A closer look at the
Art of Tanchong

by Se-hyon Jong
Korean Air Morning Calm, November 1998
(photos added by Tom Coyner)

One of the most exciting features of Korea that strikes first-time visitors to the country are the intricate patterns painted in brilliant colors on the ceilings, walls, columns and eaves of Buddhist temples, ancient government buildings and statues.

This Korean-style decorative painting is called tanchong, from Juring the Korean words for red (tan) Kingdom and blue (chong). Three other basic colors — yellow, black and white — were employed in this art, further heightening the beauty of the buildings they adorned.

Using tanchong on buildings had a practical, as well as an aesthetic, side; the paint seals and preserves the wood and conceals any rough surfaces.

The system of patterns was classified into four different types depending on the theme of the design and the position of the paintings on the building. They were moricho, pyolchihwa, pidanmuni, tandokmuni. Moricho was the used for painting the ends of supporting beams and the corners of buildings such as the tip of eaves.

Pyolchihwa was usually depicted in patterns based on various animals such as dragons, lions and cranes, and the four "gentleman" plants: plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo.

Pidanmuni patterns included elegant, geometric designs, while tandokmuni patterns involved designs of single flowers or animals or a single geometric design.

Some scholars agree that tanchong designs originated with Neolithicinhabitants on the Korean Peninsula, who tattooed themselves withcolored patterns to ward off evil spirits. Since no remains have survived of ancient buildings painted with tanchong, it is difficult to trace the exact period in Korean history when people started painting buildings. However tanchong paintings have been found in old tombs of the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC-AD 688).

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Added November 21,  1998