The Images and Architecture of a Koguryŏ Tomb May 7, 2004

The Images and Architecture of a Koguryŏ Tomb
with
Nancy S. Steinhardt
Professor of East Asian Art and
Curator of Chinese Art
University of Pennsylvania

Changch?ŏn Tomb No. 1, which dates from the late fifth or early sixth century CE, is located in modern Jilin Province, China. Although it is one of many tombs that survive from the Korean kingdom of Koguryŏ, it is not generally accessible to the public and not well known outside of Korea. Based on her research on the site, Nancy S. Steinhardt will use the tomb?s architecture and decoration to lead us from the world of its Koguryŏ builders into the larger cultural milieu of Asia. She will link the tomb to others through the centuries as well as to sites as far away as the tombs of the peoples bordering China?s northwest, who lived in what are now the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Xinjiang.

About the Presenter:
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt is a professor of East Asian Art in the department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and curator of Chinese Art at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, at the University of Pennsylvania. Much of Professor Steinhardt?s research focuses on East Asian architecture and urban planning, with particular interest in the second through fourteenth centuries, but her broader research interests include the interaction between Chinese art and that of peoples at China?s borders, particularly to China?s North, Northeast, and Northwest. Her most recent books include A History of Chinese Architecture (Yale, 2002), which she edited and adapted, and Liao Architecture (Hawaii, 1997). She also wrote an essay on the Japanese monastery Horyu-ji for Transmitting the Forms of Divinity: Early Buddhist Art from Korea and Japan, the catalogue that accompanied the landmark 2003 exhibit co-organized by The Korea Society and Japan Society. The recipient of numerous fellowships and grants, Steinhardt received her Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Harvard in 1981 and her A.B. from Washington University in 1974.

This program is free and open to the public, but RSVP is requested. For further information or to RSVP, please contact Jinyoung Kim at 212-759-7525 ext. 316; Fax: 212-759-7530; Email: jinyoung.ny@koreasociety.org.