Kim Won-yong (1922–1993) was a South Korean

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and art historian. Noted in the discipline of Korean archaeology and ancient art history (Yoon 2006), he was one of the first people recognized as an archaeologist in Korea to receive a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree. Kim graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1959 and was known in the latter part of his career as the "Doyen of Korean Archaeology" (Nelson 1995). He, along with others such as Kim Jeong-hak (

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

), Kim Jae-won (

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

), Kim Jung-bae (

), Kim Jong-gi, Son Bo-gi (

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

), and Lee Eun-chang are pioneers of modern Korean academia who were influenced not only by the discipline of archaeology but history, art history, architecture, and Korean philosophy.

Education and career

Kim began his studies at

Keijō Imperial University Keijō Imperial University was an National Seven Universities, Imperial University in Keijō (Seoul), Korea, Empire of Japan that existed between 1924 and 1946. The university was seen as the preeminent educational institution in colonial Korea. ...

, the precursor of

(SNU), during the Japanese colonization of Korea (1905 – 1945), and graduated from there with a bachelor's degree in 1945. He wrote his PhD thesis on

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

ceramics, and after receiving his

(NYU) PhD, Kim returned to South Korea. He started as a professor at SNU in 1961 and began a long and influential career there, with the exception of 1970–1971 when he served as the director of the National Museum of Korea. Kim was a founding member of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Art History at SNU. In South Korea, the academic juxtaposition of archaeology and ancient art history is partly a reflection of the status of such studies in traditional Korean and

Northeast Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia. Its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by Ame ...

n culture. However, the mixing of the two is also a reflection of the combination of education that Kim Won-yong received at Keijō Imperial University and NYU. The Department of Ancient Art History and Archaeology at SNU became the main model for the establishment of similar departments at national universities across South Korea.

Contributions to archaeology

It is difficult to overstate the importance of Kim's contributions in Korean archaeology. Kim Won-yong did research on all aspects and all periods of Korean prehistory and early history, and can be considered as the 'Father of Korean Archaeology'. However, Kim will be remembered for laying the foundation of academic archaeology, symbolized by the publication in 1973 of his seminal work, ''Hanguk Gogohak Gaeseol'' ntroduction to Korean Archaeology This influential book was reprinted 20 times between 1973 and 1996 and remains a ''must'' on the reading list of all students of Korean prehistory and early history. Kim published hundreds of articles and excavation reports over his career in Korean, English, and Japanese. He also trained many generations of the leading archaeologists in Korea. Kim Won-yong realized the importance of Korean ancient and prehistoric cultural heritage, and served as a Senior Committee member of the National Cultural Heritage Committee of Korea from 1958 to 1992. He was a great proponent of academic exchange with western archaeology, and as such did research with archaeologists such as Richard J. Pearson. Kim was also a vocal critic of the

New Archaeology Processual archaeology (formerly, the New Archaeology) is a form of archaeological theory. It had its beginnings in 1958 with the work of Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips, ''Method and Theory in American Archaeology,'' in which the pair stated ...

( Processualism) from its inception in the early 1960s, publishing several key letters to the editor in American Antiquity that were critical of the 'new' theoretical movement and defended the 'old guard' of functional and cultural historical archaeology.

Sambul

Kim Won-yong was also an artist. He painted traditional monochromatic ink pieces, multi-coloured ink paintings, and whimsical self-portraits. Kim took the ''nom-de-plume'' "Sambul" (

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 三佛) to sign his paintings. Kim Won-yong died of cancer on November 14, 1993.

Selected bibliography

* ''Hanguk Gogohak Gaeseol'' ntroduction to Korean Archaeology Iljisa, Seoul, 1973 (1996). * (with junior author Pearson, Richard J.) Three Royal Tombs: New Discoveries in Korean Archaeology. ''Archaeology'' 30(5):302-312, 1977. * ''Art and Archaeology of Ancient Korea''. Taekwang Publishing Co., Seoul, 1986. A detailed bibliography of Kim Won-yong's works is available in Sarah M. Nelson's ''The Archaeology of Korea'', Cambridge University Press, New York, 1993.

Awards

* Ho-Am Prize in the Arts in 1994

References