Joseon Devours an Engineering Student (5)

Kim Dong-gae's family had been a clan of artisans attached to the Goryeo royal court, making celadon for over a hundred years.

They had supplied celadon to and received praise from not only King Gongmin, but also King U, King Chang, and even Grand King Taejo before he became king.

While he was alive, Kim Dong-gae's father had embellished that fact a little and bragged about it at least once a day.

He, too, was proud of the skill that had been passed down through his family for generations.

Moreover, Joseon looked askance at Goryeo celadon, a symbol of the old dynasty, while the sadaebu's strong preference for frugality meant they sought only white porcelain...

As demand for celadon gradually disappeared, the industry fell into decline.

People had come to believe that the skill of making celadon would be buried by the flow of history.

For that reason, Kim Dong-gae was making white porcelain instead of celadon to make a living.

"Though our family may not be a yangban family, and we may have neither power nor wealth and glory... our skill at making celadon is the finest in Joseon."

Recalling that his family was unquestionably the finest in Joseon at making Goryeo celadon—the pottery symbolizing Goryeo, no, its greatest work of art—Kim Dong-gae thought...