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<dl><dd><a href="http://inside.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/07/02/2011070200384.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://image.chosun.com/sitedata/image/201107/02/2011070200041_0.jpg" height="672" width="480"></a></dd>
</dl></div><br>Hello All,<br><br>Professor
Lee Tae-hyung of the Astronomy Department at Chungnam University in
Daejon made a very fascinating discovery a few months ago.<br><br>According to Professor Lee, the scene depicted in Sin Yun-bok's masterpiece, <i>Wolhajeongin </i>(<span>¿ùÇÏÁ¤ÀÎ,<br>êÅù»ï×ìÑ,<i>Lovers Under The Moon</i>) occurred at 11:50pm on August 21, 1793 under a partial lunar eclipse. <br>
<br>The discovery was based on the following scientific facts:</span><span>
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<ul><li>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span><b>The Lunar Eclipse</b>: In <i>Wolhajeongin, </i>most
of moon was obscured by the shadow of earth and the remaining part of
the moon is protruding upward, which is only possible during a lunar
eclipse. </span></div></li></ul></div>
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<ul><li>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span><b>Midnight in the Summer</b>: In <i>Wolhajeongin, </i>the
moon is located next to the tiled roof and is resting on top of
the trees, which means it is very low. This is the location of the moon at
around Midnight on summer evenings. </span></div></li></ul></div>
<ul><li>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span><b>Partial Lunar Eclipse:</b> In <i>Wolhajeongin, </i>the
moon is covered from the bottom-up, which only happens during a partial
lunar eclipse. During a Penumbra Eclipse, the moon is covered from the
left to right.</span></div></li></ul>
<ul><li>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span></span><span><b>August 21, 1793</b>: Professor Lee searched a hundred years worth of records on Partial Eclipses in <b>Seungjeongwon ilji </b>(<b>Diary of the Royal</b></span> <b>Secreta</b><span><b>riat, </b>½ÂÁ¤¿øÀϱâ, ã¯ïÙêÂìíÑÀ). The records spanned from the </span>middle
of the 18th Century to middle of the 19th Century and he found
that there were two partial lunar eclipses, one on August 30, 1784 and
the other on August 21, 1793. The <b>ilji </b>recorded that they were
unable to observe the eclipse on August 30, 1784 due to three straight
days of rain. Thus, Professor Lee was able to establish that the scene
depicted in <i>Wolhajeongin </i><span>occurred on August 21, 1793.</span></div></li></ul>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span></span></div></span>This is a very interesting case of the merger between Science and Art, with the help of meticulous recordkeeping.
<div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </div>
If you are in Seoul you can view <i>Wolhajeongin,</i> which is a part of Master Sin's drawing book Çý¿øÀü½Åø (Haewpnjeonsinchop), Korean National Treasure No. 135, at the <b>°£¼Û¹Ì¼ú°ü </b>(Kansong Museum).<br><br><br>Thank You and Enjoy.<br>
<br>Kwan<var></var>g-On Yoo