About This Print
One of at least six prints in a series depicting various aspects of Korean life. While published in the 1950s, the scenes are reminiscent of the time of the artist's residency in Korea from 1909 through the end of its colonization by Japan in 1945. Five wood totems, jangseung in Korean, which serve as village guardians and are traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark village boundaries, stand along the edge of a road as children play and villagers pass by.Korean Totems
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jangseung
Jangseungs are usually adorned with inscriptions describing the personae of the carved figures along the front of the poles. "Male" jangseungs usually bear inscriptions in Hangul or Hanja reading "Great General of All Under Heaven," or Cheonha-daejanggun (Hangul: 천하대장군, Hanja: 天下大將軍) and are decorated with headpieces resembling those worn by Korean aristocrats or scholars. "Female" jangseungs, on the other hand, wear less elaborate headpieces and usually bear inscriptions reading "Female General of the Underworld," or Jiha-yeojanggun (Hangul: 지하여장군, Hanja: 地下女將軍) or "Great General of the Underworld," or Jiha-daejanggun (Hangul: 지하대장군, Hanja: 地下大將軍).1
last revision:
Korean villagers pray to the jangseung or village guardians Dec 1 1919
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #1360 |
| Title/Description | Totems (note: a descriptive title as print itself is untitled) |
| Series | Korean Life 韓国の生活 (series title also seen as 朝鮮風俗 "Korean Customs") Series title in Korean is 조선 풍속. |
| Artist | Hiyoshi Mamoru (1885-?) |
| Signature | M. Hiyoshi |
| Seal | Mamoru 守 in seal script |
| Date | original edition printed in 1952 according to the Korean National Folk Museum |
| Edition | later edition; first editions in this series are marked as such and dated to 1951-1952 |
| Publisher |  |
| Carver |  |
| Printer |  |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - light overall toning; printers mark lower left margin; two tape remnants from previous mounting top margin verso |
| Genre | shin hanga |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | oban yoko-e |
| H x W Paper | 11 3/8 x 16 in. (28.9 x 40.6 cm) |
| H x W Image | 9 3/8 x 14 1/4 in. (23.8 x 36.2 cm) |
| Collections This Print | National Folk Museum of Korea Collection No. 민속051019 |
| Reference Literature | |
6/23/2020
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