Overview

• Project name: 2D Computer Graphic Restoration Project for the Mural Paintings of Goguryo
• Subject of restoration: Mural paintings found in the Great Tomb of Gangseo, located in the North Korean city of Nampo (i.e. illustrations of four guardian gods on the four walls of the burial chamber; the Illustration of a Yellow Dragon drawn on the ceiling; and illustrations of honeysuckle patterns, flying fairies and lotuses on the first through fourth layers of supporting stone)
• Period: April 2008 through December 2008 (nine months)
• Restorers: PoSTMEDIA Co. & Professor Seo Yong (Department of Painting, Dongduk Women’s University

Objectives

• Restoring the detailed contour and color information of the basic icons for the Goguryo mural paintings to preserve and utilize data on those ancient mural paintings in digital form
• Overcoming the limits of existing photographic data and enhancing the accuracy of data on the mural paintings of Goguryo to further promote and reinforce relevant research efforts
• Securing core data on the ancient mural paintings as the solid foundation for publicizing the details and implications of Goguryo’s cultural heritage and responding actively to China’s ongoing attempts to distort the history of the ancient Korean kingdom

1. Acquisition of the original copies of to-be-restored data

• Mural Paintings of Goryo (Korea Pictorial Editorial Board, 1986)
• A Pictorial Book of Joseon Relics and Artifacts (Compilation Committee for A Pictorial Book of Joseon Relics and Artifacts, 1990)
• Goguryo Relics in Pyongyang and Its Vicinity (Koguryo Research Foundation, 2005)
• Mural Paintings of Goguryo: Cultural Heritage of Humanity (Yonhap News, 2006)
• Report of the Survey on the Preservation Status of Goguryo Mural Paintings (National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, 2006)
• Tracings of Goguryo Mural Paintings (Gongju National Museum, 2004)
• Photographs from on-site surveys, research papers and online materials
• Consulting results: Original copies of pictures from the “Report of the Survey on the Preservation Status of Goguryo Mural Paintings,” obtained by the Association of South and North Korean Historians, as the basis for determining contours and colors

2. Measurement of the tracings

3. Restoration of the tracings

4. Flat-bed scanning of the tracings

5. Photo correction and computer graphic restoration

▲Blue Dragon

▲White Tiger

▲Black Tortoise

▲Red Phoenix

Significance and Application Plans

• Restoring mural paintings of Goguryo, which are deteriorating rapidly, into digital form using two-dimensional computer graphics in an endeavor to preserve and archive the archetype of cultural heritage
• Producing and displaying the outcomes on 1:1 scale and developing a wide variety of content—on the basis of the icons in the mural paintings—to publicize the excellence of Goguryo culture at home and abroad
• Further promoting research on mural paintings of Goguryo by preventing possible losses of icons and colors from those paintings