Kim Hong-do
Kim Hong-do, 1745-1806
Overview of Chapter K : Examines the interplay between Joseon Korea’s reforming monarch Jeongjo, Confucian values, and the rise of an artist who overcame his middle class background to become one of Korea’s most beloved painters. Kim’s work captured everyday life in late eighteenth century Korea, while his predilection for independent thinking made him a controversial member of the Joseon court. The chapter devotes considerable attention to the Confucian examination system, painting genres, and Joseon court life and politics.
additional Resources and scholarship
Discussion Questions and Writing Prompts:
1. What role should merit have in hiring and promotion? Is it better to hire/promote a person of great talent who you don't know or to hire/promote a less talented person who you do?
2. What was your reaction do the death of Prince Sado? Did it change your view of either King Yeongjo or King Jeongjo?
3. Does Prince Sado seem similar to or different from Ibrahim I? Why?
Classroom activities:
1. Pick one of Kim's genre paintings (like The Village School) and try to replicate it.
2. Draw a scene from your life in the style of Kim's genre paintings.
3. Kim's genre work “Plowing the Field” is not included as an illustration in the book or on this website. Based on the description in the text, try to draw it as precisely as you can.
4. Research the Nagasaki Martyrs, including the commemorations of the event in Catholic nations around the world. How is that event seen today?
Links to New Scholarship
• Sok Chul Hong, Christopher Paik, and Yangkeun Yun, "Family Matters in a Meritocracy: Networks, Exams, and Officialdom in the Joseon Dynasty," Research Gate, March 2020, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yangkeun_Yun3/publication/334837021_Family_Matters_in_a_Meritocracy_Networks_Exams_and_Officialdom_in_the_Joseon_Dynasty/links/5e6110faa6fdccac3ceb628d/Family-Matters-in-a-Meritocracy-Networks-Exams-and-Officialdom-in-the-Joseon-Dynasty.pdf
Photo Gallery for chapter k
Map for Chapter K: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows the places in Korea that were important to Kim.
“Portrait of a Meritorious Subject,” painted scroll on silk, anonymous, 18th century, courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.
"Draft Portraits of Meritorious Officials," c. 1728,"by anonymous, c, 1728, photograph by the author, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, March 2016. Such drafts allowed for greater artistic freedom than final portraits and despite being passed down to the descendants of the subject of the painting, few of these drafts remain.
"Village School" by Kim Hong-do in the Album of Genre Paintings, late 18th century, courtesy of the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/relic/search/list
Used with explicit permission.
"Rice Threshing," by Kim Hong-do in the Album of Genre Paintings, late 18th century, courtesy of the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/relic/search/list
Used with explicit permission.
Sixth panel in an eight-panel folding screen entitled “Pictorial Records of Travel” (1778) by Kim Hong-do, Courtesy of the National Museum of Korea, Seoul.
Used with explicit permission.