Painter of Mongyu Dowondo (Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land)

In September 2009 the line in front of the National Museum of Korea stretched long and winding. The visitors were there patiently waiting to see a painting, which was in Korea only for a nine-day exhibition. They all fervently wished to see a national treasure, which had returned to its home 13 years after the Early Joseon National Treasure Exhibit in 1996 and would go back to Japan after a short showing. That masterpiece was Mongyu Dowondo (Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land) by renowned artist Ahn Gyeon of the early Joseon era.

One of the three biggest names in Joseon art, Ahn’s career ranged from King Sejong’s reign to King Sejo’s. He was known for his landscape painting, as well as portraits and ink drawings of four plants. His painting style was so impressive that it had influenced artists through the mid-Joseon period.

However, almost none of his paintings survive to this day with only Mongyu Dowondo verified as his creation. No record of his life, not even the dates of his birth or death, remains. All that is known about this great painter is that his family was from Jigok and his penname was Hyoendongja. His career started as a painter in Dohwawon, the government art office for drawing national events. Though a Dohwawon employee could advance only up to the grade six level in government hierarchy, King Sejong promoted him to grade four, indicating how much the king valued Ahn’s talent. But it was King Sejong’s third son, Prince Anpyeong, who gave Ahn wings.

Friendship with Prince Anpyeong

In the Joseon era painters were commoners barred from attaining the yangban or noblemen status. But there were many aristocrats who enjoyed painting as a hobby and subsequently struck up friendships with painters.

Prince Anpyeong was a calligrapher whose skills were applauded even in the Ming court in China. He was also an art collector who started gathering paintings and calligraphy works in his teens, but he favored only Chinese painters. The only Joseon painter the prince cherished was Ahn Gyeon.

Prince Anpyeong’s full support enabled Ahn to study famed Chinese paintings and incorporated their painting styles to create his own. His unique painting style was best manifested in Mongyu Dowondo, which was based on a dream the prince had.

Peach blossom garden in his dream

Prince Anpyeong dreamed one night in 1447 that he was walking in a garden filled with peach blossoms. The next day he called Ahn to tell him about the dream and commission a painting based on it.

A fourth-century Chinese poet described a beautiful peach blossom garden as a peaceful world without worries. Since then the peach garden came to represent paradise in the East. Upon Prince Anpyeong’s request, Ahn set to work on the painting and in just three days completed a piece measuring 38.7 centimeters in length and 106.5 centimeters in width.

Drawn on silk, Mongyu Dowondo depicts a peaceful landscape with dozens of peach trees and bizarre rock formations framing a stream and a waterfall. Unlike conventional painting scrolls, the narrative of this painting progresses from the lower left side to the upper right side. To the left is the real world, which stands contrast to the idealistic land on the right.

Applauded as a work of wonder and mystery by early Joseon era scholar Seong Hyeon, Mongyu Dowondo was lost in 1453 when King Sejong’s second son, Prince Suyang, staged a coup to rise to the throne. Ahn survived the usurpation but his work was nowhere to be found. But in 1893 Mongyu Dowondo turned up mysteriously in Kagoshima, Japan and was named a national treasure of Japan. Perhaps when Japan returns this precious Korean artifact, we may be able to find out more about Ahn Gyeon’s life and work.