On Traditional Furniture In The Later Joseon Period And Its Relationship With Ming Style Furniture

The friendly relationship between China and Korea comes from ancient times, especially in Joseon Era. At that time, Korean admired China, absorbed Chinese culture of Ming Dynasty actively. And the cultural infiltration was running through the life of Joseon literati. Furthermore, this also made impact on other classes. Concerning about the cultural interchange, this thesis analyzed the influences of Ming-furniture at late Joseon period.Development of Joseon Era's furniture can be sectored into two parts, through which the dynasty faced the Japanese Invasion of Renchen (1592—1598), Disaster of Dingyou (1597—1598), and Houjin Invasion of Bingzi (1636—1637). These Turmoil changed the county greatly, while in the filed of handicraft industry, by which'private craftsmanship system'was centered and took directly impacts on the furniture manufactures. Therefore, we call the late part as the peak of traditional Joseon furniture, namely for its unique types and versatilities.In Joseon living building, people usually took the right angle sitting position, but the furniture was affected by Chinese folk belief and philosophy, that Confucianism played a very important role, and spreading all over the politics, economics, culture and social life. Three cardinal guides and five constant virtues in feudal ethical code was the main point in Confucianism, that caused the living styles and the living spaces of Joseon divided into man-belonged and woman-belonged, by which indeed affected the styles of the furniture.The atheistic thinking of late Joseon furniture was similar to Ming-Furniture, while the literati had made so much important actions on it. Though the outcomes of thinking and arts of literati in two countries got a bit different, the affected Joseon got the same ideals of their Ming colleagues.With the different living styles, the types of furniture of two countries still remained divergences, but the choices of wood, craftsmanship, and decorative techniques got the parallel developing roads. So the analyzing works in this thesis are between the styles and techniques of the two.In conclusion, affected by the cultural interchanges with Ming and its Furniture, the late Joseon Furniture still had its local living base, that finally a mature style of literati at that time developed.