<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'">Hi Frank, Werner, and others,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'">Thanks for this very interesting thread of
discussion. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'">I am not sure if you will find this relevant to
the conversation, but here is a poem by Song Sun </span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';color:rgb(34,34,34);background-color:white">(</span><span style="font-family:AppleMyungjo;color:#222222;background:white">송순</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222;background:white"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:'\00ff2d\00ff33 \00660e\00671d';color:rgb(34,34,34);background-color:white">宋純</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222;background:white">, 1493 ~ 1583) cited
by<b> </b></span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'">a Korean architect, In-Souk Cho, in her presentation
on traditional Korean architecture at the</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">15<sup>th</sup>
HMS Colloquium in the Korean Humanities at The George Washington University on
November 3, 2007. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The poem was read to highlight the kind of understanding of the
relationship between nature and human beings. The original poem, followed by my
own translation, is shown below:</span><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman'"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:rgb(34,34,34)">십년</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">(</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"\00ff2d\00ff33 \00660e\00671d";color:#222222">十年</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">)</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">을</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">경영</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">(</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"\00ff2d\00ff33 \00660e\00671d";color:#222222">經營</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">)</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">하야</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">초려삼간</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">(</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"\00ff2d\00ff33 \00660e\00671d";color:#222222">草廬三間</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">)</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">지어내니</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">나</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">한</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">간</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">, </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">달</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">한</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">간에</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">청풍</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">(</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"\00ff2d\00ff33 \00660e\00671d";color:#222222">淸風</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">) </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">한</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">간</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">맛져두고</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">,</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">강산</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">(</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"\00ff2d\00ff33 \00660e\00671d";color:#222222">江山</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">)</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">은</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">드릴</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">듸</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">업스니</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">둘너</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:#222222">두고</span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span lang="KO" style="font-family:AppleGothic;color:rgb(34,34,34)">보리라</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> </span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:1.5in;text-indent:.5in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222;background:white">--Song
Sun (</span><b><span style="font-family:AppleMyungjo;color:#222222;background:white">송순</span></b><b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222;background:white"> </span></b><span lang="KO" style="font-family:"\00ff2d\00ff33 \00660e\00671d";color:#222222;background:white">宋純</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222;background:white">, 1493 ~ 1583)<b><br>
</b></span><span style="background-color:white;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Times New Roman';text-indent:0.5in"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">It took ten years to build</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">my little thatched hut.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">One part is for me, the moon fills the second,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">the third is reserved for
the clear wind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">Rivers and mountains: There is no room to invite you
in!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222">Stay where you are—I’ll
gaze at you surrounding me.<br>
<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;background:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#222222"> --Tr. by Young-Key Kim-Renaud</span></p>
<div><br></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Times New Roman';text-indent:48px">With my best wishes, </span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Times New Roman';text-indent:48px"><br>
</span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Times New Roman';text-indent:48px">Young-Key </span></div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Aug 12, 2012 at 9:53 AM, Frank Hoffmann <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hoffmann@koreaweb.ws" target="_blank">hoffmann@koreaweb.ws</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Dear Werner, dear All:<br>
<br>
Thank you Werner for taking the time and effort to respond in detail.<br>
<br>
While some themes and issues can just be discussed by stating facts<br>
with additional interpretation (see e.g. Kenneth Robinson's reply to<br>
Lauren's request), I think this "garden culture" issue does require a<br>
different approach in replying. We otherwise just end up in some A says<br>
YES and B says NO thread that might not be all too educational.<br>
<br>
I think that all Werner wrote in his posting is correct, and I really<br>
do not have to stretch myself to say so. While all these observations<br>
are very likely to the point, this still does not change anything with<br>
the problem I have as regards to "garden culture" in Korea. Allow me<br>
therefore to explain what the problem is, as short as I can.<br>
<br>
The starting point **for me** in looking at such themes is always what<br>
we may call the "discourse situation" (or simply the existing<br>
discourse). The discourse can never be ignored, and whatever arguments<br>
are made are always within an existing discourse, are always reacting<br>
to an existing discourse. Someone can certainly claim not to care about<br>
the existing discourse, but that would then just be another tactic of<br>
reacting to the existing discourse (e.g. to provoke in order to<br>
stimulate new approaches), or it is done out of pure ignorance. By the<br>
1990s we were in a situation were the discourse on Japanese tea<br>
ceremony and garden culture had reached a highly sophisticated stage. I<br>
would say that the 1990s up until the early 2000s were all over the<br>
most important time for theoretical approaches on East Asian art, a<br>
time where just everything came finally together. [I could explain this<br>
in much detail, but not now, it would mean to side-track, and it would<br>
take several pages.] In this situation, with the continuous discussion<br>
and research activities on Japanese garden culture, that was by then on<br>
a really sophisticated stage (I already mentioned the book by Guth as<br>
one example), with a lot of available textual sources and textual<br>
analysis done, and with an amazing number of publications--yes, indeed<br>
a 'hype' already in that area, within this discourse situation I now<br>
saw KOREA suddenly raising its middle finger to say "oh well, never<br>
mind, we have all this as well. We have almost no textual evidence, we<br>
have almost no gardens, hardly anyone has a green finger in Korea and<br>
knows what to do around the house, there are no sort of traditional<br>
aesthetic treatises by Korean scholars on gardening and on the<br>
relationship of garden and philosophy (Buddhist or otherwise), but<br>
never mind, we have what you have anyway." Okay, yes, this is somewhat<br>
ironic. The problem there is that all these people, media, publications<br>
do not just try to say, "see, we also have gardens" but that from the<br>
very beginning the talk was about "garden culture"--AND there is a very<br>
vibrant discourse and a hype going on about this in neighboring Japan,<br>
and as for Japan, garden culture played without doubt a very central<br>
role for art and aesthetics. And OF COURSE does that discourse matter<br>
to Korea AND for anyone else seeing a book on Korean garden culture,<br>
and of course was everyone in Korea quite aware (but possibly not well<br>
informed) about that discourse. (NOTE: To be perfectly clear about<br>
this, I personally do not at all like Japanese gardens with their<br>
miniature landscapes, sense of artificiality, and the philosophy that<br>
they relate to.)<br>
<br>
Now, nobody please get me any naiivité flash card as a response at<br>
this point, I urge you. We do talk high up cultural politics and<br>
well-crafted, government-sponsored manipulation beyond believe here.<br>
Garden culture is a big one, and my example of Rubens' "Man in Korean<br>
cloth" that becomes a "Korean man in Korean costume" in the National<br>
Museum's exhibit is a smaller example of this. Factual evidence and<br>
historical truth is secondary, is shaped in whatever way seems<br>
opportune to propagate national culture--for what, with what aim? Now,<br>
I sure do not want to make this a finger-pointing statement. As<br>
Professor Best might or might not agree with, Japanese organizations<br>
and scholars followed very similar tactics, and much earlier than<br>
Korea, and also with and about e.g. tea ceremony and garden<br>
culture--which makes it really a complex topic to discuss. Basically,<br>
what I am saying is that Korea is taking a bath in its neighbor's pond<br>
while it has its own, but that is not called garden culture; it is,<br>
intentionally so, hopping onto an existing discourse by simply<br>
replacing a country name: these are tested corporate marketing<br>
strategies applied to culture--Honda becomes Hyundai, and other<br>
corner-cutting approaches to sell.<br>
<br>
The 'hype' about Korean garden culture is thus build upon the<br>
pre-existing discourse on Japanese garden culture, there is no doubt<br>
about that. But now that we have it, can we actually fill that easily<br>
achieved 'hype' with some real historical, material and textual<br>
contents? (Zero points from me if you reply that this is a question of<br>
having the same "right" than Japan has to this. What I want to know is<br>
what there actually existed in historic times.) THAT is my question,<br>
and that is where I do have various doubts. I have a lot of doubts<br>
about the archaeological "evidence"--at least what I have seen in<br>
Korean journals a few years ago in Korea ….I copied two such articles<br>
exactly because they looked so traumatizingly odd to me, but<br>
unfortunately I do not have those at hand here in Italy. I also noted<br>
(and sorry, I have again to pass when it comes to references, nothing<br>
is here with me) that some the book publications seemed to fill in for<br>
the absence of concrete, verifiable historic information and textual or<br>
material evidence with what I consider weird and abstruse, completely<br>
made-up aesthetic theories. Such wide-spread and in Korean officially<br>
propagated explanations are also reflected in Werner's description<br>
below (referring to the part "build in a way that they looked natural"):<br>
<div><br>
> Studying Soswaewon it sometimes was not easy to<br>
> distinguish between some feature which has been added and features<br>
> which were simply cleaned spots left in the original state but in<br>
> connection with other areas given aesthetic meaning. And some of the<br>
> walls building terrasses were build in a way that they looked<br>
> natural, and you had to give a second look to see they were man made.<br>
<br>
</div>Sounds somehow mystic and very "Oriental" to my ears, and of course, we<br>
see this being repeated over and over in lots of Korean magazines, but<br>
was that so? In short, I think this is not the case. We really should<br>
be awake and careful not to confuse today's journalistic explanations<br>
with historic reality. When Rapunzel lets her hair down, then that<br>
indicates that key to the tower is unavailable. But we do not have to<br>
climb up. We can instead search for the key. If people have no clue how<br>
to explain a certain artistic object, as they miss sufficient<br>
historical information that allows them to make connections explaining<br>
how the object was used, how it was made, who owned it, and so forth,<br>
then we do often end up hearing these made-up "appreciation of nature"<br>
aesthetics as a simple replacement for actual information. (Korea and<br>
Korean garden culture is by far not the only such example. In the 70s,<br>
for example, whatever book you read about South American culture, Inka<br>
etc., you would always read about this "appreciation or nature"<br>
aesthetics--by now, with much more information at our hands, that has<br>
disappeared, now we have much better information on how objects were<br>
used, how gardens were utilized, and for what purposes by whom, etc.<br>
"Appreciation of nature" is nothing but an emergency place-holder.) A<br>
much simpler explanation could be that Koreans were not concerned about<br>
gardens and garden culture, that the emphasis was on quite different<br>
issues. Why, for example, do Germans care so much about perfectly well<br>
build double-glass windows in their houses, and why is this by no means<br>
one of the top priorities for Americans, even on the cold East coast,<br>
how tightly their windows close? Well, Germans stay (at least until<br>
recently) a life time in one place and Americans move on after two<br>
three years, on average. There are always explanations for cultural and<br>
stylistic and all other choices. When we discuss traditional Korean<br>
landscape architecture and gardening, we should of course look to and<br>
compare that to China (and Japan), as we do with all otherwise also.<br>
For a Sino-centric country like Korea that is a must. Why would we<br>
suddenly make some sort of exclusion from the rule when it comes to<br>
garden culture? And if we do this, then we will see that there is no<br>
explanation for a possible absence of a bulk of textual sources, major<br>
sources, if there ever was anything like garden culture in Korea.<br>
Garden culture is high culture, we do not talk about "shaman" practices<br>
in the countryside here. If there was a vibrant garden culture in Korea<br>
(same applies to tea culture) we would find plenty (!) of texts about<br>
it and all the details, same as we have on e.g. traditional painting,<br>
both Korean and imported Chinese texts. We would see the usual<br>
patterns, the variations, discussions, schools of opinions, etc. And<br>
*if* indeed there would have been anything like an "appreciation of<br>
nature" approach that would have been strong enough to cause a garden<br>
culture with all that belongs to it (being expressed the way you<br>
describe it in above quoted passage), then we sure would find<br>
*extensive* sources about exactly this--letters between scholars<br>
discussing gardens, proof of exchanges of art objects that relate to<br>
garden culture, extended philosophical treatises in gardens, etc.<br>
However, the only more scholastic and in-depth philosophic-aesthetic<br>
approaches into that direction (quite apart from garden culture, just<br>
to an "appreciation of nature" approach alone), the only schools of<br>
thought that followed such path--sorry if that sounds once again like<br>
'Korea-bashing'--come from early 20th century Japan, and there also<br>
with KOREA as its 'object' here, as a kind of experimental sample case.<br>
As you see we are right back on track to the theme pre-existing<br>
discourse: key phrase "Yanagi Muneyoshi and colonial aesthetics (Korean<br>
porcelain for Japanese tea ceremony, etc.)" Anyway, Harry Harootunian<br>
and others have in recent years written a lot about such nature<br>
aesthetics/philosophies, how that relates to Fascism, and more. I am<br>
not aware of any such (historical) Korean approach, not before the late<br>
colonial period at least, and there it was again directly influenced by<br>
contemporary Japanese models.<br>
<br>
I have no doubts that everything else you say and describe in the<br>
posting is right on. That, however, does by no means constitute proof<br>
of the existence of a "garden culture" in the way the term "garden<br>
culture" is otherwise used. It means Koreans had gardens, yes, at least<br>
the aristocracy had. It does not mean gardens played any sort of<br>
central, important role in overall traditional Korean culture.<br>
<br>
Still, some of what you describe, e.g. ….<br>
<div> > Lots of prose literature and poems about it, too, including<br>
> a map with references (middle 18th c.)<br>
</div>makes me curious. Could you describe in more detail? I am not yet<br>
understanding what poetry you are referring to.<br>
<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Frank<br>
<div><div><br>
--------------------------------------<br>
Frank Hoffmann<br>
<a href="http://koreaweb.ws" target="_blank">http://koreaweb.ws</a></div></div></blockquote></div><div><br></div>-- <br><font color="#999999">Young-Key Kim-Renaud, Ph.D.</font><br><font color="#999999">Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures</font><br>
<font color="#999999">Professor of Korean Language and Culture and International Affairs </font><br><font color="#999999">The George Washington University </font><br><font color="#999999">801 22nd Street, N.W. (Academic Center, Rome Hall 452) </font><br>
<font color="#999999">Washington, DC 20052 </font><br><font color="#c0c0c0"><font><a href="mailto:kimrenau@email.gwu.edu" target="_blank">kimrenau@gwu.edu</a><br></font><a href="http://departments.columbian.gwu.edu/eall/people/109" target="_blank">http://departments.columbian.gwu.edu/eall/people/109</a></font> <font color="#999999"><br>
Tel: (O) <a href="tel:202-994-7107" value="+12029947107" target="_blank">202-994-7107</a> <br>Fax: (O) 202-9</font><font color="#999999">94-1512</font><br>
</div>