The Youth of Sarangbang Embrace Beijing Vol. 2: Picturing the New Millennium in the Thousand-Year Capital of Beijing

The East Asia Institute (EAI) Sarangbang Program's study tour to Beijing, "The Youth of Sarangbang Embrace Beijing Vol. 2: Picturing the New Millennium in the Thousand-Year Capital of Beijing," has been published. This book contains the stories of learning, feeling, and experiencing by students who took the EAI Sarangbang course in the second semester of 2014 during their study tour to Beijing, China. Based on the content learned through an intensive seminar titled 'Architectural History of East Asian Order' conducted over one semester, the students took on the role of guides to reflect on the 3,000-year history shared by Korea and China. Starting with the newly renovated National Museum, they sequentially visited the Beijing Capital Museum, the Forbidden City, Liulichang, the Old Summer Palace, the Summer Palace, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, and the 798 Art District, engaging in discussions about historical achievements and failures across different eras and envisioning the future of East Asia.

Foreword

The three days and two nights in Beijing were packed.

After completing an intensive seminar on 'Architectural History of East Asian Order' at the East Asia Institute (EAI) for one semester, we embarked on a field trip. The purpose was to look back at the past of the East Asian order, which Korea and China have shared for 3,000 years, experience the present through fieldwork, and look towards the future. At the newly renovated National Museum, we encountered representative artifacts of the world order that served as vibrant living spaces for Korea and China. At the Beijing Capital Museum, where traditional and modern aesthetics harmoniously blend, we fully enjoyed the history of the thousand-year capital along with the beauty of Buddhist statues and ceramics that China proudly possesses.

At the Forbidden City, the center of politics, and Liulichang, the street of culture, we had the opportunity to newly re-examine the historical encounters between Korea and Joseon. During the early Ming Dynasty, 700 years ago, when the Forbidden City was majestically constructed, we toured the Forbidden City with heavy hearts after hearing a study report about the tragic stories of Joseon palace maids who were taken to distant China and forced to live tragic lives. Then, with the help of a study report on the journey of Hong Dae-yong, a progressive intellectual of Joseon in the 18th century, the young people of Sarangbang experienced how the intellectual order of the Qing Dynasty's world was formed in Liulichang.

We visited the Old Summer Palace and the Summer Palace to witness the on-site conditions of the collision between the traditional world order of East Asia and the modern international order of the West in the 19th century. At the Old Summer Palace, we observed the Western-style buildings, lying in ruins after being burned and destroyed during the Second Opium War in the mid-19th century. At the Summer Palace, built as a summer retreat by Empress Dowager Cixi, a prominent figure of the late Qing Dynasty, we encountered her presence.

We visited the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, where the body of Mao Zedong, a symbol of modern China, lies in repose. At this historical site, where the number of visitors noticeably decreases with each passing year, we once again discussed Mao Zedong's historical achievements and failures. At night, we walked along the dazzling Wangfujing Street and discussed the present of Xi Jinping.

Finally, to glimpse the future of China in the 21st century, we visited the 798 Art District. Today is born from the lives of yesterday and the dreams of tomorrow. The overall landscape of the 798 Art District, symbolizing the Chinese Dream, was far ahead, leaving the Beijing branch of North Korea's Mansudae Art Studio standing in isolation, but it had not yet caught up with the multinational galleries engaged in creative experimentation at the forefront of 21st-century contemporary art. Attention should be paid to the changes of tomorrow.

Park Sung-woo, a reporter from the JoongAng Ilbo, closely covered the entire study tour. Furthermore, he participated in the Sarangbang discussions that continued late into the night, becoming one of the family. We are grateful. From the intensive seminar to the publication of this book, the unseen hands of Director Baek Hye-young and the staff of the East Asia Institute were always present. Thank you. The financial support from W1˚, the women's support group of the East Asia Institute, was also a significant help for this study tour. We extend our special gratitude.

April 19, 2016, Manqing Ha Yeong-seon

Table of Contents

Foreword

Study Tour Itinerary

Chapter 1: Stories of Goryeo Dogyeong Read by Seo Geung and Su Shi_National Museum | Lee Ju-won

Chapter 2: Liulichang and Hong Dae-yong, Three Dreamlike Encounters_Liulichang | Kim Min-geol

Chapter 3: Searching for Joseon Hidden within the Forbidden City_Forbidden City | Oh Seung-hee

Chapter 4: Singing of 300 Years of Glory and Tragedy_Old Summer Palace | Kim Yu-jeong

Chapter 5: Where Empress Dowager Cixi Breathes Life_Summer Palace | Kim Seon-kyung

Chapter 6: The Corpse Politics of Mao Zedong_Mausoleum of Mao Zedong | Shin Bo-ram

Chapter 7: Stories Told by Beijing's Buddhist Statues_Beijing Capital Museum | Lee Jae-seong

Chapter 8: Seven Stories Reading China's Future in 798_798 Art District | Sarangbang 4th Cohort

Appendix

This book is available free of charge to the public as an e-book.