U Jin Ho, a representative Korean artist, and his remains
U Jin Ho was a realistic painter who was born with the mean status and devoted himself in painting from his childhood to work out his own destiny.
U Jin Ho is famous for his painting “Picture of a Rural Life”.
From his childhood, he had a deep sympathy for farmers who suffer all kinds of grinding toil but bore hatred against aristocrats and landlords who bleed the people white.
“Picture of a Rural Life” reflects his emotions, feelings and experiences.
In his picture, U Jin Ho depicted seasonal farming, ploughing, weeding and threshing which are the most important in the yearly work as well as spinning thread, various events, festivals and folk customs according to the months or seasons.
The various life scenes shown in the picture are so rich in national sentiments and local color that they give friendly feeling to the viewers. In the “Moon-viewing”, men and women of all ages come out to see the full moon rising in the evening of January 15th of the lunar month. And in the “Weeding” after sweaty works, men help women put down the load and have delicious lunch made by the women in the wooden basin.
The life of different classes and sections like peasants, landlords, aristocrats, bureaucrats, monks and merchants are shown extensively in his painting as well.
“Entirely Different Aspects of Life” depicts the wretched life of the people who suffer from tough physical work, in contrast with the luxurious life of aristocrats and scholars in order to show the class relations and exploitation by aristocrats and landlords.
“Picture of a Rural Life” reflects the inequality of society and customs of Korean people in the feudal Joson dynasty thus it has instructive value and significance in the study of custom.
