What is Min-hwa? A popular practical painting produced according to the lifestyle that a nation or individual has traditionally inherited.
It was interpreted as "paintings drawn by all Korean peoples as well as Dohwaseo painters, regardless of social class or social status, such as the common people. It is defined also "National painting, which is a painting of the people expressing the aesthetic sense and sentiment of the nation".
It can be said that the consumers of folk paintings were all social groups and the public belonging to them, from the royal family and government offices to shamans Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian shrines, temples and shrines, and ordinary families, Landscapes, flowers, etc.
It can be said that the consumers of folk paintings were all social groups and the public belonging to them, from the royal family and government offices to shamans, Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian shrines, temples and shrines, and ordinary families.
The demand for paintings such as animals, insects, four plants, characters, and customs was very great for Koreans who especially loved paintings.
It can be said that the mainstream of folk painting was paintings related to public consciousness and customs to drive away evil spirts and wish for auspicious events, paintings to decorate the inside and outside of the house, and paintings directly related to daily life such as folding screens, hanging scrolls, and murals.
Minhwa can be classified into the following several categories in terms of subject matter,
First, it can be divided into religious folktales and non-religious folktales.
Religious folk paintings are divided into paintings based on shamanism and Taoism, which are Korea's unique religions and beliefs, Buddhist paintings, and Confucian paintings emphasizing ancestor worship and edification of ethics and morality.
Non-religious folk paintings include folk paintings for decoration, genre paintings, figure paintings, historical events paintings, documentary paintings, and maps and astronomical charts with a landscape painting character.
Second, as a classification according to the artist and style, it is divided into Dohwaseo ( Dohwaseo was a government office that drew pictures needed by the state during the Joseon Dynasty ) painters, disciples of painters, painters in local government offices, painters, or painters with talent comparable to therse, as well as naive and childish works by non-professional amateurs and wandering painters.
Third, it is classified by subject. This classification is a method of classifying folk paintings by the material of the painting, that is, the flower tree. It can be seen as the reality of current Korean folk paintings.
( source encyclopedia of Korean National Culture)
