Dogs are loyal, courageous

Old books, paintings show dog-human companionship

By Kwon Mee-yoo, Kim Jae-heun

Dog in Chinese Zodiac painting / Courtesy of National Folk Museum of Korea

Dogs have been part of Koreans' lives for a long time, even before they became Koreans' favorite companion animal today. In some old literatures, the animal was depicted as a close friend that even sacrificed itself to save its owners' lives.

The positive image of the Chinese zodiac animal plays a part in raising Koreans' anticipation that things will go smoothly in the New Year, which is the Year of the Golden Dog based on Chinese astrology.

"In Korea, dogs have always been viewed more positively than negatively," said Ban Byung-yool, a professor of Korean history at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. "Dogs are domesticated animals that spend many years with their owners as friends. Thus dogs are the symbol of friendship and loyalty."

Dogs are described as saving a man in Choi Ja's book "Bohan," written in 1230. A Kim Gae-in lived in the southwestern county of Imsil with a dog. One day Kim was drunk and felt asleep on the grass on his way home from a wedding ceremony near his village.

There was a fire near the field but he was deep in sleep and couldn't wake up. Recognizing the danger approaching the owner, his dog jumped in the water nearby and came back to where his owner was sleeping to make the grass moist to prevent the fire from hurting his owner. The dog repeated this and eventually died.

Kim woke up later and recognized what his dog did to him to save his life. He planted a tree to pay tribute to his self-sacrificing dog near the place.

Cheon Jin-gi, director of the National Folk Museum of Korea, said in Asia there was a notion that dogs are an animal that ushers human beings to the afterlife.

"Such a belief played out behind old Asians' burying dogs with owners once they die. Some tombs have paintings of dogs," he said.
Cheon said most dogs in the old paintings are either white or yellow. "Old Koreans drew white dogs to warn against forthcoming disasters, while yellow dogs were for a good harvest," he said.

The History of the Three Kingdoms (1145) showed old Koreans' attitudes toward dogs were not always positive. According to the book, a dog's barking was considered a curse or omen of death to the people and the nation. In the book, white dogs were related to an uprising and a Silla king passed away a year after a dog barked for many days in the royal pavilion.

Koreans' relationship with dogs has become closer this century. Dogs are Koreans' favorite companion animal. One in four Koreans lives together with a dog.

The companion animal, however, became an object to control after the high-profile dog bite case involving K-pop boy band Super Junior member Choi Si-won's dog Bugsy. Choi's neighbor identified only by her surname Kim died six days after she was bit by the French dog. The canine aggression case stirred a nationwide debate about how to control dogs.

To commemorate the Year of Golden Dogs, the National Folk Museum of Korea (NFM) is holding an exhibition titled "Dogs in Our Lives: Companionship and Friendship," centering on the loyal, affable and courageous animal companions.

In a 1977 Chinese Zodiac painting series used for Buddhist events, dogs are described as brave and courageous guardians of Buddhism.
Among the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals, the dog is the 11th animal guarding the Earth, and people born in the Year of the Dog are considered valiant, loyal and responsible.

Dogs are regarded as auspicious animals, bringing fortune to their owner, and the animal appears as a sign of good luck.
Cheon Jin-gi, the museum's director general, said the dog has four cultural meanings in Korea _ loyalty, bravery, cleverness and humility.

"Dogs are a smart domestic animal that can distinguish its owners from enemies and alert against strangers. However, dogs lived with humans for a long time and sometimes they are described as negative icons of laziness, ugliness or weakness," Cheon said.

Dogs in paintings

Dogs have been a popular subject for art since ancient times.

Professor Kho Yeon-hee of the Academy of East Asian Studies at Sungkyunkwan University said there is a long history of dogs appearing in paintings. The oldest painting in Korea featuring a dog can be found in Gakjeo-chong, a tomb from Goguryeo Kingdom (B.C. 37-A.D. 668), and in the tomb mural, a dog is described as guarding the buried person.

"In earlier days, dogs were portrayed as companion animals, frolicking in the garden with other animals. In late Joseon Kingdom, a dog barking at the moon under a paulownia tree was a popular subject. Some dog paintings had shamanistic purposes as there is a saying that a dog's bark keeps misfortune away," Kho said.

Dogs continue to be "man's best friend" in modern days. As of 2016, there are over 5.9 million households in Korea that keep pets and about 82.5 percent of the pets are dogs.

The bond between humans and canines inspires many artists nowadays as well.
Jeong Woo-jae's 2016 painting "Gleaming-Beyond Sight" is a nod to the canine companion that provides comfort to people.

Jeong's major subjects are an adolescent girl and a dog. The immature girl represents unstable and lonely modern people, including the artist. The enlarged dog is portrayed as a transcendent being that humans can rely on.
Bathed in radiant light, the girl and the dog painting shows how a human and a dog console each other.

Photographer Yoon Jeong-mee explores the human perspective of animals in her "Animal Companions" series. The artist portrays people with their pets in their living spaces, giving insight into the relationships between humans and animals against the backdrop of their lifestyles.