 |
| An excellent 19th-century Daoist-flavored San-shin taeng-hwa from Dr. Zo's former collection. The tiger is classic Korean folk-art, crazy-eyed and looking both ferocious and cute. His tail rises upwards in a gentle S-curve, decorated with leopard-spots. San-shin's right hand pets the beast, while his left holds the typical white-crane feather-fan. His head is covered with a crumpled cloth, in the style of a Daoist hermit (rather than the usual royal topknot-holder). The eyebrows are very long in the fashion of a Buddhist Na-han or Daoist "Immortal" (see page 73 in the first edition of my book); the beard is very full and snow-white, another Daoist touch. But the most striking aspect of this unique painting is how San-shin's skull is over-sized, bald and buldging in front. This is a conflation with the North-Star-Spirit in Korea's Chil-seong paintings, derived from the Chinese Daoist God of Longevity (see pages 107-109 for more on this). |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| GREAT ANTIQUE SAN-SHIN PAINTINGS From Zo Zayong's Emille Museum (museum now closed and collection dispersed) |
| One of the very best, from the early 19th Century. San-shin is bald and hat-less and has long grey eyebrows, like a Buddhist Nahan (enlightened adept); there is nothing in his hands. The most unusual thing is the two dongja boys shown in casual, amusing, unique activities -- one is feeding the tiger from a holy-water bottle as if it were a baby, while the other (holding a fancy fly-wisk) holds out his hand as if feeling rain-drops! Beautiful flowers abound... an elaborate golden incense-burner is near the center. |
| Another excellent one, from the late 19th Century. San-shin has standard hair and headgear, and holds a bullocho sprig while petting his tiger. The dongja boy offers sacred peaches-of-immortality and a not-too-subtle root as male-virility symbol (a bit echoed by the unrealistic twin mountain-peaks above him). The tiger is the amazing feature here -- fat and with psychedelic green eyes, it seems more like an overgrown house-cat than the wild and fearsome Lord of the Forests! This painting is certainly the ancestor of the one in the middle of this page. |
| The Wired and the Zonked: On the left, San-shin wears a traditional horsehair kat that looks almost like a cowboy hat (extremely rare), with a fancy beaded chin-strap like Korean military officers used to wear. His tiger has had too much coffee (tho his tail droops), and a guardian-figure holds a rank-symbol sun-shade (extremely rare). On the right, San-shin wears a stiff felt court-official's hat, his outer robe is green (extremely rare), and his tiger has yet to taste his coffee this morning. |
 |
| The antique on the left was copied by Horae in exact detail to make the new version shown on the right. The dongja boy-attendant holds a Zen meditation-master's fly-wisk. Note the leaf-mantle on the boy and the (sacred) white tiger; both motifs are fairly rare. |
| Horae's very favorite Korean Tiger folk-painting, from the early19th Century, displaying the Kkachi-horangi [magpie and tiger] motif. This classic theme shows up in some San-shin paintings, such as the great one in the Chung-ak-dan [Central Peak Altar] at Shinwon-sa (see pages 154-55 and 76-80 in the first edition of my book). |