Leiden University Student Repository

Pacini, Benedetta (2017)

Art as the Marker of a Common Cultural Heritage in East Asia: the Case of Goryeo Buddhist Painting in Japan

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

This MA thesis aims to analyze the relationship between Japan and Korea from the point of view of Cultural Heritage Studies and Art History. The case study I took into consideration is the Korean Goryeo Buddhist Paintings, a painting tradition which is almost disappeared by its homeland, but which conserves the majority of its last surviving examples in Japanese temples and museums. This case study has no precedents and it is an interesting tool to understand the political dynamics behind the discussion of cultural properties return in East Asia. This thesis will consider the study of the subject throughout various fields: it starts from the historical debate on the paintings, then it will move to the colonial period policies for the protection of cultural properties in Japan and Korea, to the modern legislation on the return of cultural properties, the creation of a Japanese scholarship around the Korean painting tradition and lastly, it will end with an art historical analysis of...Show moreThis MA thesis aims to analyze the relationship between Japan and Korea from the point of view of Cultural Heritage Studies and Art History. The case study I took into consideration is the Korean Goryeo Buddhist Paintings, a painting tradition which is almost disappeared by its homeland, but which conserves the majority of its last surviving examples in Japanese temples and museums. This case study has no precedents and it is an interesting tool to understand the political dynamics behind the discussion of cultural properties return in East Asia. This thesis will consider the study of the subject throughout various fields: it starts from the historical debate on the paintings, then it will move to the colonial period policies for the protection of cultural properties in Japan and Korea, to the modern legislation on the return of cultural properties, the creation of a Japanese scholarship around the Korean painting tradition and lastly, it will end with an art historical analysis of the items.Show less

Author

Pacini, Benedetta

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

MA

Supervisors

Paskaleva, Elena

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en