Jo Dec 9, 2022
Ryang Song Ji, the main compiler of “Tonggukyojisungnam” (50 volumes), which was an important part of the geography book of our country, was a well-known scholar who made great achievements in several fields. He started learning at the age of six. From a very early age, he was so clever and good at composing poems that he attracted everybody’s attention. He thought that it was of utmost importance for everyone to be well aware of the geography of their native places and homeland, and that learning and technical research should be focused on both the prosperity of their country and making the lives of common people better.
Possessed of many-sided knowledge including history and geography, he was involved in compiling and publishing several books in the fifteenth century. In fact, almost all the geography books and maps of that time were related to him. Among them, geography part of “Sejong Sillok” (Chronicles of King Sejong) and “Tonggukyojisungnam” played very important parts in writing the geography book in the feudal age of our country. Together with 23 scholars including Ro Sa Sin and Kang Hui Maeng, Ryang Song Ji completed “Tonggukyojisungnam” (50 volumes) in 1481 on the basis of “Geography of Eight Provinces” compiled in 1432, geography part of “Sejong Sillok” compiled in 1454 by amending “Geography of Eight Provinces”, “Sinchan Geography” and “Tongmunson” compiled in 1477. With rich and detailed contents, “Tonggukyojisungnam” is a priceless classic of great value in the historical and geographical study of several fields of our country including society, economy, military affairs, culture, etc. around the fifteenth century.
In addition to it, Ryang Song Ji made several maps that demonstrated the level of the Korean cartology of that time.
As a scholar of noble birth, he presented to the feudal government a “reform plan” several times that reflected his creative opinion on making some changes to the affairs in several fields of the feudal system including military affairs and economy for building up the national power and defending the security of the country.
His exploits for the development of geography performed in those days are being conveyed through generations together with “Tonggukyojisungnam”.
Kim Kwang Jo, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo Dec 6, 2022
A collar strip is a long, narrow piece of white cloth sewn onto the collar of Korean clothing for replacement.
Collar strips are based on the national sentiments of our people who have always preferred brightness and neatness and on the Korean jacket whose edges of collars were adorned with narrow pieces of cloth in the period of the Three Kingdoms. In those days, narrow strips different in color from the grounds of clothing were attached to the collar, cuffs or hems of a Korean jacket. In other words, dark-colored strips were chosen for bright grounds and vice versa.
Adorning their clothes with contrasting colors was a peculiar dressing custom reflecting the requirements of life and aesthetic requirements of our people who tended to dress themselves in neat and beautiful clothes. Collars, cuffs and hems usually get dirty and frayed first. In order to keep them clean and new, our people came up with an idea of sewing strips in contrasting color on those parts. These strips, in combination with ornamental aspects, were gradually made more delicate and elegant by the growing cultural standards, aesthetic sense and requirements of life of people. Consequently, it became a custom to sew white strips around the collars on the basis of the national sentiments of our people who respected brightness, neatness and white. White collar strips guaranteed perfect harmony with the ground colors of Korean jackets, providing a lot more beauty and sophistication.
Thus, collar strips that emphasize the neatness, cleanliness and conspicuousness of jackets became the number one feature of a Korean jacket.
Pak Sin Jong, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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Jo Dec 4, 2022
“Sinau” is a unique piece of music for tungso (Korean bamboo flute) composed by the people in Hamgyong Province. Singing and dancing was popular there from early days, so everybody had fine bamboo flutes in their homes. It was their practice to play the tungso whenever they wanted to. Such practice produced a large number of accomplished flutists and a tungso solo “Sinau”, which was played in traditional events like “Field Dance” and on other occasions
In modern ages, solo pieces like kayagum sanjo, komungo sanjo, haegum sanjo and flute sanjo were created with rapid progress of folk instrumental music in our country. Meanwhile, tungso sinau was dominant in Hamgyong Province, where there was a conspicuous development in tungso music.
“Sinau” in Hamgyong Province consisted of a series of pieces in several movements, every one of which was different in time, tempo and emotional color. Handed down through generations among them is passionate, enterprising and triumphant Hwimori Movement, which reflects the anti-aggressive, anti-feudal struggle and optimism of the people in Hamgyong Province. This high-toned movement has been developed with great artistic influences as it gives a vivid description of the locals’ personal qualities and patriotic fighting spirits.
After liberation, under the wise leadership of our Party to carry forward and develop our national music, “Sinau” was improved into a tungso solo and national orchestral music, an ensemble of national instrumental music, and chorus and orchestral music “For the Revolution”. It still resounds across the country, further boosting our people’s enthusiasm for the revolution and struggle.
Jong Son Ha, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences
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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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