Accession Number
2004/1.315

Title
Wood Block for Printing

Artist(s)
Korean

Artist Nationality
Korean (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
early 19th century

Medium & Support
wood

Dimensions
7 13/16 x 16 7/16 in. (19.8 x 41.6 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Bruce and Inta Hasenkamp and Museum purchase made possible by Elder and Mrs. Sang-Yong Nam

Physical Description
This woodblock contains Fascicle 24 of Essentials of the Comprehensive Mirror (通鑑節要, Tonggamjeolyo, Ch. Tongjian Jieyao), recording famous “Memorial for Northern Expeditions (出師表, Chulsapyo, Ch. Chushibiao) by Zhuge Liang (諸葛亮, 181-234) presented to his king, Liu Shan (劉禪, 207-271, r. 223-263), before his expedition to conquer Kingdom of Wei (魏, 220-265). Essentials of the Comprehensive Mirror is a compendium of Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance (資治通鑑, Jachitonggam, Ch. Zizhi Tongjian), a chronological history compiled by Sima Guang (司馬光, 1019-1086) of Northern Song (960-1127), edited by Jiang Zhi (江 贄, 12th century) who lived during the reign of Huizong (徽宗, 1082-1135, r. 1100-1125). Jiang’s compendium abbreviated a massive volume of 294 fascicles into 50 fascicles. Both Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance and Essentials of Comprehensive Mirror became known by the abbreviated title Comprehensive Mirror (通鑑, Tonggam, Ch. Tongjian). Essentials of Comprehensive Mirror was used as a core textbook in Confucian village schools of Joseon. The woodblock has been chipped in various places and is missing parts of its left, right, upper and lower sides. Its reverse side retains of two nails used for hanging it.

[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2017) p. 291]

Primary Object Classification
Wood and Woodcarving

Primary Object Type
block

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Chosen (ancient)
Korean (culture or style)
printing plants
woodcuts (prints)