provided some circulation of air to ease the effects of humidity. In the second story, the maru is a cognate of marae, maru, mari and meori, which have meanings as being high and noble. In this sense, the maru is assumed to originate from a sanctum, the venue where people pray and perform ancestral rites.

Development of hanok in medieval times

Ondol, maru and 'kitchen' have different forms of floor. Ondol have hard, warm, clean and smooth floors using plaster over flat stones laid on gas ducts. Maru have rough and dry wooden floors, and 'kitchen' have unclean earthen floor on which a furnace is built and water and possibly waste flow. Therefore, combining all three floor structures in the larger building structure took development.

Putting the ondol and maru together was the conventional tradition. The Maeng clan house following the house styles of Goryeo dynasty and that of the royal bedchamber show a good example of this combination.

In houses for commoners, however, combining ondol and 'kitchen' -- that is, living and cooking -- became the established trend. 'A three-room house with a straw-thatched roof' was the representative house style in Joseon dynasty; it had the lower-floored kitchen and the uniquely efficient wood-burning stove, the buttumak, which was used for both cooking and heating of rooms. The buttumak was instrumental in heating the ondol floor in the two rooms of the typical peasant house. Peasant houses did not have maru as a house needed at least four bays (?) in order to have such a construction.

By the middle of the Joseon dynasty, the hanok with the minimum of four bays had become the established norm. The typical layout of the minimal four-bay hanok was 'kitchen-room-maru-room', but this arrangement differed by region as the hanok were built to best suit the climate and topographical differences in the various Korean regions.

click to enlarge

Development of social features affecting architectural styles

In the latter part of the Joseon dynasty harsh policies and clannishness brought about distinctive changes in the hanok architectural structure. Hanok structures were affected by clan communities where people having the same surname and place of family origin lived together and established clan tell-tale architecture markings. Tile roofs, symbols of elevated society, were replacing straw roofs, but the additional weight meant roof extensions had to be shortened. Lengthier roofs protected walls from the ravaging effects of rain and space outside of rooms with heated ondol floors, particularly in summer, were desired, so the toenmaru, the attached floor or rather the space around the house, was added and overhead the roof was extended to protect this outside living space.

The toenmaru extended the hanok and strengthened its function as living space. Thus, the toenmaru allowed the family to move its work space, shrine and communal facilities outside of the house. Clan villages shared its communal functions also, and a shrine for the same ancestor, a school, monuments, a well, a washing place and a square were constructed in a village having the head family house at the nucleus. Of course the head family had a higher floor and/or larger structure than other hanok to give physical credence to the elevated status of the clan head.

Urban hanok, modern times

With port openings, even in the early days, foreigners -- diplomats, missionaries, soldiers -- engaged in commerce or light industry, and to meet their needs they created and introduced a new style of architecture, which gradually transformed the traditional cityscape.

Since Seoul was over-populated even before the opening of the port, and urban dwellers didn't farm, they didn't have spacious yards. To best fit in the confined city spaces, the hanok were built with ㄱ ㄷ shaped structures and rarely had fences. Most Seoul hanok in those modern times consisted of the centralized main building and to the side the servants' quarter, which was built against the wall surrounding the main building and the garden.

With the industrialization and urbanization in the mid 1920's, the population of Seoul grew substantially, causing a housing shortage. In effect, houses were built by the dozens and were started to be traded as a ready-made commodity.

The ready-made urban hanok had several particular features. First, the standard living-plan type of house was created by forecasting prospective buyers, and accordingly, living styles of urban residents became stereotyped. The second, framework in mass production became standardized, not to mention extravagant architectural decorations and materials -- e.g. foreign materials like glass and zinc -- were frequently used. These houses had ㄷ-shape with several such housing constructions stood side by side.

Western style houses, the yangok

After the Korean War the mass construction of western-style houses began. Typically Western-style houses were built with concrete blocks and bricks. As yet, Korean people preferred the hanok, and the construction of hanok continued till the 1960s in provincial cities.

With the enactment of the Act on Comprehensive Plan of National Land Construction in the early 1960s, the construction of wooden buildings was restricted, yet the balance between supply and demand for timber became increasingly disrupted. In result, construction of the hanok was halted in Seoul and other regions and the yangok -- built primarily with bricks and concrete with only small pieces of wood used in the framing of windows -- became the housing construction of choice.

By this time, indoor revisions were altering the traditional structure inside the house -- indoor flush toilets and shared living room-dining room-kitchen (LDK, combination of kitchen and living room) appeared. With the indoor kitchen, gas or oil, separated from fuel for heating, was used for cooking. The new style of house had a centralized layout with the living room at the center of the other rooms. This layout was adopted by apartment constructions which became widely popularized after the mid-1970's. In the centralized layout, the living room formed the central space and inherited the role and status of the rural hanok courtyard.

The apartment continued to change the inner living space. Since the mid-1990's, a unique wooden floor called ondol-maru has been used for bedrooms, the living room and the kitchen. Ondol-maru is a new floor type having the same surface as the maru while having the same heating system as the ondol in hanok. Therefore, the apartment of today inherits space organization of the traditional hanok and integrates the three types of floor by constructing a living room at the center (a replacement for the courtyard), and the ondol-maru as the single-leveled floor space which includes the kitchen.

New trend of hanok

In the end of the 1990's, the number of apartment units started to exceed that of detached houses. In 2007, the apartment became the largest housing unit, accounting for more than half of the total number of housing units, especially as high-rise apartments efficiently use small earth spaces. Despite the need for earth space to create hanok, their eco-friendly structure with elements of green spaces around are now desirable, and therefore, projects are set in motion to recreate hanok in commercial and public spaces along with the movement to preserve or construct hanok villages, like that of Bukchon Hanok Village.

Such new created hanok can be classified as follows:

"Authentic hanok" which recreates the appearance and configuration of traditional hanok while adopting aspects of modern facilities and materials. "Authentic hanok" are constructed by carpenters who carry on the legacy of artisans from traditional times.

"Modern hanok" are designed by architects. "Modern hanok" combine traditional forms of hanok with the modern architect's interpretation. The function of the "modern hanok" is not limited to a residence but accommodates diverse usage.

"Korean traditional room" in a modern building, that is, for example, an ondol room that a hotel might offer to extend the usage beyond sleeping facility to a floor or space with multi-purposes.

Gyeongbokgung Palace and Geomancy

Gyeongbokgung Palace, 23 October 2015
Picture taken by Robert Koehler

Gyeongbokgung Palace was the main royal palace where the king resided and carried out governmental affairs. The palace was built at the time of the Joseon Dynasty's founding and its establishment of a new capital. The dynasty's original capital was Gyegyeong but was relocated to Hanyang at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty to herald a new beginning and because of the auspicious topographical features. For a time Mt. Gyeryong area was considered for the Joseon capital but it was not deemed as propitious, according to the principles of pungsujiri (geomancy). After considering a number of possible sites, Hanyang was selected for the new capital, especially as it was more easily accessible from other regions on the peninsula and it had the Hansu River nearby as a source of water and transit. The area was also protected by two mountain ranges that included four inner and four outer mountains, creating an ideal pungsujiri topographical structure which was in line with the principle of baesanimsu (背山臨水, literally meaning "a mountain in the back and a river in front"), geomantic standards for the ideal house. Notice the four mountains protecting the Hanyang capital and how the mountain positions balance one another. Particularly, Bugak mountain stands tall, and its height changed the positioning of the typically east-facing structures, and so the north mountain instead of the typical west mountain became the behind-the-palace sentinel. Worth note, Gyeongbokgung and its straight axis of buildings face south instead of east.

Pungsujiri - geomantic principles for assessing spatial arrangement of surroundings and utilizing that space to create a sense or order and harmony on earth as represented in the heavens

The Hansu also included an inner and outer river, which complemented the four inner mountains to form another favorable pungsujiri characteristic called sanhageumdae. According to pungsujiri, the inner river represented a hanbok, the traditional dress, that seemed to be fastened together by a belt formed by the outer river, which served to embrace Hanyang and its Gyeongbokgung Palace. This geographical layout was ideal not only for pungsujiri principles but for natural protection from invaders as well. Indeed, the strategic value of Hanyang had also been acknowledged during the earlier Goryeo Dyansty, when five kings -- King Sookjong, King Gojong, King Gongmin, King Woo and King Gaongyang -- had attempted to relocated the capital to Hanyang. With the launch of the Joseon Dynasty, Hanyang finally became the new capital and center of government. Along with the declaration of the new dynasty, the construction of Gyeongbokgung Palace began in December 1394, and was completed in September 1395. After three months of finishing work, King Taejo moved into the palace and started to conduct affairs there on December 28, 1395.

Who designed the architecture of Gyeongbokgung Palace?

The palace designer was Jeong Do-jeon. He was not an architect but a Confucian scholar and politician who had played a key role in the foundation of the Joseon Dynasty. Jeong designed Gyeongbokgung by referring to the book "Rites of Zhou", a classical Chinese reference about political concepts, state governance, and ritual practices. Both the designer himself and the reference book seem to have little direct connection to building architecture. But, "Rites of Zhou" did provide guidelines for East Asian palace architecture. It instructs, "The palace should be in the center of the city, with an ancestral temple on the left [Chongmyo Shrine], temples to the deities to the right [Sajik Shrine], office buildings in front, bedchambers and a marketplace behind, and five gates and three districts." These instructions were carried out to the letter of the "Rites" and applied to the layout of wanggukgyeongwidogoedo (arrangements via longitude and latitude via axis lines?) and jowichimmyosajikdo (arrangement of the shrines). 

The instructions of the book ostensibly provided guidelines for the physical arrangement of buildings. In addition, it was a valuable source of political ideology related to "harmony of ethics and laws." When the instructions of "Rites of Zhou" are evaluated in detail, it is possible to discover the guidelines for political ideology as well as basic principles for the palace construction. The instruction can be translated as "harmony of axis and concentric circles". The axis symbolizes the authority to rule by law and by forcefulness. The concentric circles convey a sense of harmony, aesthetics of modesty, and governance based on ethical rule.

Two different views depicting the axis or hierarchical authority to power which in effect depicts the right and authority to rule. Basically, what is carefully arranged on earth is a reflection of the heavens, and it is the heavens that give the right to rule, and therefore the arrangements on earth must be correct.

A more complicated view of Gyeongbokgung Palace, fairly complete with all its 5 gates on an axis (the axis of power), the administrative offices arranged by their power positions, the king's area, and the queen's area in the far back, the place of course for modesty, a central trait the queen should have.

In north-east Asia there are five directions, and the four castle wall gates are built in the representative four directions. What is missing in the picture above is the central direction, represented by yellow. The center position is the king, and therefore the center position within Gyeongbokgung is the Geunjeongjeon, the king's throne hall. 

"Having five gates and three districts" is an especially critical requirement of the instructions in the "Rites of Zhou". The five gates are composed of Go-gate ("calling" gate), which is the front gate of the palace; another Go-gate ("storage" gate) that is constructed between the first Go-gate and the Chi-gate; Chi-gate which is the main gate of Chijo; Eung-gate that is built between the Chi-gate and No-gate; and No-gate which is the main gate for Yeonjo. Oejo (govt office area), Chijo (king's area), and Yeonjo (queen's area) make up the three districts. The first Go-gate, Chi-gate, and No-gate were located in front of Oejo, Chijo, and Yeonjo districts, respectively. Building two additional gates between the three gates accounted for the desired five gates. The principle of the five gates and three districts is widely applied in the palace architecture of East Asia.

Also of geomantic importance is the construction of an artificial stream flowing across the axis of lined-up gates. The stream is a representative boundary between the earthly and the heavenly, just as the palace is a earthly representation of the correct and just happenings of the heavens. So, when one crosses the artificial stream (every Korean palace has one), the person is metaphysically entering the realm of the heavens.

Gyeongbokgung Palace, 23 October 2015
Picture taken by Robert Koehler

Note the gates on the axis and how they get higher and higher. The highest one (appears to be #4 in the line-up is not a gate but is the Geunjeongjeon or Throne Hall, the place where the king met envoys and state officials. It is much like the modern-day convention center. It is not a gate but the center of official activity for the kingdom.

Another point to note, each of the gates and the Geunjeongjeon are built in harmony with the surroundings, each of them is an imitation or reflection of the mountains around (note the height and curve of the roofs to create a line-up of mountains).

Each gate has its own name, e.g. Gwanghwamun, and a generalized name, e.g. Go-mun.

• Gwanghwamun (The Main and South Gate) - Go-mun ("calling" gate)
• Heungnyemun (The Second Inner Gate) - Go-mun ("storage" gate)
• Geunjeongmun (The Third Inner Gate) - Chi-mun, which is the main gate to the Chi-jo
• GEUNJEONGJEON - not a gate but the centralized throne hall
• Eung-mun, which is the main gate for the Chi-jo, the district for the king
• No-mun, which is the main gate for the Yeon-jo, the district for the queen

Symbolism in numbers

Three and five are symbolic numbers. The number three symbolized balance and harmony, while the number five represents abundance, variety, harmony, retention, and completion of combinations in East Asia. The number five is visible in other examples, such as five colors, five musical notes, five tastes, five elements, five directions, five deities, five mythological creatures, five ethical practices, five classics, five vices, and five virtues. While these five gates are situated along an axis, the arrangement of concentric circles is found in wang-guk-gyeong-wido-goedo of the "Rites of Zhou". The axis and concentric circles are related to harmony and completion.

Concentric circles represent 조화 (harmony) - the harmonization of the king, queen, officials, servants, people, etc. In the broader meaning, the palace needs to be in harmony with the world. In Eastern society, concentric circles get more emphasis than the axis because the concentric circles form orders.

The forces of yin and yang are considered as well as the role the 5 elements have on creating harmoniousness and balance. In the same way, offices within the court are viewed by as their elemental function, and how their elemental function creates harmony and synergy when interacting with other offices (or not interacting with other offices because elements may not be beneficial for interaction and so drain the synergy). So, when the king gives duties to people in offices, he must consider the 5 elements which represent their positions. Offices are classified by capabilities. This concentric structure is used to manage people. Only Gyeongbokgung among the palaces is laid out this way.

Another look at the inter-play and exchange of the elements and the governmental offices.

The characteristics of the 5 elements are considered when creating offices and staffing available positions.

The 5 elements are the source of all energy in the universe and the source of perfect harmony. Therefore, Geunjeongjeon (the throne hall) is in the center of the palace compound, the king's district is right behind the throne hall and the king sleeps there in the heart of the palace so that even while he is sleeping, he can get the perfect energy so as to perform in his role as harmonizer in the earthly model of that which is heavenly.

Throughout Chinese history, there has been a distinction between a royal palace and an imperial palace. The principle of "five gates and three districts" is typically applied to royal palaces but not for imperial palaces. The Forbidden City complex is a representative example of an imperial palace while that of Gyeongbokgung is a representative example of the palace of a kingdom. Also, consider the western palaces - almost all of them are built as one very extensive building, perhaps in a linear construction or with multiple right angles, but still as one building. Then consider palaces of north-east Asia - the countries which have adopted Confucianism as fundamental principles of controlling the people, and you will realize that the architecture bespeaks the same control, the same harmony of togetherness and division. Following are other depictions of building Gyeongbokgung with harmony.

 In the heart of the diagram showing relationships and pungsujiri, there are 5 characters and 8 forms.

Chi-jo, the king's district, and Yeon-jo, the queen's district

In the king's district are three buildings, a small space but the characteristics of this space is dynamic. Though small, there is flow and steadiness, as represented in the structures. The center building is for the king and the outer buildings are for high-ranking and most trusted officials. These buildings metaphysically are "water" and "mountain", two opposing natural elements that balance each other. In nature "water" has the characteristic of always moving, flowing, increasing. Water is therefore representative of "intelligence". Yet in nature "mountain" is strong, stays continuous, and is steady. Mountain is therefore representative of "generousness". Confucius said, "Intelligent people like water; generous people like mountains". (Thus, when someone asks you whether you like beaches or mountains better, you'll recognize it as a psychology test.) These three structures are where the metaphysical flow of water (intelligence) and steadiness (generousness) are at the heart of the nation. [I'm not fully understanding how it was explained to me, but I tried.]

Similarly, the architecture of the queen's area reflects the characteristics she should uphold for the nation. The wall separating the other areas of the court and her private area is symbolic of mountains, and therefore represent generousness, the characteristic the queen is supposed to have.

The keywords in Confucianism are modest, harmony and courtesy - all realized in the architecture at Gyeongbokgung.

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This lecture material was presented in a Korean architecture lecture series hosted by the Korea Foundation by Professor Seockjae Yim of Ewha Womans University. This year he wrote a book entitled "Gyeongbokgung Palace Built with Courtesy: 예도 지은 경복궁" 2015, which I think would provide even more fascinating insights on the pungsujiri of Gyeongbokgung. This was one of the most informative lectures I have ever attended!