Korean Ceramics in Japanese Culture

 

 

 

 

Korean work is merely the natural result of the artisan's state of mind... Here lies buried the mystery of the endless beauty of the Korean artisan's work. He simply makes what he wants, without pretension.  ~Yanagi Soetsu, Japanese philosopher & art historian

 

 

 

 

 

Korean tea bowl, 16th century, in a Japanese tea room. Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo

 

 

 

While the two countries have their own ceramic traditions, the histories of Japanese ceramics and Korean ceramics are intertwined.

That each was heavily influenced by Chinese ceramics before developing their own distinct ceramic traditions is commonly known.

But it's not widely known that the development of Japanese ceramics was also strongly influenced by Korean ceramic traditions. The lasting influence of Korean ceramic techniques remains in Japanese ceramics produced today.

During the Imjin War of the 16th century, a large number of workers were forcibly taken from Korea (the nation was called Joseon at the time) to Japan to work their trades there. Among them were some 6,000 potters.

A number of the relocated Korean potters founded Japanese ceramic traditions that are famous today, including Arita ware, Hagi ware and Karatsu ware. 

 

 

Map of South Western Japan showing ceramic traditions founded by Korean potters.

Stories of Clay website

 

 

In 1616, porcelain was first fired in Japan after Korean ceramic master Lee Sam-Pyeong first discovered porcelain-grade (Kaolin) clay in Arita. This was a major milestone in Japanese ceramic history, marking the start of porcelain production in Japan and the start of the esteemed tradition of Arita Ware.

For more details on the ceramic traditions in Japan founded by Korean artisans, visit the Stories of Clay website and view the interactive map

 

As the traditions developed, distinctly Japanese characteristics become more apparent.

In the following images, we can see the spontaneous and free-spirited character of the Korean works.  They bear the marks of the artist's hands with no further refinement, the fluid brushstrokes and rough ridges of hand-shaping remain in the final work.

A century later, the Japanese works are smoother and more regular.  They show evidence of a more studied and intentional crafting, as if the artist started with an image of the final piece in mind.

Korean bowl, 16th Century, with Kintsugi - gold infil repair. 

Tokyo National Museum. Source: ColBase https://colbase.nich.go.jp/

Japanese bowl, 17th Century. Karatsu ware.

Smithsonian, Washington

 

Japanese bowl, 17th Century. Hagi ware.

Smithsonian, Washington

 

 

So why were the Japanese were so taken with Korean ceramics in the first place?  The answer lies in their humble and minimalist character.

 

Ceramics, especially tea ware, is one of the areas that reveal the significant influence of Korea on Japan. In the late fifteenth century, one of the most popular pursuits among the elite class in Japan was a tea ceremony known as chado... the aesthetics favored in chado were simplicity and humility. Humble Korean daily ware, such as rice and soup bowls began to be recognized as ideal tea bowls by Japanese tea connoisseurs.  ~USC Pacific Asia Museum

 

We cannot talk about Korean and Japanese ceramics without mentioning tea bowls, which hold a central place in Japanese culture. 

Korean bowls were highly sought after for tea ceremony after Sen no Rikyu, Japan's greatest tea master, refined the ceremony according to the value of 'wabi-sabi'.

'Wabi-sabi' is the beauty of imperfection, simplicity and rustic authenticity, a kind of organic beauty that Korean tea bowls were seen to embody.

This is what Japanese philosopher and historian Yanagi Soetsu had to say about Korean tea bowls:

 

The bowls were not products of conscious effort by the individual. The beauty in them springs from grace. Ido bowls were born not made. Their beauty is a gift, an act of grace.

 

Nothing illuminates the value of Korean ceramics in Japan more than a single tea bowl which was created in Korea by an unknown potter in the 16th century and which became a National Treasure in Japan.

 

 

Korean Bowl, 16th Century, called the 'Kizaemon Ido Tea Bowl'

Japanese National Treasure

Daitokuji Temple, Kyoto. Source: Wikicommons

 

The Kizaemon Ido (喜左衛門) is the most famous Ido Chawan. Ido Chawan means 'Korean (Yi or Lee Dynasty) Tea Bowl' in Japanese, and they are the most prized tea bowls in Japan.

The Kizaemon Ido Chawan is lauded by the Japanese as the top tea bowl ever made anywhere in the world.  It's the most revered of the eight tea bowls designated as National Treasures in Japan.

It can be viewed at Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan.

To read more about the history of Korean ceramics, visit here