Jo Jul 1, 2023
A thungso (a Korean bamboo flute) is one of the musical instruments peculiar to our nation which have been widely played by the folk from olden times.
This typical national pipe instrument is played held sidewards. It has been loved by our people in a long course of history.
It originated from a kinjo (jangjok) that Koguryo people had invented.
According to historical records including “History of Koryo”, Koguryo’s kinjo was improved into a thungso during the Koryo dynasty, but it was also called kinjo until then.
In “Akhakgwebom” compiled at the end of the fifteenth century, the name was fixed as thungso, which means a wooden pipe instrument whose ends are perforated through.
With soft, stirring, appealing and melodious timbre, it can fully express exciting thoughts and feelings.
Widely used for a solo and accompaniment to folk songs and folk games, it has been a popular national instrument.
A thungso is making a contribution to the cultural and emotional life of people and the development of Juche-oriented music blooming day after day under the wise leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea.
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Jo Jun 12, 2023
Folk song “Arirang”, representative of Korean folk songs and symbolic of the Korean nation, is a song of the Korean nation which is sung by each and every Korean and heard in any Korean settlements in the world.
A representative one among a great number of legends of the birth and etymology of a Korean folk song “Arirang” is “Songbu and Rirang”.
The legend goes like this.
Once upon a time a boy called Rirang and a girl called Songbu who were serving as servants for a landlord in a village took part in a riot raised by the local people in a year of crop failure and went into the depth of a mountain to avoid the pursuit of the government armed troops.
There, they got married and lived a happy life.
Later, Rirang decided to join the fight against exploiters and parted from his much beloved wife Songbu to set out on the journey over a series of mountain passes.
Songbu, gazing over the passes her husband crossed, sang a song of yearning, which was later handed down orally to finally become “Arirang”.
Sung by our people a lot, “Arirang” was diversified into a large number of local varieties ― “Sodo Arirang” of Phyongan Province, “Kangwondo Arirang” of Kangwon Province, “Tanchon Arirang” of Hamgyong Province, etc. to just name a few. All those have their features peculiar to their birthplaces.
“Arirang”, which is still widely sung by our people and known to the world, is a revised version as the theme song of a silent film “Arirang” by Ra Un Gyu in 1926.
The song is imbued with the spirit and sentiment of the Korean nation and it reflects simple aspiration of the Korean people for a happy life.
Today, “Arirang” is well-known as a famous song among people at home and abroad.
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Jo Jun 6, 2023
So Kyong Dok was a philosopher of materialism representative of the Korean medieval philosophy in the 16th century. His pseudonym was Hwadam or Pokjae.
He was born into a low-class aristocratic family in Kaesong in 1489. Although he was very clever from an early age, he could not start studying until he was 14 because of poverty.
Grown up in the historical environment from the late 15th century to the early 16th century when the contradictions of the feudal society started to be disclosed, he abandoned a government service from the start, out of discontent over a scramble for hegemony, arbitrariness and oppression of feudal ruling circles. Instead, he devoted himself to academic study and education of future generations, living in poverty all his life in Hwadam, Kaesong. That is why he was often called Teacher Hwadam.
Even though his philosophical idea represented the interests of low-class aristocrats, it exposed the misdeeds of the rulers of that time and expressed sympathy for the miserable life of peasants. Thus, it dealt a blow at the doctrines of Chu-tzu, which served as a basic idea of a ruling class, and exerted a great influence on the development of our country’s philosophy of materialism.
He died at the age of 57 in 1546. Reviewing his life, he said “I feel very happy with my perfect knowledge and satisfied with my worthwhile life.”
One of his books, which is still found, is “Hwadamjip” in four volumes.
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Jo Jun 2, 2023
Pison Falls is located in Manphok Valley on Mt. Myohyang.
Clear waters forking down from the high cliff scatter around water drops, variegated by the sunlight like a seven-colour sunbow, as if the trains of fairies were hanging down.
The waterfall was given the name Pison Falls (pi means fly, son means fairy) as legend has it that fairies used to fly down there to enjoy the charming scenery of the Manphok Valley and fly up into the sky on a sunbow hanging over the fall.
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Jo May 7, 2023
“Rimwonsipryukji” compiled by a realist scholar So Yu Gu (1764―1845) in 1825, is a national classic where documentary records concerning economy and culture are arranged in categories.
Rimwonsipryukji, which is left incomplete, is a huge work, running to 113 volumes and 62 books. This enables us to guess what an enormous book he mapped out.
Divided into 16 parts, Rimwonsipryukji contains valuable information extracted from as many as 500-odd kinds of domestic and foreign records that was considered indispensable for developing the national economy and daily life. All the information is organized in categories and followed by the origins of the data and the author’s opinion of each item.
The front parts Ponriji and Kwangyuji are about agriculture. Here, general knowledge of agriculture and methods of cultivating and processing 33 kinds of vegetables and over 20 kinds of medicinal herbs are introduced. The author wrote that success or failure of agriculture depends on the skills and efforts of humans, not on natural conditions.
The horticultural parts Yewonji and Manhakji deal with methods of growing more than 50 kinds of flowers, over 30 kinds of ornamental grasses, 30 kinds of fruit trees, several kinds of trees, tea plants, tobacco plants, etc. and even those of changing the colours of flowers artificially.
Poyangji and Injeji give a detailed description of rules of diet for good health and longevity, exercise, massage, taking medicine, taking care of the elderly and children, and other things concerned with branches of medicine like gynaecology, paediatrics, surgery, etc.
Rimwonsipryukji serves as one of the invaluable national classics since it not only reflects the author’s aspiration to make a positive contribution to the development of the national economy and culture but also contains copious amount of all-round knowledge about the socio-economic situations, medicine, food culture, life style, etc. in the latter half of the feudal Joson dynasty.
Ri Won Chol, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo May 4, 2023
Fort on Mt. Taesong is the largest and oldest of all the fortresses on mountains of Koguryo.
Located in Taesong-dong, Taesong District, Pyongyang City, it was built to defend Anhak Palace, the royal palace of Koguryo from the 3rd to 5th century.
The fort is surrounded by wide and narrow rivers on three sides ― east, west and south ― and the north is linked to a mountain range, so it is very advantageous in terms of military affairs, economy and transportation.
It is 7 076 metres round and the total length of the walls runs to 9 284 metres. It could hold a huge number of people, combat equipment and supplies as it had two vast deep valleys between the six mountain peaks linked to one another. It had food storages, armouries, quarters, general’s terraces, gates, etc.
Pyramid-shaped stones were laid in single-sided piles on the peaks and in double-sided piles across the valleys. Double and treble walls were built on important spots. On the top of the walls were parapets, low zigzag walls, and on important points were bastions to strengthen the defense of the fort.
Abundant in water resource, the fort had as many as 170 ponds including a carp pond and Jangsu Pond. It had two gates ― Somunbong Gate and South Gate, which was 5 kan × 2 kan ( 1 kan = 5.965 feet) in size and 19.5 metres in height.
In the fort, a lot of relics and remains like Koguryo roofing tiles, gilt-bronze images of Buddha, stone boxes for keeping Buddhist scriptures, etc. were discovered, and many legends including the story of a Rok tribe lady associated with the fort have been handed down.
Many relics including some parts of the wall, Jangsu Pavilion, South Gate and Jangsu Pond are now restored to the original state to play an important part in the study of Koguryo’s fortress system.
Fort on Mt. Taesong with strong defences, which served as a reliable one in the fights against foreign invaders, was an impregnable fortress that had hardly been found in the world history of fortress construction.
Ko Ju Il, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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