Page 12 - Symbols_of_Identity_Korean_Ceramics_from the Chang Collection

A 250-year-old eight-panel folding screen, which
previously had been loaned to and on display at the
Honolulu Academy of Arts, was donated to the Korea
Foundation. The screen includes paintings of birds and
scenes from Korea’s natural landscape accompanied
with poems written above each panel. Originally it
would have been used in a nobleman’s home during
the Joseon period. These screens not only carried
important symbolic significance to Koreans, for the
particular images and scenes depicted on them, but
they also served as room dividers and as protection
from cool drafts during the winter months. Like
Namdaemun, these screens and other works of art
from the past are important reminders to Koreans of
their cultural traditions and heritage. As Best writes,
“Created objects are not . . . mere passive mirrors of the
past. They participate in shaping the present moment
by affirming and reaffirming through repeated use the
cultural values and meanings given expression through
them” (1991, 15). For Chester Chang, the donations
represent this reaffirmation and provide a gesture of
support for his country and the loss that his fellow
countrymen experienced with the fire at Namdaemun.
Dr. Chester and Mrs. Wanda Chang (Photo by Eric Sueyoshi)
The Chang Collection
for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He has
worked for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Located in East Asia, the Korean peninsula is a
since 1975 and has logged over ten thousand hours of mountainous region bordering China to the north and
flight time in his career. Russia to the extreme northeast. The East Sea (or Sea
of Japan) and the Korean Strait lie to its east and the
In response to the tragic burning of Namdaemun, Yellow Sea lies to its west. While important influences
Chester Chang longed to reach out and help his of government, religion, and styles of art were adopted
countrymen, so he resolved to donate artifacts from his from China throughout Korea’s history, Korea is
collection to Korea. Among his intended donations is a defined by a unique culture with a distinct language
porcelain incense burner which he ceremonially hand and identity.
carried to the site of the Gate. Cut into the domed lid
of the burner are four sets of trigrams (consisting of In many ways, the identity of a culture is personified in
three parallel bars either solid or broken in the middle). its arts. The Korean ceramics featured in this catalogue
Similar trigrams, originating from ancient Chinese are divided into three periods of Korean history: Three
Daoist motifs, can be seen on the South Korean flag Kingdoms and Unified Silla (57 BC–935 AD), Goryeo
today symbolizing heaven, fire, water, and earth. The (918–1392), and Joseon (1392–1910). Buddhism was
meaning attached to this small ceramic piece is powerful the main established religion during the Goryeo period,
and important to Chang on many levels. During the and an inspiration for celadon ceramics such as the
Joseon period of Korean history (1392–1910), this kundika water sprinkler used in Buddhist ceremonies
incense burner would have been used for ancestral (see p.45). During the Joseon period, Confucian ideals
ceremonies. It is now a token of Chang’s understanding of simplicity, honesty, and purity are expressed in the
and desire to help alleviate the pain of this significant white porcelains used for ancestral ceremonies and
symbolic loss to Koreans. (See p.102 for an example of other everyday purposes. Indigenous folk mythology,
a similar incense burner in the collection). or shamanism, is a constant throughout all of Korean

10