The purpose of this study is to identify the overall aspects of Koryo pottery by analyzing Koryo Dynasty related various literatures and ruins excavation investigation reports. We identified the range and types of Koryo pottery through the analysis of...
The purpose of this study is to identify the overall aspects of Koryo pottery by analyzing Koryo Dynasty related various literatures and ruins excavation investigation reports. We identified the range and types of Koryo pottery through the analysis of data, tried chronological recording based on it and examined a variety of purposes and nature of pottery.
Looking at the concept and scope of Koryo pottery through literature and excavated artifacts, Koryo pottery is first expressed as pottery·stoneware etc. in the literature and these obviously seem to have been used to refer to materials different from celadon. On the other hand, both non-glazed pottery and glazed pottery are included in pottery and these can be seen in the actual artifacts. Of pottery discovered during the salvage of Mado No. 1·2·3, some pottery can be clearly seen as glazed pottery through visual observation. In particular, the production of greenish-brown pottery that employed the production method of pottery became active after the mid-13th century, the late Koryo Dynasty and it was found that Koryo people recognized it as pottery.
According to the analysis of Koryo pottery kilns, various structural elements do not show certain aspects according to time or location. Basically, it is determined that pottery kilns are the same in terms of Dansilyo (one kiln) with 1 Beonjosi (pottery baking room) and detailed structure has been variously created and changed. Pottery produced in each region must have been used around the region but it could be seen that not a few pottery must have been needed in the royal family and central government offices at that time through the presence of pottery on which government office name is engraved. It is estimated that this pottery may have been provided as a set of celadon through the example of pottery kiln coexisting with celadon kiln or produced in the tile kiln belonging to the central government office located near Gaegyeong. Also, there are examples that pottery kilns used to belong to temples. The reason that Koryo Dynasty pottery kilns were variously installed and operated is thought to be because the production system has fewer constraints than other handiworks. That is, it is difficult to find standard structures of pottery kilns depending on the time and area because pottery has been produced, distributed and consumed more autonomously without being actively organized into the country-based handicrafts and this eventually enabled pottery revealing strong regionalism to be produced.
Pottery excavated at the Koryo Dynasty ruins was analyzed and as a result, jars and bottles are dominant but there was various kinds of pottery in addition to them. Jars include jar with wide shoulders, big jar, short-necked jar, hemispherical jar, flattened Jar, jar with long and slim body, Maebyeong-shape jar, jar with wide rim diameter, extended rim jar etc. While some jars show changes depending on time, some have been used without any significant change throughout Koryo period or across the region, showing the various aspects. Bottles are a typical model showing the most various detailed features among Koryo pottery and transition process depending on time. There are a bottle with abacus bead shape, a bottle with one, two, four-flattened side, hemispherical bottle, small bottle, Maebyeong, trumpet mouthed bottle, gourd-hape bottle, Kundika, long-necked bottle, bottle with cylindrical body etc. By each model, types are divided depending on the form of rim and other properties and some models or forms were preferred depending on time and area. Though small quantities, small food utensils such as bowl, dish, cup, oil lamp etc. have also been excavated. In addition to them, there are water jar, basin, incense burner, jar, Janggo(double headed drums), steamer, ewer, pagoda-shape pottery etc. As shown above, it was found that there have been various types in Koryo pottery in addition to models responsible for simple storage and transportation.
All models of Koryo pottery do not show changes depending on time but it was found that several models have been changed in the flow of early, mid, and late period. The early period are 10th-11th century and in the continuum of the late Unified Silla and the time when pottery affected celadon. bottles with flattened sides, bottles with abacus bead shape, striped bottles that have been mainly produced during late Unified Silla are still being excavated and bottles with flattened sides and bottle with abacus bead shapes were produced as celadon and blackware after the 11th century. During this period, the areas of celadon and pottery were separated to some extent and the impact of pottery was reflected in porcelain more strongly. The middle period is the mid-12th and 13th centuries and a variety of pottery was produced. During this period, both type and quality of porcelain and handicrafts of other materials have been diversified and pottery was also in this flow. In particular, pottery bottles show a lot of similarities in the form to both bowls made of other materials and it was estimated that porcelain and metal products have been used as alternate products through adaptation and imitation. The late period is the end of the late 13th century-14th century and the overall body of a jar becomes longer and the representative jars include jar with long and slim body and jar with two flattened sides. In addition, during the late period, the production of thinly glazed greenish brown pottery became more active than the previous period so it was widely used as for transport or burial mounds. The transition process of Koryo pottery depending on time is also generally agreed with chronological recording of celadon which was in complementary relationship of the same period, showing the close association between the two.
On the other hand, what shows the nature of Koryo pottery the most prominently is the part about its usage and can be seen through the ruins excavation situation. The purpose of pottery can be divided into storage·transport, courteous nature, possibility of being used as measuring instrument etc. The most fundamental nature of Koryo pottery is storage and transport and it was found through the actual ruins that large jar was used while dug in the ground halfway or pottery was used to save water in a ship. Pottery used for ritual was used as the purpose of wishing peace of the building by burying the part near the stylobate and small sticks put on top of the mud plaster to give a slope to a Korean roof of building remains and site and its example is Jindangu. On the other hand, though difficult to confirm it, the role of measuring instrument can be noted as the purpose of Koryo pottery. As shown in wooden materials, pottery jars pulled up from Mado No. 1·2·3 were estimated to contain 2 du, 3 du, 4 du, 5 du. Though not measuring instrument approved by Koryo Country, it was highly likely to be used as actual measuring instrument reflecting the capacity agreed by contemporaries at that time.
Unlike crafts made of other materials including porcelain, it was found that particular models were locally produced intensively or Koryo pottery was produced and preferred as for tomb burial. Hemispherical jars characterized by hemispherical rim were mainly produced and used around the Jeolla region. Hemispherical jars were produced in the important place of Gangjin Samheungri etc. including the important place of Sindeokri Haenamgun, Jinsanri, the Kiln sites of the Jeolla region. Many of them were pulled up from ships that departed from Jeollado and sank in the Yellow Sea and the representative ships include Wando Ship, Taian Ship, Mado No. 1·2.
The regional differences in pottery can be seen more clearly through the analysis of pottery for tomb burial. Jeomyeolmun small bottles are a model in which lingering imagery of striped bottles that were popular nationwide during the late Unified Silla remains strongly and were intensively excavated in Gyeongsang region, especially Gyeongbuk. It can be seen that tradition of Silla was deeply rooted in this region. In addition, the burial of Horyu increased in tombs in Gyeonggi Province, Chungcheong Province during the late Koryo Dynasty while burial of trumpet mouthed bottles is remarkable in tombs in Gyeongsang Province during the same period and this was considered to be related to the aspect that regionalism was stressed due to changes in rural community after the mid Koryo Dynasty.
As shown above, Koryo pottery revealed pottery’s own features strongly and has a fairly deep association with celadon and copper ware which are crafts of different materials during the same period. During the early Koryo period, pottery affected celadon but pottery made by imitating the form of celadon and copper ware as it is or similar to them appeared after the mid-Koryo period.
Despite a lot of excavation materials, Koryo pottery has not been the target of interest for a long time and studies have not been done properly. To overcome these limitations, we were to restore the overall appearance of Koryo pottery by analyzing related literature and excavation materials. Through this process, it can be seen that Koryo pottery is not only sure to be the area responsible for one axis in the pottery history but closely related to crafts made of other materials during the same age.