The purpose of this study is to ascertain the design element in traditional palaces among those in the neighboring three nations of East Asia, notably Korea, China and Japan.
The basic assumption underlying this study is that these northeastern Asian...
The purpose of this study is to ascertain the design element in traditional palaces among those in the neighboring three nations of East Asia, notably Korea, China and Japan.
The basic assumption underlying this study is that these northeastern Asian states have been developed a unique inter-cultural ties over long periods of time in history, culminating in their respective design cultures. Moreover, there are the similarities as well as dissimilarities more conspicuous than the traditional palaces since the traditional palace is the intensive space of the design elements and in better preservation than any other building. Undoubtly the ultimate goal to be pursued, by so doing, has to be inquiry into the identical prototype of Korean design element.
It takes three steps to proceed this study. Firstly, it needs to be established the analysis framework from the documents. In second step, the design elements - material, pattern, and color - should be collected and investigated through the observation of the actual traditional palaces - the Changduckung, the Forbidden City, the Nijo castle -. The third step is the analysis of the results of the investigation of the design elements from step two.
The complex relationship between man and nature is reflected in use of materials. The cultures of East Asia, finely balanced between survival and extinction, sought to tame the natural world. They transformed its raw materials so as to more convenient human life. In this study, the material of the traditional palace is characterized by the actual use. It is to be noticed that the mainly common characteristics of the material is 'naturalism'. That is, the kind of material is differed from the country - marble or granite, nanmu or cypress -, the East Asian countries have similarity and make use of their own native materials.
The East Asian color palette is rich in symbolic meaning, mostly these color are in harmony with the nature and human life. In this study, the color of the traditional palace is characterized by the actual color use. The colors of China are various, but they concentration R~G, middle/high level of chroma. In Korea, the colors in palace are distributed in YR/GY, middle/low chroma, relatively higher value. While the major features of Japan color are YR/achromatic with middle/low levels of value and chroma.
In the West, the pattern is appreciated by an aesthetic level, but the East Asian pattern is a symbolic alphabet deeply rooted in religious and folk beliefs. Patterns are themselves often used as decorative elements, and they also serve as communication methods and talismans to dispel evil influences and attract good fortune. The difference of the respective country comes from the expression style of the pattern : the Chinese express the magnificent pattern with various color, the Korean do the moderate pattern with harmonious color with the nature and the Japanese do the stylized pattern with the material color.
To sum up similarities and dissimilarities among the design element in traditional palaces of Korea, China, and Japan is as the following : It is to be noticed that the mainly common characteristics of the artistic design are 'naturalism', 'harmonious ideas' and 'confucianism'. But the representation style of the design element is differed from the country. : The typical features of China are symmetry, glassy surface by artificial process, the meandered curve, the magnificent pattern and the contrastable color. In Japan, the mathematical asymmetry, made-up rough surface by artificial skill, decorative pattern with abbreviation and achromatic color are important feature of the design element. While the major features of Korean design element are asymmetrical balance with nature, rough surface by natural process, moderate pattern and harmonious color.