Dancheong refers to Korean traditional decorative coloring of blue, red, yellow, white, and black made on wooden buildings and structures like royal palaces or temples for the purpose of style, or to a painter specializing in the skill. A Buddhist monk with such a skill is called hwaseung.
Dancheong is found in tombs dating from the Three Kingdoms Period (circa 57 BC – 668 AD). The skill developed with the development of Buddhism. Let us see how the dancheong work is accomplished. First of all, the space where dancheong is to be done is cleaned. Water boiled with a small amount of glue is applied to the surface of the space five times. Bluish green soil mixed with water is then applied to the surface. A sheet of paper with the original drawing of a pattern is put on the space and the powder pouch is put lightly on the drawing sheet. The process causes powder to attach to the space through awl-made holes in the drawing sheet, thus forming a pattern. Mineral pigments in blue, red, yellow, white, and black are applied to the pattern thus formed on the space.
Dancheong helps preserve the wood and make the building look sacred and dignified. The practice was once in vogue also in China and Japan, but has been handed down to the present day only in Korea.