Quick Answer: How Did Song China and Goryeo Exchange Culture?
The Song dynasty (宋朝, Sòng Cháo) and the Korean kingdom of Goryeo (高丽, Gāolì) exchanged books, objects and skills through diplomatic missions, maritime trade and religious networks. A Song embassy member, Xu Jing (徐兢, Xú Jīng), recorded what he saw in Goryeo in 1123. Other sources show how Koreans collected Buddhist writings and made celadon using techniques they adapted to local tastes. [1][2][4][6][7][8]
- Sea routes: Ships linked Mingzhou, now Ningbo, with the approaches to Goryeo’s capital.
- Books: Korean monks studied in Song China and compiled texts for readers at home.
- Ceramics: Goryeo potters developed their own forms and inlaid decoration. [2][4][7][8][9]
The embassy report, Buddhist writings and surviving ceramics document different kinds of contact. [1][2][7][9]
A Song visitor’s account can tell us what an embassy noticed at a foreign court. A Korean monk’s catalogue and a celadon vessel show what Goryeo scholars and workshops did with ideas and techniques from abroad.
How Diplomacy and Sea Routes Connected the Courts
The Song dynasty and Goryeo resumed formal relations in 1071. Goryeo also dealt with the Liao to its north, and the rise of the Jin in the early twelfth century changed the balance among all three courts. In 1123 the Song wanted Goryeo to accept investiture from its court and end its formal relationship with the Liao. Goryeo did not accept those terms. It could receive an embassy without adopting the Song’s position toward its northern neighbors. [1][2][5]
One maritime route ran from Mingzhou on the Chinese coast to the harbor on the Yeseong River near Gaegyeong, the Goryeo capital. Xu Jing’s party took that route. Commercial traffic also connected the two regions, although rules governing foreign trade and tribute ships changed during the Song. The historian Eunmi Go shows that Song authorities at first generally admitted foreign ships as tribute vessels while leaving commercial voyages to ships based in China. The rules changed in the twelfth century, and the classifications in the records changed with them. [2][4][6]
What Xu Jing Saw in Goryeo in 1123
Xu Jing reached Goryeo with the Song embassy in 1123 and spent about a month there. He completed the Illustrated Account of the Xuanhe Embassy to Goryeo (宣和奉使高丽图经, Xuānhé Fèngshǐ Gāolì Tújīng) in 1124. It records the sea route and aspects of court life, including ceremonies, clothing and objects used in formal settings. [1][2][3]
The account reflects what a Song visitor was shown and what he thought his readers would recognize. He interpreted unfamiliar court ceremonies through his knowledge of Chinese classical rites. His judgments tell us about the visitor’s expectations as well as about the host court. The original illustrations did not survive. The National Palace Museum records a later printing made by Xu’s nephew in 1167. Its text can still be read against objects from the period, although the pictures Xu intended to accompany it are gone. [1][2][3]
How Uicheon Collected and Used Buddhist Books
The Goryeo prince and monk Uicheon (义天, Yìtiān) traveled to Song China to study Buddhism in the eleventh century. He collected writings and later compiled a catalogue of doctrinal works. His project gathered texts from more than one place and gave Korean readers a way to find related commentaries and teachings. [7]
The trip mattered because study and exchange continued after the traveler returned. Uicheon and his collaborators did editorial work in Goryeo. They selected and organized doctrinal writings from different schools of Buddhism and used printing to circulate them. Uicheon’s own writings and catalogue are evidence of what he wanted to preserve. The collection was not limited to books he personally carried back from China. [7]
One work listed in his catalogue around 1090 was the Fayuan zhulin, a large Chinese Buddhist encyclopedia. It was also included in a canon printed in Fuzhou around the same period. Its presence in both projects shows how the same book could enter different collections on either side of the sea. [7][11]
How Goryeo Potters Developed Their Own Celadon
Goryeo potters learned from Chinese celadon traditions, including Yue, Yaozhou and Ru wares. By the early twelfth century, major Korean kiln centers such as Buan and Gangjin were producing wares for Goryeo patrons. One development was inlaid celadon, called sanggam. Potters cut designs into clay, filled them with contrasting slip and applied the translucent glaze. [8]
Xu Jing recorded that people in Goryeo used a term meaning kingfisher color for their green-glazed ceramics. He compared some of their wares with pieces from Yuezhou and the Ru kilns in China. The comparison shows how he explained the wares to Song readers and preserves a description of how their makers or users named the color locally. [2][10]
A maebyeong bottle in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dated to the second half of the twelfth century, shows cranes and clouds inlaid beneath a green glaze. It documents a later stage of local production. Its museum date rules it out as one of the vessels the embassy saw in 1123. [1][8][9]
FAQs About Song–Goryeo Cultural Exchange
Is Goryeo the same name as Koryŏ?
Yes. Goryeo and Koryŏ are different romanizations of the same Korean name. The kingdom lasted from 918 to 1392. [1][2][8]
Does the Illustrated Account still contain Xu Jing’s original pictures?
No. Xu Jing’s work combined text and pictures, but the original illustrations did not survive. The text is preserved in later editions and is available in an annotated English translation. [2][3]
Was Goryeo celadon imported from China?
Goryeo potters made celadon in Korea. Their early techniques drew on Chinese wares, and Goryeo workshops later developed distinctive inlaid designs and vessel styles. [8][9]
資料來源
[1] National Museum of Korea. Goryeo: The Glory of Korea
[2] Xu Jing, translated and annotated by Sem Vermeersch. A Chinese Traveler in Medieval Korea: Xu Jing’s Illustrated Account of the Xuanhe Embassy to Koryŏ
[3] National Palace Museum, Taipei. Illustrated Account of the Xuanhe Embassy to Goryeo
[4] National Institute of Korean History. New History of Korea: The Maritime Routes to Song China
[5] Kim Bo-gwang. Diplomatic Issues in Goryeo–Song Relations in the Early Twelfth Century
[6] Eunmi Go. A Shift in Song Tribute Policy and the Emergence of the Terms Koryŏ Merchants and Japanese Merchants
[7] Richard D. McBride II, trans.. Doctrine and Practice in Medieval Korean Buddhism: The Collected Works of Ŭich’ŏn
[8] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Korea: Goryeo Celadon
[9] The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Maebyeong with Cranes and Clouds
[10] Yun Yong-i, translation published by the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. The Origin and Development of Goryeo Sanggam Celadon
[11] Richard D. McBride II. Ŭich’ŏn and Why the Fayuan zhulin Is in the Taishō