Jo Dec 1, 2022
Ryo Ok (5th century B.C ~ 4th century B.C.), a woman musician in the latter period of Ancient Korea, was a songwriter and an instrumentalist. She was one of the talented folk musicians. She was famous for writing and playing a lyric song “Konghuin” on a small konghu (a kind of traditional Korean stringed instrument) with 13 strings, while living with her husband near the ferry of the River Taedong in Pyongyang, the capital of Ancient Korea. Despite being poverty-stricken, she loved music so much that she always took pleasure in playing the konghu.
How “Konghuin” was written and what it is about are found in a number of books at home and abroad including “Kogumju”, “Haedongyoksa”, “Osansollim”, “Yolhailgi”, “Akso”, etc. One day Ryo Ok was told about a pathetic old man from her husband, who had returned from all day’s work on the ferry dock of the River Taedong. When the old man threw himself away into the River Taedong, his wife improvised a song playing the konghu with grief over his death. Feeling pity for the old couple that was drowned in the river, Ryo Ok, with the konghu in her bosom, composed “Konghuin” picturing in her mind the old grief-stricken lady playing the konghu. Ryo Ok enjoyed singing it along to the konghu in the moonlight or at sunrise and she taught it to her neighboring pupil Ryo Yong. From then, the song was spread across the country and even to the neighboring countries under the title of “Konghuin”.
The fact that many poets and writers in many generations have taken great interest in the song “Konghuin” and that different opinions of it are given in several documents gives a clear proof of the contributions of the ancient art of our country made to the development of the eastern art.
Ri Yong Ho, section head at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo Nov 27, 2022
Pyongyang, a place of exquisite beauty, has a long history of 5 000 years.
Pyongyang was the capital of Ancient Korea founded by Tangun, the founding father of the Korean nation. Born in Pyongyang, Tangun founded a country and set up the capital in Pyongyang in the early 30th century B.C. He named it Joson, which meant a country with the sunrise in the east.
According to several old books including “Samguksagi” (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms), “History of Koryo” and “Sejong Sillok” (Chronicles of King Sejong), Tangun held the court in Pyongyang and named the country Joson, and Pyongyang is a city with a long history which the founder king of our countrymen chose as a capital. Furthermore, a lot of names of places associated with the birth and growth of Tangun are used and the Mausoleum of King Tangun was discovered in Kangdong, Pyongyang. These prove that Pyongyang was King Tangun’s birthplace and the capital of the country.
The name “Pyongyang” is the translation in Chinese characters of the Korean native word “Puruna”, where puru referred to a large field or a walled city and na meant a place. In a word, “Puruna” means “a plain or land of fields”. The area around Pyongyang had a lot of fertile fields and a river, so it was easy of access. At that time, “Puruna” was understood as a large walled city or the capital. Pyongyang was also called other names like “Phyongchon” or “Phyongna” as a result of different translations of the same Korean word “puruna” in Chinese characters.
It is recorded in historical books “Samguksagi” and “History of Koryo” that in the period of Ancient Korea Pyongyang was also called “Wanggom Walled City”, which meant a capital city chosen by the founder king.
In the period of the Three Kingdoms, too, Pyongyang was in the position of a capital for both its natural and geographical conditions and economic and cultural conditions. The reason that Koguryo chose Pyongyang as a provisional capital in 247 and as a real capital in 427 lies in the fact that Pyongyang had enough conditions as well as a long history to be a capital.
During the Koryo dynasty, Pyongyang had other names “Sogyong” or “Sodo”, both of which meant a capital in the west. In fact, Pyongyang was not the formal capital of Koryo, but it was given as much importance as the capital. Wanggon, who founded the first unified state in 918, was planning to move the capital to Pyongyang when he recognized that Pyongyang was more important than Kaegyong in the aspects of geographical position and economical and cultural conditions.
During the feudal Joson dynasty, Pyongyang was called yet other names “Sogyong” or “Ryugyong”.
Pyongyang was famous for its scenic beauty with willows and flowers. In particular, the view of drooping branches of willows and all sorts of flowers in bloom in early spring was spectacular. Therefore, people called Pyongyang “Ryugyong”, which is translated as a capital with a lot of willows.
Pyongyang was still given importance during this period, when it was the centre of feudal rule, commodity exchange, distribution of agricultural products and feudal handicrafts.
As mentioned above, Pyongyang has been the capital or a city in the same position as a capital for as long as 5 000 years. Today, the Korean people are proud of and ardently love Pyongyang, the capital city with a long history of fifty centuries.
Kim Kwang Jo, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo Nov 23, 2022
“Chonsuguksujang” is a handicraft legacy which demonstrates the high level of our national culture in the period of the Three Kingdoms.
“Chonsuguksujang”, which was produced by some craftsmen in Koguryo, Paekje and Silla in the early seventh century, is the oldest of all existing embroideries in the world. It is a long piece of cloth embroidered with a paradise. At first, it was about 4.8 meters long by 1.2~1.5 meters wide. Later, it was torn into pieces and now several pieces are found in Junggung Temple, Popryung Temple, Jongchang Temple and other places in Japan.
About 100 turtlebacks and an excellent composition of 4 letters on each one, that is, 400 letters in all, were embroidered, but now only a few turtlebacks and letters can be seen.
When Japanese Crown prince Song Tok, who was active in introducing Korean culture from the end of the sixth century to the beginning of the seventh century, died in 622, his wife had it produced wishing his happiness in the other world, stricken with grief over his death.
The original picture was painted by Ka So Il from Koguryo and its embroidery and supervisory were all done by Koreans. On the purple and yellow silk cloth of “Chonsuguksujang” are embroidered a paradise made up of characters, palaces, Buddhist images, flowers, rabbits, the moon, a phoenix, lotus flowers, liana patterns, etc. and turtles with letters on their backs in coloured thread such as white, red, green, blue, light green, etc. Several elements ― jogori and skirts worn by the characters, the moon portrayed as rabbits pounding in a mortar, the shape of lotus flowers, liana patterns, gabled belfry buildings, etc. ― are in good accordance with a number of Koguryo mural paintings.
In conclusion, “Chonsuguksujang” is a piece of handiwork that demonstrates the standard of cultural development of our country of that time.
Pak Sin Jong, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo Nov 22, 2022
Leather shoes called katsin in Korean were worn from long ago in our country.
Our nation did a lot of hunting, so they made shoes of animal skins from ancient times. Such shoes were called “hyoktap” in historical records.
In the period of the Three Kingdoms, shoes with very low or no ankles were called “ri” or “hye” and high boots “hwa”.
Later through the Koryo and feudal Joson dynasties, leather shoes were made better in line with the aesthetic sense of the time and the taste of the people, and subsequently their names became diverse.
Shoes and boots equivalent to the previous “ri” were also found during the feudal Joson dynasty. They were named “hye”. “Hye” was sorted into hukphihye, punthuhye, thuhye, phichohye, thaesahye, palmaksin, jinsin, etc. while “hwa” was classified into hukphihwa, mokhwa, hyopgumhwa, kijahwa, jonphihwa, tanhwa, tonghwa, etc. All these were made mainly of leather, so they were called katsin (leather shoes). Leather shoes except jinsin were also called “marunsin” (dry shoes) as they were usually worn on dry land in good weather. Jinsin (wet shoes), true to the meaning of its name, was for muddy ground when it was snowing or raining, so it was made of oil-treated leather to stop water infiltrating inside. For durability and to keep leather shoes from moth, people used to hang them on the wall above the fireplace to expose them to smoke or put hog grease on the surface of leather.
Pak Sin Jong, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo Nov 20, 2022
An apron is one of the things that show well a good living habit of Korean women, who have always loved smartness.
An apron is a piece of clothing that women wear over the front of the body and tie around the waist when cooking.
The custom of wearing an apron in our country has a very long history. Maids wearing semi-oval aprons are painted on the mural paintings in Kamsin Tomb and Anak Tomb No. 2 of Koguryo, which tells us that aprons started to be used already in our country before the period of the Three Kingdoms. As shown in the murals, aprons of that time were similar in shape to present-day aprons. They were made in different colours including white and light pink, and red or pink strips of cloth were sewn around them. The custom was inherited down to the feudal Joson dynasty, when aprons made of four pieces of cotton cloth in pleats were almost similar to skirts in length, and they were worn over skirts to cover the front as well as the sides of the body. Among the aprons that had been passed down from olden times was “Haengju Apron” named after the patriotic deeds of the women in the fortress on Mt. Haengju, who carried stones in their aprons to assist the warriors in the battle against Japanese invaders during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592.
Aprons were made of thin white cotton cloth such as cotton or calico and they were always washed, starched and ironed before use.
It is a fine custom of our women to wear smart aprons whenever working ― cooking in particular. It was a normal practice for our women to wear aprons when serving food to guests as well as preparing meals for the family in the mornings and evenings, and it was regarded as common courtesy to take them off when they need to enter rooms or answer the door in the middle of cooking. In a word, aprons served as an important symbol of the aesthetic feelings of our women, who have loved neatness and cleanliness from early days.
Today our women enjoy wearing aprons when they do the housework. Present-day aprons that are made of white cloth in semi-oval or rectangular shape to cover front parts only are decorated with simple flower embroidery, applique, lace or small pockets.
Pak Sin Jong, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo Nov 16, 2022
Not only the style and pattern but also the colour of clothing represent features of times and national sentiments. The colours of the traditional clothing of our nation fully display the lofty and pure sentiments of our nation. Our nation preferred white or light soft vivid colours to strong colours for primary colours of their clothing. From olden times, our nation worshipped white and usually chose white for their clothing. Therefore, our nation has been called “white-clad race” or “white-clad folk”.
In addition to white, many bright colours like light yellow, light pink or light green were also popular. With light soft colours instead of harsh strong ones, our people managed to produce a good harmony of colours, adorning Korean clothes to look more beautiful. Since Korean clothes are usually in two pieces, upper and lower garments in harmony of colours give fresh feelings and beauty. Making the most use of such advantage, our people added as much beauty as possible to the Korean clothes with a colourful harmony of two pieces as in “green jacket and crimson skirt” or “yellow jacket and crimson skirt”. Korean people further raised the ornamental effect of Korean clothes by making their small parts such as gussets, collars, cuffs, coat strings, etc. different in colours from the main part. This combination of colours demonstrated the great aesthetic sense of our nation whereby they could get maximum effect by making effective use of visual aspects of the harmony of only a few colours.
The colours of the Korean clothing reflective of the aesthetic sense and feelings of the Koreans, who created bright and soft beauty, are still in wide use. Our clothes are undergoing development as unique, graceful and elegant ones full of the flavor and fragrance of our nation only.
Pak Sin Jong, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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