Visual History of Korea
Gongjae Yun Du-seo, avant-garde painter of Joseon

Korea's National Treasure No. 240 the portrait of Gong-Jae Yun Du-seo is a strikingly unforgettable image.

One of the Joseon Dynasty's best known Seonbi, a virtuous scholar and intellectual and a brilliant Painter Gongjae Yun Du-seo (1668 - 1715) is credited with changing the Korean Portraiture landscape with his masterpiece self-portrait.

During the Joseon period, a nobleman's beard was a symbol of his authority.

Just like the portraits of former presidents hanging along the halls of the White House, Confucian academies have a shrine building where scholars and teachers of significance were memorialized with portraits of them hung with their memorial tablet at the shrine.

For Joseon men of stature and significance, a single portrait of themselves is all that is left of a man after his lifelong accomplishments. The invaluable portraits were commissioned to be hung over their neo-confucian academy shrine after their passing, a privileged practice.

In his self-portrait, Yun Du-seo's piercing stare with his lion's mane realistically drawn to scale, with fine black ink lines which are less than half millimeter thick at the thickest in width, depicting him as vivid and as sharp as in a modern portrait photograph. Seeing Yun Do-seo's portrait would have been an overwhelmingly powerful and memorable experience for the viewer.

Yun painstakingly drew his portrait on the Hanji paper. Some of the fine lines depicting his beard running as long as 60 cm long.

To draw hairlines with a black ink and brush 60cm long would present technical challenges with even modern painting brushes.

Researchers figured out that a Joseon painting brush made from mouse whiskers is the only tool that is capable of painting long thin lines using traditional calligraphy ink.

In Neo-confusian Joseon period, honoring parents and ancestors included never to desecrate one's body by shearing any hair or get a tattoo. Doing so would mar the innate requirements for filial piety obligations.

One of the old sayings in the Classic of Filial Piety book called Hyo-gyeong (효경), which is based on Confucius' teachings to Zengza, one of his disciples, says "The beginning of filial piety starts with preserverving the body and hair from parents." And ending with "The completion of filial piety is to be successful in life and making a name for yourself for future generations."

Cutting off part of the body in portrait paintings was unheard of in the 17th and 18th centuries during the life of famed painter Gongjae Yun Du-seo. But that's exactly what Yun did with his self-portrait.

Yun’s “in your face” self-portrait was an avant-garde expression of his masculinity at the time when most neo-confusian scholars had their portraits painted with more indirect poses.

Yun's self-portrait with intense emphasis on his eyes and his sideburns pointing like an angry soldier, does not fit the scholarly seonbi image of a man indulging in painting of common people and detailed map making. Yun was ahead of his time in self-expression through his self-portrait which people had not seen.

When Yun Du-seo painted his self-portrait, he used a nickel mirror called Baek-dong-gyeong which was made in Japan, to see details of himself in reflection images, according to document records at the Gosan Yunseondo Artifact Museum.

Long before photography arrived in the Joseon Kingdom (1393-1910), ancient art of portraiture of the king was called Uh-Jin (어진) in which portrait artists were challenged to draw detailed portraits that included a view into the inner spiritual world of the subject.

During the Joseon Dynasty's hyperrealism portrait culture, portraiture of men of stature was called Sa-Jin (사진) which literally means photograph, where portrait artists were challenged to draw in exacting detailed portraits in likeness of the subject.

One of Joseon period's expressions says "if one piece of hair isn't exact, the portrait might as well be of someone else."

The Korean tradition of portraits requires paintings to show the inner spirit of the person.

The Korean Hanji paper and silk in which most portraits are painted on, are made of translucent canvas where the painter can apply paint not only on the front but the back of the canvas to achieve desired complexions and tones in portraits.

When modern technology was used to analyze Yun's self-portrait, researchers confirmed that Yun Du-seo painted his portrait on both sides of a Hanji paper.

Despite known for his self-portrait, the most famous in all of Korean history, Painter Yun Du-seo is often eclipsed by his Great Grandfather Yun Seon-do(1587 - 1671) who was a poet, politician, and teacher to King Injo's children. Injo was the grandson of King Seonjo and the sixteenth ruler of Joseon.

The Yun family of Haenam did very well back in the day. Their family's wealth has been passed down through the generations and has been well protected over centuries of war and conflicts in Korean history.

The Yun family of Haenam has been a fixture for the past six hundred years, according to the museum. "There are over 50,000 Yun family descendents," said Yun Young-yea who is a 10th generation descendant of Gosan Yun Seon-do.

"Preserving family treasures was the job of the many nameless daughter-in-laws of the Yun family over the years." said Yun Young-yea, a docent at the Gosan Yunseondo Artifact Museum.

Yun Du-seo, who lived as an elder son in his generation, was in the front and center of the Yun clan of Haenam, inheriting his family's vast wealth but lived a life of a Seonbi, who did not show off his wealth.

True to the calling of a life of Seonbi, a learned sage, an intellectual with knowledge, wisdom and character, Yun Du-seo lived a modest life, often sharing his wealth with poor people.

"Yun Du-seo often hid his burning of promissory notes from people who were indebted to his family, erasing their debts" said Yun Young-yea, the docent.

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