[ZOOM KOREA] Baecheop master Jeong Chan-jeong affixes meaning to his restoration work

Korean Heritage

Published: 29 Jun. 2022, 16:13 Updated: 29 Jun. 2022, 19:40

[ZOOM KOREA] Baecheop master Jeong Chan-jeong affixes meaning to his restoration work

Jeong Chan-jeong is looking through his work in his studio in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul ahead of restoring culturally significant Buddhist paintings at Daeheungsa Temple. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Literally translated, baecheop means to attach clothes to something. In practice, baecheop refers to an artistic technique that mounts paintings and calligraphic works onto scrolls, frames or foldable screens to preserve them and put them to practical use. The method dates back to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

Jeong Chan-jeong, 62, is a baecheopjang, or a master craftsperson of the mounting technique, who has dedicated 45 years of his life to the art of baecheop. He is currently the head of the JangHwang Research of Cultural Heritage in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul.

Born in Hwasun-gun, South Jeolla, Jeong wasn’t able to receive education beyond middle school due to his family’s financial state. In desperation to earn a livelihood, in 1976, 17-year-old Jeong went to Seoul to stay and work with his older brother.

His brother, who was eight years older, worked at a pyogusa or mounting shop in Insa-dong of Jongno District, central Seoul.

Insa-dong was a neighborhood where old art and contemporary galleries co-existed, and pyogusa that accentuated poetry and calligraphy thrived. The shops’ heyday, which began in the late '70s, continued into the '90s.

Although pyogu is a Japanese term that has the same meaning as baecheop, it is oftentimes more familiar to Koreans because many pyogusa run by the Japanese popped up in Korea during the colonial period (1910-45). Consequently, most of the terms used in the field of baecheop are of Japanese origin.

Jeong Chan-jeong is putting glue before performing baecheop. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Jeong’s relief and happiness to start work at his brother’s business was short-lived.

To learn the skills of the trade, he had to undergo a strict apprenticeship. Serving under his brother, Jeong cleaned his shop, cooked, made the glue paste used for baecheop and ran simple errands.

He was sometimes beaten when his tasks weren’t done properly, and had to sleep on top of work tables at the shop. He never dreamed of getting paid.

On one snowy winter day, Jeong had a near-death experience after getting carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas produced from heating the cement floors with coal briquettes had leaked, and Jeong had inhaled it during his sleep. The next morning, he went up to his rooftop to cook and a sudden gust of cold air made him light in the head. He recovered soon after someone found him on the rooftop and gave him something to drink.

Portrait of Korean philosopher and politician Song Si-yeol also known by his pen name Uam [JEONG CHAN-JEONG]

For three long years, Jeong didn’t learn a single thing about baecheop. But he didn’t let up, and by his late 20s, Jeong began to pick up baecheop skills while working at various pyogusa.

In 1987, an opportunity to have a stable job in the baecheop field came when his brother went to work at a contemporary art museum in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, and left his pyogusa, named Chagabang, to Jeong.

Jeong spent the next 30 years and five months operating Chagabang, which paved the way for him to become one of Korea’s most prestigious baecheop craftsmen.

In 1990, he attained a license certifying him as a skilled repairman of cultural assets.

Jeong began to feel that his work was worthwhile as he discovered the mentality and knowledge of his ancestors and realized that he could safely deliver those qualities to later generations.

And for the first time in his life, Jeong decided that he would do baecheop not solely to maintain a living, but to keep the traditional Korean culture alive.

To focus more on baecheop, he wrapped up his life in Insa-dong in October 2015 and moved to Singil-dong in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, where he established the JangHwang Research of Cultural Heritage.

The institute is dedicated to preserving and repairing state-designated cultural heritages, province-designated cultural heritages and privately-owned cultural assets. Jeong pours his heart and soul into cultural properties on paper, such as paintings and calligraphic works, together called seohwa, that are thousands of years old, and gwaebul, large scroll paintings of Buddhist deities.

Jongchinbusayeondo, kept at the Seoul National University Museum, depicting the scene in 1744 of Joseon’s 21st king Yeongjo entering giroseo, which is a government office established for elderly high-ranking civil servants. [JEONG CHAN-JEONG]

In order to perfectly restore and preserve cultural properties, Jeong receives consultation from professional cultural property experts. Most cultural properties on paper are crumpled or torn and have been damaged by insects, moisture and mold.

Restoring these works to be as close as possible to their original forms is a laborious process, but Jeong never allows himself to merely fix the assets’ function or exterior.

He works for perfection and avoids errors or inadequacies by basing his restoration on historical research and scientific analysis done by committees of cultural property experts.

Seungjeongwon ilgi, or Journal of the Royal Secretariat at Kyujanggak Institue for Korean studies restored by Jeong Chan-jeong [JEONG CHAN-JEONG]

Today, there are countless cultural works that have been repaired and restored by Jeong.

His works are deemed incredibly reliable in the industry. He has done work for facilities across the country including Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, the National Palace Museum of Korea, the Korea Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation and the Seoul Museum of History. His works and reputation are products of his passion and the sweat and tears shed for baecheop over his life.

Buddhist painting called Geunseonsa Shinjoongdo restored by Jeong Chan-jeong [JEONG CHAN-JEONG]

Breathing life back into precious cultural properties through baecheop, it is thanks to craftsmen like Jeong that Korean traditional culture still flourishes.

Though he works day and night and trains students at Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, Jeong seems content with his two children who are carrying on the family business.

BY PARK SANG-MOON [park.sangmun@joongang.co.kr]