PrefaceIntroductionChapter 1 Questions That Cross Our Minds as We View Eastern PaintingsIrrational detailsPaintings with the same formatEvents that did not take place in the real worldArt is a cultural compactAppreciation of Eastern art should begin with an Eastern approachEastern paintings are for readingA lone heron on a pond with a withered lotus is a typical example of art-readingThe forgotten principles of art-readingChapter 2 Homophony-based ReadingDistortion of the magpie and the tigerIt should be a pine tree, a magpie, and a leopard in the paintingCountless examples equating homophony with synonymyMere homophony is sufficientA trend especially pronounced in ideogram systems like the Eastern cultureWhy pair the crab with reeds?Two crabs holding reed flowers in their mouthsWhite deer paired with Chinese juniperSpelling longevity (壽) with a Chinese juniperWriting longevity (壽) in 16 different waysThe reason for pairing the bamboo with rocksSo long as we are drawing a bamboo, let us draw a Phyllostachys edulisWhat is an autumn cricket doing on a summer orchid?The creepy bat signifies fortuneReeds and wild geese symbolize a comfortable old ageCat paintings congratulate someone who just turned 70Cat-and-butterfly pairingsA cat next to chrysanthemumsOwl paintings with the same congratulatory meaningThe ingrained belief in the power of language or lettersThe act of sedition by National Academy (成均館) students under King SejoBookcase paintings in the studyChapter 3 Allegorical ReadingThe winter bird mandarin duck on a pond in JulyThe contents of the Five Blessings, revised in Tang ChinaGuo Ziyi and his many descendantsPomegranate paintings denote a wish for many sonsPeony paintings stand for wealth and nobilityThe Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms is responsible for the mistaken belief that peonies are odorlessPeonies were painted without butterflies as early as the Tang DynastyQueen Seondeok was unaware of the principles of art-readingThe iconography of HanafudaPairings of peonies and a roosterPeonies with a vaseA pine tree, bamboo, and a pair of white-headed birdsPeonies and plum blossoms do not bloom at the same timeCrane paintingsA crane with a pine treeA crane by the rolling seaThe pine and the lingzhi mushroomThe lingzhi mushroom means, ‘to have one’s wish realized’Most paintings of vessels with cut branches (器皿折枝圖) express a wish for happiness in this lifeThe rose is a symbol of youthThe peach should be painted greenDonfang Shuo (東方朔) of the three thousand jia and the peachIt is incorrect to draw Dongfang Shuo as a grizzled old man holding a peachThe ugly black crested myna denotes filial pietyGoldfish paintings convey the message, ‘May gold and jade fill your home!’Lotus paintings encourage a thrifty lifestyleChrysanthemum paintings symbolize longevityIt is wrong to pair the chrysanthemum with multiflora rose hipsSeeking meaning in objects is a cognitive attribute specific to humansFinding meaning in the shape or biologyArt-reading principles may sometimes restrict artistic expressionMinnows and duckweedWhy draw the carp in twos?Minnows, duckweed, carp, water pepper, lotuses, mandarin ducks, wild geese, and reedsChapter 4 Reading Art by Invoking Classical Quotes or AnecdotesPictures were also used in the pursuit of spiritual valuesThe moral of The Three Hibernal Friends concerns the society of good friendsFlowers from all four seasons in the same paintingEven paintings of foot-bathing mean somethingIf the water of the Canglang is clean …The reason scholars adopted the character 滄 in their pen namesThe Four Books and the Three Classics at work even in palatial architectureThe patterns shaped like the calyx of a persimmon were inspired by the Classic of Poetry (詩經)Paintings of three fish belong in the studyQi Baishi’s message in his painting of three fishPaintings of nine fish“Long live the homeland” (江山萬代)Nine quailsQuails stand for comfort and peaceFish idling aboutNine heronsThe foremost consideration(s)Art criticism in the EastThe Four GradesA boy pointing at a mountain shrouded in cloudsScene of an old man fishingPainting of a middle-aged man fishingThe Eight AnecdotesEar Bath in the YingchuanPainting of four old men playing GoSailboat against an autumnal backdropStaring at Nanshan leaning against a pine treePointing at wild geese in flightAdmiring a waterfallStanding on a bridge on a donkey’s back as a blizzard howlsWith the plum blossom as wife, and the crane as sonPainting as another medium depicting the ideals of Eastern scholarsChapter 5 How To Appreciate Contemporary Korean ArtHow to appreciate contemporary Korean artEastern art and Western art are fundamentally differentWestern artists paint as they see, whereas Eastern artists recorded what wasArt criticism in the East versus the WestPaintings that are read do not exist in EuropeWhat every Korean artist longs forThe factors that have landed Korean painting in its current quandaryThe fundamental problem of Eastern art in Korea?a dead endTwenty years later: The artistic community in Korea todayFive requisites for the establishment of Korean artBibliographyIndex