Memorable Moments, Welcoming Banquets in the Spring

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Welcoming Banquets for the Governor of Pyeong-an

The governor of Pyeong-an was a junior second-rank official who exercised enormous power all over Pyeongan-do by overseeing its administrative, judicial, and military affairs. Therefore, the governorship of Pyeongan-do was an honored post that almost all Joseon officials dreamed of someday holding. This status of the governor of Pyeong-an inspired the famous saying “You can’t even make someone the governor of Pyeong-an if he isn’t willing.” The main duty of the governor was to wisely govern the people of Pyeongan-do and maintain a peaceful and prosperous society on behalf of the king.

This ideal was visualized in Welcoming Banquets for the Governor of Pyeongan. Comprising the three scenes “Banquet at Yeongwangjeong Pavilion”, “Banquet at Bubyeongnu Pavilion”, and “Boating on a Moonlit Night”, this painting exemplifies documentary court paintings in the late Joseon period that vividly described even minute details of royal banquets and other events as if the viewers were observing them on the spot. In addition, it reflects regional features of Pyeongyang and the life and leisure activities of the people of Pyeongando in the late Joseon period. This documentary painting provides detailed descriptions and rich information as seen from the perspective of the painter, and it is even more meaningful since it also records the lives of ordinary people and local features of Pyeongyang at the time.

from Abstract of this book

Welcoming Banquets for the Governor of Pyeongan is a painting depicting a banquet held to celebrate the inauguration of the governor of Pyeong-an in the late Joseon Dynasty. “Banquet at Yeongwangjeong Pavilion”, “Banquet at Bubyeongnu Pavilion”, and “Boating on a Moonlit Night” comprising the three scenes.

This painting was presented in the digital media special exhibition <Memorable Moments, Welcoming Banquets in the Spring> held at the National Museum of Korea in 2020.

We designed and produced a catalog for this exhibition.
We arranged these three horizontally long paintings so that they could be unfolded at the beginning of each chapter. On the front and back of the cover, “Boating on a Moonlit Night” works were placed.