한양대학교 박물관

To celebrate its 80th Founding Anniversary, the Hanyang University Museum (Director Ahn Shin-won) organized the Special Exhibition Bangwon Pyeongjik (Square, Round, Level, Straight): Tailoring the House in collaboration with the Research Lab for East Asian Architectural History, Department of Architecture (Director Han Dong-soo).

The Chinese architectural treatise from the Northern Song Dynasty, Yingzao Fashi (Treatise on Architectural Methods), contains a passage in the Kanxiang (Detailed Observation) section on Fangyuan Pingzhi (Square, Round, Level, Straight) which states: “The round is fitted by the compass, the square by the carpenter’s square, the standing by the plumb line, and the lying by the water level (Zhouguan Kaogongji, 圜者中規, 方者中矩, 立者中垂, 衡者中水).” This fundamental concept explains that the circular and square shapes are the foundation that forms this world. The Fu Xi and Nü Wa Diagram , famous for depicting the myth of creation of Heaven and Earth, shows Nü Wa and Fu Xi each holding the compass (Gui) and the carpenter's square (Ju)—the tools of creation—in their hands.

In Korea, where the house inhabited by humans is recognized as a microcosm, the compass and carpenter's square were also used as the most fundamental tools by artisans who built houses. Besides these, rulers used to measure or draw length, width, depth, thickness, and angles, developed into various types depending on their utility, such as Jeongja-ja, Yeongwi-ja, Heulleok-ja, Dongcheok, Jangcheok, Juncheok, and tape measures.

This exhibition was planned to systematically examine the changing aspects of various types of rulers used to measure and cut architectural components, using the compass and carpenter's square as a basis, and to reveal both the practical value and the inherent symbolic meaning contained within them.

Specifically, by displaying diverse and unique forms of actual measuring tools—including the ancient Dangcheok (Tang Dynasty ruler) excavated from Iseongsanseong Fortress and a Joseon Dynasty Carpenter's Square recently discovered at Cheongnyongsa Temple in Anseong, as well as rulers collected and used by the nation's foremost Master Carpenter Shin Eung-su, rulers used in China and the West, and modern rulers commercialized as tourist souvenirs—the exhibition aims to provide an opportunity to compare the life and wisdom of the artisans contained in these measuring tools, spanning the past and present and the East and West.