Shin Yun-bok is one of the two greatest painters of the late Joseon Dynasty. Unlike Kim Hong-do, Shin’s mentor and the other artistic genius in the 18th century, known for his satiric paintings of commoners’ lives, Shin Yun-bok mainly painted about the pleasures of the nobility and affections between man and woman. Shin’s paintings tend to grab our attention more than those by Kim Hong-do, because of his detailed background observations and use of bright colors. Shin’s paintings often featured female entertainers and musical instruments. Today’s episode of Sounds of Korea begins with the musical elements found in Shin Yun-bok’s paintings. The first painting we’re going to talk about is titled “Woman at Yeondang.” This piece is not as colorful as his other ones, but it supposedly shows the real side of Shin the artist. In the painting, lotus flowers are abloom in a small pond in the garden as a woman holding a long tobacco pipe and a reed instrument called saenghwang casually looks on. She appears to be a retired female entertainer, who is reminiscing about her glorious past.

Footsteps/ Saenghwang by Kim Gye-hee

That was a piece titled “Footsteps” with Kim Gye-hee at the saenghwang. Saenghwang supposedly resembles a phoenix with its wings folded and even sounds like the cries of a phoenix. Kim Hong-do used to include a saenghwang when he painted heavenly beings, but Shin drew it as a musical instrument played by gisaeng or female entertainers. There is a painting titled “Juyucheonggang주유청강” or “A Boat Party on the Clean River” in which a female musician is seen blowing on the saenghwang while a young man plays the daegeum. The next painting we’re going to talk about is “Sangchunyaheung상춘야흥” or “An Amusing Day in a Spring Field.” This painting shows a garden picnic in full swing on a fine spring day. The main characters are two noblemen of seemingly high status, who have reclined on a bamboo mat spread out against some flowering trees. Two female entertainers are seated between the men and on the opposite side are musicians playing the geomungo, daegeum and haegeum. You can see that people’s eyes are directed at the geomungo player, either to show that his performance was exceptional or a solo piece. After the musical performance the noblemen would have shared drinks and left records of the day by writing poems and painting pictures.

Yangcheongdodeuri/ Geomungo by Kim Chi-ja, daegeum by Roh Bu-young, haegeum by Yun Moon-sook

The piece you just heard was entitled “Yangcheongdodeuri” with geomungo by Kim Chi-ja, daegeum by Roh Bu-young, and haegeum by Yun Moon-sook. Although many paintings by Shin Yun-bok have survived, not much about his personal life is known. Perhaps that’s because he painted the lives of playboys or female artists, who were looked down upon back then. However, Shin seemed to have special affection for those kinds of people. The most memorable painting in that regard is probably “Ssanggeomdaemu” which means two female dancers, each holding two swords, performing while facing each other. The painting shows seonbi and female entertainers watching the dance on one side and musicians toward the bottom of the scene, with two main characters, two female sword dancers, performing with their long, flowing clothes swirling around them. Other people are dressed in white or pale blue, almost invisible against the background, but the dancers stand out conspicuously in their vivid red skirts. The painting looks more dynamic and engaging because the women dancers are holding swords as big as the ones used by generals. Let’s wrap up this episode of Sounds of Korea with “Daepungnyu대풍류” performed by the professors of the School of Traditional Korean Arts at the Korea National University of Arts.

Daepungnyu / Performed by the Korea National University of Arts professors