[Gallery Walk] The Primitive Desire in a Fixed Form... How Moran Preserved the Royal Spirit

National Palace Museum Special Exhibition 'Hello, Moran' Showcases 120 Royal Artifacts Featuring Peonies
Some Folding Screens and Palanquins Used in Funeral Rites... Formality Emphasizes Solemn and Reverent Atmosphere

On the 6th, a press preview for the special exhibition "Hello, Moran" was held at the National Palace Museum in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This exhibition, which explores Joseon royal court culture through the motif of the peony flower, features over 120 artifacts including Changdeokgung palace costumes, peony folding screens, and palace tableware adorned with peony designs. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Since ancient times, the peony has been regarded as a symbol of good fortune (吉祥). Its origin traces back to the Northern Song Confucian scholar Zhu Dunyi (1017?1073) and his work "Ailian Shuo," where the peony was likened to a wealthy person. The iconography of primal desires was mainly expressed through patterns. In Korea, these patterns were consistently used from the Goryeo period through the late Joseon dynasty. Especially within the Joseon royal family, peony motifs were frequently adorned on various daily items and decorative objects to pray for prosperity and abundance.

Wedding items are a representative example. The bride’s wedding dress, pearl fans (진주선, Jinju-seon), cushions, and hair ribbons (댕기, daenggi) were richly embroidered with peonies. Folding screens, which played a major role in weddings, also featured peony motifs. The oldest extant wedding record, the "Sohyeon Seja Garye Dogam Uigwe (昭顯世子嘉禮都監儀軌·1627)," confirms the presence of peony folding screens.

The National Palace Museum of Korea’s special exhibition "Hello, Peony," held on the 7th, displays about 120 royal relics featuring peonies. These include mother-of-pearl furniture, horn-inlaid boxes, blue-and-white porcelain, embroidered items, wedding garments, and palanquins, all highlighting the peony as a symbol of wealth and glory. However, in the folding screens, palanquins, and chairs placed at the end of the exhibition, the meaning of the peony shifts slightly to represent the authority and dignity of the Joseon royal family.

On the 6th, a press preview for the special exhibition "Hello, Moran" was held at the National Palace Museum in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This exhibition, which explores Joseon royal court culture through the motif of the peony flower, features over 120 artifacts including Changdeokgung palace costumes, peony folding screens, and palace tableware adorned with peony designs. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

On the palanquin used to transport the ancestral tablets (신주, sinju), peonies are visible from all sides. Each wooden compartment is carved with flower motifs and painted red. This is similar to the "Jerye Uigwe Do (祭禮儀軌圖)" folding screen illustrating the sinyeo (神輿, a type of bier used in Jongmyo rituals) in its first panel. It is said to have been used for rituals at small to medium-sized altars.

Kim Dong-young, director of the National Palace Museum of Korea, explained, "Most ritual objects used in funerary rites (흉례, hyungnye) honoring the king and queen as ancestral spirits were decorated with peonies. This was to wish that the deceased would enjoy comfort in the afterlife as they did in life, and to hope for the royal family’s peace and prosperity."

The folding screen is a representative funerary relic featuring peonies. It was typically arranged around the coffin and ancestral tablets in sets of four or eight panels. The exhibited "Gwaeseok Peony Folding Screen" and "Peony Folding Screen" are no exception. The peonies are repeatedly depicted growing upward from their roots, filling the space between rocks and earthen mounds with blooming flowers.

On the 6th, a press preview for the special exhibition "Hello, Moran" was held at the National Palace Museum in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This exhibition, which explores Joseon royal court culture through the motif of the peony flower, features over 120 artifacts including Changdeokgung palace costumes, peony folding screens, and palace tableware adorned with peony designs. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Curator Kim Jae-eun explained, "The natural and three-dimensional composition typical of floral paintings was deliberately excluded, instead showing flat, mechanical, and uniform flower shapes. This emphasized a solemn and reverent atmosphere, enhancing the authority of the ritual objects. These paintings were not created with individual artistic expression but were repeatedly produced following a fixed painting model (화본, hwabon). The standardized characteristics stem from their usage and production methods."

Peony folding screens were sometimes used independently in rituals, but in funerary rites, multiple screens were combined or expanded. Kim Su-jin, invited professor at Sungkyunkwan University, explained in her paper "Manifestation of the Sacred Space: The Meaning and Use of Joseon Royal Peony Screens" the reason as follows:

"The peony screen, based on its splendid auspiciousness and symbolic meaning, had acquired a somewhat independent status within the royal family. However, in rituals, it was used as part of a three-piece set along with the Obong screen and the Sobyeong screen, which strengthened its role as a ritual object. (...) On this functional basis, the peony screen was able to embody the rituals and rites that the Joseon royal family sought to realize through their unique visual culture."

On the 6th, a press preview for the special exhibition "Hello, Moran" was held at the National Palace Museum in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This exhibition, which explores Joseon royal culture through the motif of the peony flower, features over 120 artifacts including Changdeokgung palace costumes, peony folding screens, and palace tableware adorned with peony designs. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The "Hello, Peony" exhibition highlights this function by surrounding an entire designated space with peony folding screens. Additionally, a media folding screen is installed so that visitors approaching it can easily learn about funerary procedures. Exhibition designer Lee Se-young said, "We created a space reminiscent of Seonwonjeon (선원전) at Changdeokgung Palace, where the king’s portrait is enshrined and rituals are performed, displaying peony folding screens alongside incense burners. Here, the peony symbolizes the protection of the king’s spirit and the hope that they will watch over the country."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.