Goheung Buncheong Culture Museum 'Buncheong Sagi' Special Exhibition

Published 17 Mar.2023 15:55(KST)

Solving Distribution and Consumption Issues of Undaeri Buncheong Ceramics

The Jeonnam Goheung Buncheong Culture Museum announced that it will hold a special exhibition titled "Buncheong Ware, Becoming the Livelihood of the Nation - Buncheong Ware and Gongnap (貢納)" from March 21 to July 2 to highlight the significance of Undaeri Buncheong ware within the Joseon Dynasty’s grain transport and tribute tax systems.

This special exhibition is particularly meaningful as it provides an opportunity to address questions about "where the Buncheong ware produced in Undaeri, Duwon-myeon, Goheung was consumed" and "how it was distributed."

[Photo by Goheung-gun]

Divided into three parts, the exhibition covers topics including the "Grain Transport System and Gongnap," compares Buncheong ware recovered from the Mado No. 4 shipwreck in the Taean sea with that from Undaeri, and explores the grain transport ships as seen through the Mado No. 4 shipwreck. Through this, visitors can examine the possibility that Undaeri Buncheong ware was used as Gongnap (貢納, a tax system where local products were paid in kind).

The Mado No. 4 ship is a Joseon Dynasty grain transport ship (조운선, used to carry grain collected by the state from local warehouses to the central warehouse, Gyeongchang) discovered in the Mado sea area of Taean, Chungnam. The ship yielded 386 artifacts including Buncheong ware inscribed with the characters "Naeseom (內贍)"?indicating it was offered to the government office managing goods in the Joseon era called "Naeseomsi (內贍寺)"?wooden tablets, grains, and sailors’ daily necessities.

A military official stated, "We hope this exhibition will provide an opportunity to solve questions regarding the distribution and consumption of Buncheong ware produced in Undaeri, Duwon-myeon."

Meanwhile, the opening ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on March 21, and on June 23, an academic conference on Buncheong ware titled "Distribution and Consumption of Goheung Undaeri Buncheong Ware" will take place at the Buncheong Culture Museum.