Gathering of Government Officials, 1551, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Browsing some newspaper reports of a recent ministerial scandal at Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I remembered the poem on this sixteenth century scroll painting depicting a social gathering by a group of elderly government ministers.
The party is going on in the bottom right hand corner of the scroll.
I do not know whether corruption was as much a part of government life in the sixteenth century as it is today, but the poem (see below) certainly suggests a selfless devotion to duty that one hopes was real.
As the Korea Times archives reveal, corruption of one kind or another, sufficient to lead to the resignations of senior officials or business leaders is now quite normal. For the most senior business leaders, this generally leads to resignation, trial, a non-custodial sentence, followed by a presidential pardon for services to the nation. After a discrete interval to symbolize repentance, disgraced tycoons resume office while humbled officials await their new appointments.
In translation, the poem reads:
Passed the civil or military examination at more or less the same time.
Time passes, and now we are facing seventy years of age.
Dressed in elegant clothing and hats, wise men meet.
We emulate the Literary Gathering of Luoyang,
And the painting shows respect for the elders, following Xiang San.
We pause in our busy schedules and recite poetry over wine
Then hasten back to the offices to labor day and night.
Our gathering is humble and frugal, modeled after Jinsolhoe.
Whoever said loftiness is easily followed?
Lacking poetry for this great event, I raise my glass.
Lacking talent, my thoughts turn blank.
Written in the latter half of the twelfth month of 1551.
Tags: chosun, corruption, makgeolli, poetry, politics, yangban