Joseon Dynasty Art for College App Season
With Oxford, Cambridge, Georgia Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, and others due 10/15, college application season for international students at Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies has officially begun. Through standardized tests, school exams, extracurriculars, and essays, the seniors have poured almost three years into the endeavor of getting into college.
For students in the Joseon dynasty, the primary means of succeeding in life were government examinations, referred to as the gwageo. The gwageo was split into the sogwa, which determined admission to the Sungkyunkwan (Joseon’s elite institute of education, survived by the current Sungkyunkwan University), and the daegwa, which determined what job positions one would get. Being successful in these exams was extraordinarily hard. For the daegwa, a mere 33 people passed each year, and it was very common for students to study into their 30s and 40s.
It is no surprise, then, that the people of Joseon communicated their desire to pass the gwageo through their art. Below are two paintings that both serve this similar purpose.
The leaping fish in the first work alludes to gateway to success, which in turns points at a desire to pass the examinations or gain an increase in status. Although Sim Sa-jeong, the painter, used a preexisting picture as a guide when producing this work, the liveliness of the waves as well as the scales on the fish distinguish it as a painting of technical finesse.
The second work has a broader meaning. In depicting a falcon, sitting in its glory against a sunrise, this painting by Jeong Hong-rae celebrates new beginnings. The sunrise in particular signifies a new day, and perhaps even a new year, which is appropriate with regard to college apps, since under the Korean semester system, school years basically end in December, with students graduating in February and starting again, a grade older, the subsequent March. For HAFS seniors, the upcoming new year promises liberation from college applications and legal adult status — we just need to hold out for that triumphant red sunrise.
I urge you to try using these photos as your profile or background image. Who knows? These paintings may be the ideal good-luck charm this college app season.
