Jo Aug 4, 2022
Even though there exist a great number of nations in the world, hardly any of them are like the Korean nation, which built their own state early in ancient times and has developed adorning their history based on one and the same blood and language.
One of the ancient relics that reflect the superiority of the Korean national culture is a pipha-shaped dagger.
Made in the first Korean state founded by King Tangun, pipha-shaped daggers are representative relics that are still unearthed on the Korean Peninsula and all other areas where ancient Koreans used to live. The name pipha-shaped dagger comes from its shape that resembles an ancient musical instrument pipha (a kind of oriental lute). Its birthplace is Pyongyang.
The pipha-shaped dagger representative of the culture in the first half period of Ancient Korea has peculiar features that make a clear distinction from those used by other ethnic groups in the neighbouring countries in those days in respect of structure, quality, shapes of blade and haft, designs engraved on the blade, etc.
The most distinctive one is the plane shape of the blade. The blade looks elegant with a sharp end, graceful curves at both cutting edges and a sharp protrusion in the middle or above the middle. A number of daggers of various types and structures have been discovered in the countries and regions that are proud of world-famous ancient civilization, but none of them looks like the original pipha-shaped dagger.
Another feature is its original structure. Those made and used in other countries and regions in ancient times were all cast bodily. Unlike them, pipha-shaped daggers were assembled with individually cast blades, hafts and fitters. In other words, they were built-up daggers while others were monolithic units. This demonstrates that the techniques of making and processing bronze ware owned by ancient Koreans reached a high level.
Pipha-shaped daggers have charming ornamental designs, too. Others found abroad had few ornaments and if any, the ends of hafts were decorated with no more than the shapes of heads of animals and birds. Pipha-shaped daggers, in contrast, were embossed with various sophisticated designs and ornaments on the blades, hafts, and fitters.
That is why the world people say that a pipha-shaped dagger is not a mere weapon but ‘a piece of sophisticated craftwork’.
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Jo Aug 1, 2022
“Turtle ship” is the very first iron-clad battleship designed by a distinguished patriotic general Ri Sun Sin after being appointed admiral of Left Jolla Province in 1591.
According to the historical book “Richungmugongjonso”, the structure, building method and performance of turtle ships are roughly as follows.
A turtle ship was 35 metres long, 11.8 metres wide and 5.2 metres high, with 10 oars at each side and about 70 muzzles. The sails could be either raised or lowered if necessary.
The front part of the ship looked like the head of a turtle, where sulphur and nitre were burnt to produce smoke which was supposed to be emitted through the mouth to prevent enemy from noticing it.
It had two muzzles at the top of the turtle head and one muzzle on each side of the door. There were 12 muzzles on the right and left siding walls respectively on which some colours were fixed.
The roof of the ship was made up of large planks to look like a turtleback. There was a narrow way for our warriors only on the turtleback the rest part of which sharp objects like spears and daggers were fixed all over to keep enemies away. In the centre of the ship were 26 chambers, two of which were filled with ironware, five of which stored weapons like guns, arrows and bows, dynamite, swords, etc. and 19 of which were used as bedrooms for warriors. One of the remaining 2 chambers was captain’s cabin and the other one was a bedroom for commanding officers.
As warriors and combat equipment were protected inside the ship and they could look out from inside but nobody could look in from outside, it was possible for warriors in the ship to fire guns on all sides at hundreds of enemy ships at the same time. Some parts of the ship were iron-clad and the rest parts were covered with thick planks. Therefore, contemporary gun fire could never break it down nor burn it down.
Stout and stable in structure and incredible in speed, turtle ships equipped with various kinds of weapons and guns (12 at the right and left, 2 at the front, total 14) and loaded with as many warriors as 160 was an incomparably powerful warship in those days that was capable of destroying any enemy ship. In addition, the reasonable size and shape of the ship ensured good navigability.
Turtle ship, built in an original way by the Korean people, who had exploited and defended the sea from the early times, made a great contribution to defending the country by inflicting disastrous defeat on the Japanese invaders in several sea battles including the battle on the sea off Sachon during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592.
Outside Korea, it was not until the Crimean War (1853~1856), which broke out 440 years after the turtle ship, that three iron-clad ships were built. However, they were hardly used because they were too slow and cumbersome.
In conclusion, the first ever iron-clad ship turtle ship is a priceless national heritage that demonstrates the resourcefulness and creative talents of the Korean nation and at the same time it is a common asset of mankind that holds a prominent position in the world history of armament.
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Jo Jul 28, 2022
In the early 15th century, some talented musicians in Korea including Pak Yon and Hwang Hyo Song invented a system of lettered musical notes in rectangles capable of expressing the pitch, length and time of a sound fairly adequately.
Musical characters, key signatures, etc. written in rectangles like those on a chessboard denoted both the pitches and the lengths of sounds. That was an original quantitative system of musical notes that was invented for the first time in the history of eastern music.
The earliest musical notes in rectangles was “Sejong Sillok Akpo” devised and compiled in 1430 and published in 1453 by some talented musicians in the palace led by Pak Yon (1378~1458).
It was based on a fixed “degree” system where the initials (hwang, tae, thae, hyop, ko, jung, yu, rim, i, nam, mu, ung) of 12 musical notes with absolute pitches were written in 32 rectangles in a row.
Later it was improved into a 5-note system in 16 rectangles in a row, which is none other than “Sejo Sillok Akpo” published in 1464.
With the appearance of the lettered musical notes expressed in rectangles, the shortcomings of the previous musical notes arranged in a row and kuumyukpo, which failed to show tone length, were overcome, and poems and songs were able to be precisely expressed. This made a great stride in the expression of music.
As mentioned above, the musical notes devised by some musicians including Pak Yon in the early 15th century are of great musical significance as they are far superior over previous ones and the earliest in the history of the East, too.
Indeed, the Korean nation is a wise and resourceful nation that left a remarkable trace in the pages of musical history.
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Jo Jul 13, 2022
Koryo ceramics are representative of ceramics art of the Middle Ages, holding a prominent position in the world medieval history of ceramics.
Koryo ceramics are priceless cultural wealth that demonstrates the extraordinary artistic talents and the high level of science and technology of the Korean nation.
Koryo ceramics are divided into celadon, white, black, brown and crimson according to their colours while they are classified into embossed design, engraved design, perforated design, scratched design, inlaid design, disguised design, powdered gold design, etc. in terms of ornamental techniques. The most produced and excellent of all these were celadon ceramics among which inlaid-design celadon ceramics reached the acme of ceramic craftsmanship, attracting admirations from people all over the world.
Koryo ceramics were made in almost every part of the country except northern mountainous areas. The most typical areas were Kaesong and its vicinity, capital of Koryo Feudal State, Kangso in South Phyongan Province, Phyongsan in North Hwanghae Province, Songhwa, Ongjin and Haeju in South Hwanghae Province, Ryoju, Ansong, Koyang, Kwangju and Kanghwa in Kyonggi Province, Kongju in South Chungchong Province, Taedok District in Taejon City, Puan and Jonan in North Jolla Province, Kangjin and Mua in South Jolla Province, Koryo and Kyongju in North Kyongsang Province, etc.
One of the excellent characteristics of Koryo ceramics is, first of all, their unique colours.
The most beautiful and famous of all those various and harmonious colours is jade. Jade green, which looks like green shining against a white pebble in the clear water, reflects the sentiments of life of the Korean people, who are in favour of cheerful, honest, gentle and graceful manner. The discovery of colours, especially jade green that is obtained from reducing flames of iron contained in clay is attributable to a long period of practice and the high level of development of science and technology. Ceramics in this colour was called jade ceramics (celadon ceramics) and became a synonym for Koryo ceramics among the world people. Jade ceramics were first made in the first half of the 10th century.
Another superior characteristic of Koryo ceramics is the variety of their original shapes.
Koryo ceramics are of a variety of types ― glass, brass bowl, bottle, bowl, plate, kettle, jug, flower pot, censer, fire pot, make-up box, container for inkstone water, inkstone, brush holder, etc. and they are in different shapes. In particular, object-shaped ceramics that imitated animals, plants and humans are charming and novel. The objects include humans like civil officials in official outfits, children, etc., animals such as lions, giraffes, fish, turtles, dragons, phoenixes, rabbits, tigers, monkeys, mandarin ducks, ducks, pigeons, etc., and plants including melons, pomegranates, bamboo shoots, lotus flowers, bottle gourds, etc. With softly curved outlines, they look cheerful, slim and harmonious as a whole.
Yet another feature of Koryo ceramics is their diverse and outstanding designs. What makes Koryo ceramics even more famous is their inlaid designs along with other decorative designs by a pictorial technique by brush and sculptural techniques like engraving, embossing, perforating, scratching, stamping, etc. Such elegant looks of elaborately inlaid designs that show faintly through transparent coating of clay are found only on Koryo ceramics.
With the organic combination of all these distinguished colours and designs and original shapes, Koryo ceramics are well-known to the world for their elegance.
In those days, Koryo ceramics were widely exported, thus achieving world-wide fame. They exerted a great influence upon the development of ceramic workmanship of both our country and the neighbouring countries in the later years. In this sense they deserve to be called treasures of all mankind.
Indeed, Koryo ceramics, which are regarded as treasures by the world people for their pre-eminently beautiful colours, designs and shapes and show the extraordinary talents and beautiful and noble sentiments of the Korean people, are outstanding creations of the Korean nation and great treasures of the country.
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Jo Jul 1, 2022
The Korean nation established glorious traditions in the field of science and culture over the long period from ancient times to the feudal Joson dynasty, during which they developed the science and technology onto a high stage on the basis of numerous scientific and technological achievements gained, thus exalting to the world their fame as a talented and resourceful nation.
Among those achievements is the rain gauge which was made by the Korean nation for the first time in the world.
A rain gauge, an instrument to measure the rainfall, was first invented in the world in the period of feudal Joson dynasty in 1441. The first rain gauge which was made of iron looked like a cylinder and it was 2 ja (about 40cm) in height and 8 chi (about 16cm) in diameter. In 1442 a copper rain gauge which was similar in shape to the first one was made and it was 1 ja 5 chi (about 30cm) in height and 7 chi (about 14cm) in diameter. Several rain gauges were made subsequently.
The rain gauge was placed on a stand to catch the rainwater in it for the measurement of its amount. Such gauges were installed in the yards of government offices in the capital and other provinces. In the capital they were made of copper and in other provinces they were made of porcelain or clay. In every county the time when it started and stopped raining was recorded and the amount of rain in that time was measured, which was reported to the provinces. Then the provinces reported the collected data to Soungwan (an institute for astronomical and meteorological observations in feudal society, also called Kwansanggam), where all the data were recorded. It was made a system at that time.
The scientific measurement of the rainfall by rain gauge and the system of collecting measurement data were found in our country for the very first time in the world.
In Italy it was not until 1639 when the depth of rainwater was measured with a gauge. In addition, many years after it rain gauges were installed all over the country and the system of collecting the data of rainfall by the central institute was established. This explains that the rain gauge devised and used in Joson was about 200 years earlier than in Europe.
The rain gauge is a typical meteorological heritage that made a significant contribution to the development of astronomical and meteorological observation technology of our country and at the same time it is part of the priceless cultural heritage that is permeated with creative talents of the Korean nation.
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Jo Jun 13, 2022
Mausoleum of King Kogukwon is a tomb with mural paintings for King Kogukwon, 21st king of Koguryo, situated in Oguk-ri, Anak County, South Hwanghae Province. It dates back to mid-4th century and it is also called Anak Tomb No. 3.
The mausoleum, precious heritage of our national culture, is by far the number one of all Koguryo tombs ever known in terms of scale and richness of content of mural paintings. As a world-famous relic representative of the eastern culture in 4th century that gives an impression of an underground palace, it fully demonstrates the high level of might and culture of Koguryo.
It has a side chamber with figure and genre paintings. It is colossal in size ― about 33 metres from north to south, about 30 metres from east to west and 6 metres high. Located on the mountain and merged with it into one, it looks really magnificent like a huge mountain. It consists of a doorway, a front chamber, two side chambers in the east and west of the front chamber, inside chamber, a corridor, etc. that are built of stone semi-underground on the mountaintop cut downward flat.
The entrance facing the south of the doorway is blocked by a standing plain rock. The doorway is 2.17 metres long from east to west, 2.12 metres wide from north to south and about 3.48 metres high. Two stone doors are attached between the doorway and the front chamber. The front chamber is 4.88 metres long from east to west, 2.73 metres wide from north to south and 3.47 metres high. Between the front chamber and the inside chamber stand 3 octagonal pillars and between the two side chambers and the entrance to the corridor stand 2 square pillars, on the tops of which crenelles (layers of "cow's-tongue" ornamentation) or caps are placed.
The inside chamber is 3.8 metres long from east to west, 3.32 metres wide from north to south and 2.8 metres high. The eastern and the northern sides of the inner chamber are connected by an L-shaped corridor. The corridor is 10.13 metres in length, 0.69~0.87 metres in width and 2.5 metres in height. The ceiling of the corridor is supported by double parallel stays.
The murals are painted on bare stone walls. On the walls of the doorway are painted warriors guarding the king buried in this tomb and in the front chamber are found paintings of guards of honour, subakhui (Korean style of martial art using only the hands), singing and dancing. In the west side chamber are seen the scenes where the king, the main character, wearing “Paekragwan” (crown worn by Koguryo kings) and colourful silk robes is conducting state affairs together with civil and military officers, and the queen is being waited by the court ladies. In the east side chamber there are murals of kitchen, meat storage, well, mill, stable, cowshed, coach house, etc. The corridor is decorated with the mural of the main character wearing “Paekragwan” on an oxcart followed by the grand procession advancing majestically under the guard of warriors, civil and military officers, instrumental march music band, ceremonial flags such as “Songsangbon”, “Ttukki”, “Jongjol”, etc. owned only by the Koguryo kings. Each mural is different in painting technique.
The best-painted ones of all the murals are those with main characters in them. Although they have the limitation of the period when the portraits of the main characters were painted differently in size according to their social standings, they are invaluable ones that ascertain the very beginning of portrait painting in our country. The procession of several columns overlapping each other is portrayed skillfully by the technique of a bird’s-eye view. Demonstrating that its technique of picture painting was contemporarily of the highest level, this mural, in terms of the number of characters of over 250, the size and the complicated and colourful scenes, ranks first of all the murals in our country and it is a leading masterpiece that holds an important position in the history of the world fine arts.
At first there was a huge amount of valuable objects made of gold, silver, copper, iron, jade, etc. in the mausoleum, but at the time when it was discovered, only earthenware like plates, small bowls, pots, etc. was found due to grave robbery a long time ago.
The mausoleum is a precious cultural heritage that vividly shows the history, custom, architecture, art, music, dance, weapons, armament, etc. through the structure of chambers and the murals in them.
The architecture of bolsters and the murals in the mausoleum are the precious national cultural heritage that clearly shows the wisdom and resourcefulness of the Korean nation as well as the high level of its cultural development and world-famous relics representative of the contemporary eastern culture.
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