Korean Magpie and Tiger Folk Paintings

I would like to share a modest post during these increasingly troubling times about the unique spirit of our Korean ancestors positively expressed in the 민화 folk paintings 작호도 jakhodo.

While seeking to learn more about our Korean heritage, I have developed a great admiration for the symbolism our ancestors shared when hanging such paintings of 까치 호랑이 magpie and tiger from the humblest home to the royal palace, paintings ubiquitously seeking the protection in the enduring spirit of the magpie and tiger which have lived together within the indomitable Korean people and culture for more than 5000 years.

Traditional Painting: Window on the Korean Mind

Korea Foundation 2010, p. 119

Paintings of Magpies and Tigers: Jakhodo

“Jakhodo are composed of a tiger under a large pine tree in which the magpie sits squawking. The anthrophomorphized tiger wears a prosperous and comic expression. The reason for depicting the fierce tiger in such a friendly manner lies in the long held Korean belief that the tiger is the messenger for the mountain deities as well as a clever animal that assists human beings.

The magpie is believed to be the harbinger of good news and, at the same time, the messenger of the shrine deities who oversee human fortune and misfortune. The shrine deities are said to send the magpie to the four corners of the earth to relay their prophecies to the tiger.”

(It seems Koreans invented a sense of cuteness in how the tiger was depicted long before modern times!)


http://m.tongilnews.com/news/articleVie … xno=100138

Short but nice video showing traditional minhwa folk painting techniques and meaning behind the art.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYndKzq6lgE