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K-CULTURAL HERITAGE

Everlasting Legacies of Korea

  • 1989.6.15
    designated date
    The Korean traditional music is composed of sijo poems (Korean traditional poetry) and sung to orchestral accompaniment. It is also called 'Sakdaeyeop' or 'Song'.

    It is known that the original version of the song was not sung in the late Joseon Dynasty, when the song "Mandaeyeop," "Mandaeyeop," or "Mandaeyeop," was lost before the reign of King Yeongjo (1724-1776). The current song originated from the fast-paced song "Sakdaeyeop," which appeared in the late Joseon Dynasty, and is composed of a collection of songs that are related to the melody.

    The song is divided into five chapters, with a prelude, a rental note, and a second, third, middle, fourth, and fifth chapters. Very organized and well-organized. If you look at the rhythm, there are 16 beats of slow speed and 10 beats of fast speed of "pyeonjangdan." The performance consists of Geomungo, Gayageum, Haegeum, Daegeum, Danso, and Janggu.

    The song is one of the three major vocal music pieces in Korea, and is of high artistic value handed down by experts compared to the popular pansori and Beompae (a song that praises Buddha's virtues). Kwon, who lives in Daegu, is believed to be the only person in the Yeongnam region who can sing the song to the end.
  • 1967.6.16
    designated date
    Sanjo refers to the playing of an instrument solo to the accompaniment of janggo (hourglass-shaped drum), moving from slow to fast rhythm in four to six movements. Geomungo Sanjo is Korean instrumental folk music played solo with geomungo (six-stringed zither).

    Geomungo, which is also called hyeongeum (literally “black zither”), is said to have been made by Wang San-ak during the Goguryeo Period (circa 37 BC - 668 AD). It has six silk strings made of twisted silk thread tied to a wooden body 1.5m long and 25cm wide. A player sitting on the floor plays it while it is placed on his/her lap the way one plays a guitar, with the left hand tuning melody with string support called “gwae” and the right hand striking strings with thin bamboo (“suldae”).

    Geomungo Sanjo was first played by Baek Nak-jun in 1896 (33rd year of Emperor Gojong’s reign), but some people said that it was music that degraded the gracefulness of geomungo. Thus, it was only years later that a particular type of geomungo playing was accepted by majority of the people. At first, it was composed of monotonous melodies or rhythms; gradually, however, exquisite and complicated rhythms were added.

    Geomungo Sanjo has five rhythms: jinyangjo (slow), jungmori (moderate), jungjungmori (moderately fast), eonmori (irregular), and jajinmori (fast). Overall, its melodies are made up of ujo (calm and steadfast feeling), which appears in the first and middle parts of each movement, and gyemyeonjo (sad, soft, and plaintive feeling), which appears mostly at the end of each movement.

    Geomungo Sanjo is a piece of music containing a sense of subdued masculinity, featuring moderate yet grand and unrestricted feeling; its rhythms, slow and fast, express the sense of delight, anger, sorrow, and joy well.
  • 1967.6.16
    designated date
    Mask dance is a stage play wherein one person or several people wearing a mask act as a person, an animal, or a supernatural being (god), delivering a message with dialogues or dances.

    Talchum (mask dance) was performed throughout the country until the early Joseon Period. When the Sandae (type of mask dance) was no longer performed in the Royal Palace, it was enjoyed as a pastime by ordinary people.

    Bongsan Talchum was started in Bongsan-gun, Hwanghae-do about 200 years ago. Performed on the night of Dano (fifth day of the fifth lunar month) and Haji (Summer Solstice), it is composed of dances associated with four monks, eight monks in black robe, a female member of a troupe, an old monk, a nobleman, and an old wife. Prior to the start of the play, the 36 members of the play (27 of them wearing masks) march to the site of the play while playing music. They also hold a sacrificial rite.

    The play contains satire about nobles harassing commoners, depraved monks, male chauvinism in a custom of allowing a man to take many wives, etc.

    Members dance to the tune of praying to Buddha, taryeong (Korean folk song), and gutgeori rhythm songs accompanied by the playing of samhyeon yukgak (three strings and six wind instruments) such as piri (flute), jeotdae (bamboo flute), haegeum (two-stringed fiddle), buk (drum), and janggo (hourglass-shaped drum). Compared to other mask dances, this one features the frequent citation of Chinese poems.

    As the best known among the mask dances handed down in Hwanghae-do, Bongsan Talchum displays the lively movements of dancers including the shaking of the sleeves of the robes.
  • 2017.6.16
    designated date
    Goyang Bier and Hoedaji sound refers to a funeral ritual song that is being passed down around the Kimnyeong Kim Clan 寧金 집 Jipseong Village in Daehwa-ri, Songpo-myeon, Goyang.

    Kim Yu-bong (1725 years old) of Kimnyeong Kim Clan restored the tradition of the funeral of Kim Seong-gwon (1867), who was in charge of the construction of civil engineering and royal palaces.

    At that time, the size of bier was three times larger than that of ordinary merchants, and the number of full-length biers reached about 250. The mourning procession reached 5 ri (2 km) and the food served to the mourners at the time was not enough to cover 12 bags of rice.

    It was said to have been a large-scale custom.

    When a portrait is made in Daehwa-ri, Songpo-myeon, the mourning rites bow to the deceased of the bier who leaves for Jangji-dong, and the bier people call out the sound of salt and hush. When you leave the house, you will hear the sound of a badger, and you will hear the sound of voluntary bier as you walk fast or climb up a hill. When you reach the burial site, you sing the long salt fire and then put down the bier. When Gwangjung 壙中中, a pit for the tomb where the dead are placed, is established, the long sound is sung while playing the dalgu sori, Yangsan-do, Bangataryeong, Nolnori, Jutdasori, Sangsasori, and flutter.

    It is characterized by treading outside the middle of the mine when the moon is being burned in the Goyang area. This is believed to have been influenced by Joseon Dynasty royal tombs. There are many royal tombs in this area, and it is said to be a custom that originated from stepping outside the mine because it is impossible to step on the Nara.

    Currently, Kim Woo-gyu, the chairman of the conservation committee, is trying to win the event through the Goyang Sangyeo Daji Sori Preservation Association. In 2010, Wiesbaden, Germany, Carnival carried out, and the show, invited to the Japanese military sexual slavery after 2012.

    The victims' marriage is held every year.
  • 2011.6.17
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    Buncheong celadon is short for "Bunjanghoe celadon," which is characterized by applying the surface of the bowl with white clay and then using various techniques. It was produced in the early Joseon Dynasty with the origin of inlaid celadon at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty. In particular, in the reign of King Sejong, the painting division was at its peak and was donated as a government official, and was used in the royal family and government offices, and various decorative techniques were featured in each region.

    However, as the production of white porcelain began in earnest in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, in the late 15th century, Buncheong ware gradually declined, and was rarely produced from the late 16th century.

    The decorating technique used in buncheong ware is greatly inlaid.printing, foresight, and gourd paperIron, gwiyal, and dumbung are typical, showing characteristics according to timing and region. Up until the early 15th century, inlaid buncheong, which inherited the techniques and characteristics of inlaid celadon at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, was mainly made, but in the mid-15th century, inlaid buncheong, which was painted with a seal applied to the entire surface of the inlaid painting technique from the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, inlaid with white clay, was very popular.

    In the late 15th century, the incineration technique, which deeply engraved patterns on the surface of white clay, and the stripping technique, which scratched the background after pre-disting the patterns on the surface of the white clay, were produced in Jeolla-do, and the iron painting technique, which was expressed in a brush with iron oxide pigment, were produced in Chungcheong-do, respectively. Gwiyal and Dumbung techniques, which were applied with white clay brush or dipped in white clay to make up the entire surface, showed the tendency of white porcelain and were mainly produced from the late 15th to the early 16th century.

    Park Sang-jin, a swindler of Gyeonggi-do Intangible Cultural Property Buncheongsagi, entered Ji Soon-taek's "Goryeo Doyo" (currently Ji Soon Taek-yo) in 1971 and mastered the art of Buncheongsagi for about 13 years in Park Bu-won's "Do Won-yo" from 1974. In 1987, Gaecheonyo was established independently and continued to produce buncheong ware. In 2011, it was designated as Gyeonggi-do Intangible Cultural Property Buncheonggijang. Along with a variety of works based on the techniques and characteristics of traditional buncheong ware, the company is also trying to work on modern-day buncheong ware, which boldly transformed the branching method.
  • 2011.6.17
    designated date
    The record shows that the Geommu (sword dance), which was in the form of a performance, was based on the legend of Hwang Chang-rang of Silla during the Three Kingdoms Period. It was performed with Cheoyongmu until the early Joseon Dynasty, in the form of a masked child dancing. Mask since King Sukjong of Joseon

    Here comes the black lady. Geommu here was established as the royal palace during the reign of King Jeongjo, and the size of the royal court was increased to suit the characteristics of the royal court. The costumes became fancy and the number of participants increased. After establishing itself as a performance event of various local traditions in the late Joseon Dynasty, the Korean traditional dance became more artistic and refined, and was spread throughout the country by the gisaengs of each local school who participated in the royal court banquet. Currently, the Gyeonggi Inspection Office, Jinju Geommu, Tongyeong Geommu, Honam Geommu, Palace Geommu, Haeju Geommu, and Pyongyang Geommu are reported.

    The gyobang sword dance, which was spread by the gisaengs, was widely performed at private banquets. Gyobang Geommu consists of various types of dance, including Hansam Dance, Seon Hand Dance, Sitting Hand Dance, Sitting Knife Dance, Sun Knife Dance, and Yeonpungdae, and includes dance moves of Buddhist dance, which are folk dances of each region, such as Buddhist dance, salpuri, mouth dance, and mask dance. It is especially important in that it is passed down as a group dance performed by many people and has less variation than the hall dance, thus retaining the original dance moves of Korean traditional dance.

    The first half of the sword dance performance is static, and the second half of the dance with a knife is dynamically combined with the dual elements of yin and yang. When it comes to space use, it has both ground propensity and dynamism that leaps upward, and actively utilizes space through various large changes.

    The characteristic of the sword dance of Gyeonggi sword dance is that there are many side-spinning men who spread their arms horizontally and turn their swords, and the movements that seem to compete with each other are more diverse than royal sword dance. In addition, yum and yangnim are unique sword dance sons-in-law of Gyeonggi Geommu.

    Han Seong-jun (1875-1941), who had a systematic framework for the inspection of Gyeonggi Province, was passed down to Kang Seon-yeong (Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 92), the owner of Taepyeongmu, and was succeeded by his disciple Kim Geun-hee. Currently, Kim Geun-hee has been designated as the holder of the Gyeonggi Inspection and Quarantine Service, leading the Gyeonggi Inspection and Preservation Society and conducting performances and transmission activities.
  • 2009.6.19
    designated date
    A musical instrument master is a person who has or has the ability to make musical instruments used in traditional music. As wind instruments, string instruments and percussion instruments are already appearing in the murals of Goguryeo, it is assumed that the craftsmen of musical instruments were already present from the Three Kingdoms Period. During the Joseon Dynasty, an independent institution called the Musical Instrument Creation Office was established to produce and use musical instruments. Gayageum and Geomungo are the most representative Korean traditional musical instruments. Next, Ajaeng, Daejaeng, and Hogeum are the mainstream. It is common for stringed instruments to be made of odong-tung and chestnut-tree, while pieces of decorative items are often made of jujube, black belt, and juniper trees. Odongnamu is characterized by its vibration of sound, its dryness does not create gaps, and the lack of food for small.

    Cho Jun-seok, the holder of intangible cultural assets, was taught by Cho Jeong-sam and Cho Dae-seok, led by Baek Ok-ki, and runs a traditional Korean musical instrument production workshop in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province, to train his students. Cho Jun-seok is making a lot of efforts to operate Korean traditional music exhibition halls at home and abroad, restore ancient musical instruments, and operate Korean traditional music experience centers to foster backwardness and develop traditional Korean culture. The main items are haegeum and gayageum, as well as ajaeng and improved gayageum.

    The process of producing gayageum and haegeum is as follows.

    Gayageum manufacturing process 1) front, back plate drying status, 2) front plate cutting and shaping, 3) front plate crushing (outside and inside), 4) chew and fastening, 5) back plate sun, cloud, moon cut, 6) resonant barrel formation (bearing front plate agyo-ro, 7) left end decoration (head wrapping), 9 and 4).

    The process of making haegeum is 1) picking bamboo roots (woolim bins), 2) cutting to size, 3) making surface, 4) digging, 5) sandpaper work, 6) sandpaper work, 7) drilling holes in cast iron, 9) straightening out the main spindle (wood), 10) trimming the main joints, 11) sandpaper work, 12) sandpaper work, 12).
  • 2016.6.23
    designated date
    Sijo is known to have originated in the mid-Goryeo Dynasty and is a popular style of poetry during the Joseon Dynasty.Also known as 'timely song', 'timely unit song' and 'unit song'.

    Shijochang became a regional feature when the tune was created in the sijo, influenced by the orchestral music such as Geomungo, Gayageum, Daegeum, Danso, and Haegeum.

    Wanje of Jeolla-do and Yeongje of Gyeongsang-do, the economic and cultural festival of Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. It was divided into Naepoje in Chungcheong-do.

    ※For more information on the above cultural assets, please contact the Seoul Metropolitan Government Department of Historical and Cultural Heritage (☎02-2133-2616).
  • 2003.6.25
    Designated Date
    Yongpyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, was named Yongjeon-ri by merging Dunjeon-dong and Bangdeok-dong as the main points of traffic passing through the Yeongdong Expressway.

    The name originated from the fact that it was transferred from the area around Dunjeon-dong.

    In the Pyeongchang area, there were Nongak bands in Jinbu, Daehwa, Banglim, Baekokpo, Jangpyeong, Mitan, and Yuchon in the 1970s, and Jung-ri Nongak in Pyeongchang-eup has long been active with regional representation.

    Later, when Baekokpo Nongak, which had formed a double wall, was discontinued, Yongjeon Nongak was formed, and this was changed to the name Dunjeonpyeong Nongak, which is now being continued.
  • 2001.6.27
    designated date
    Yeomjang is the term for a craftsman who makes blinds out of various materials such as reeds and hemp stalks, especially bamboo.

    Blinds were necessary for life in Korean traditional houses called hanok. They were used in summer to block the strong sunlight and keep the people inside cool; they also served to prevent people from looking inside. They were made in various sizes, ranging from small ones to block palanquin doors and large ones to cover doorways.

    Bamboo blinds in particular took a lot of time and effort to make, so much so that the hands were said to have had to accomplish 10,000 steps. In Korea, blinds had been used since the Three Kingdoms Period; with the gradual disappearance of hanok, however, they had fallen out of use, with demand rapidly declining from the 1970s. As a result, there are few people left who make them.

    Today, blinds are made only in a few places such as Damyang in Jeollanam-do Province and Tongyeong in Gyeongsangnam-do Province.
  • 1966.6.29
    designated date
    Najeonjang, or mother-of-pearl inlaying, is a Korean traditional method of decorating the surface of diverse household objects by lacquering and inlaying them with strips of mother-of-pearl. This traditional handicraft is known to have originated from Tang China, but discoveries made at many archaeological sites related with ancient Korean kingdoms prove that Korea has a long tradition of the craft and that ancient Korean people exploited it profusely to produce all kinds of everyday household objects.

    To produce a lacquer work inlaid with a mother-of-pearl design, the artisan needs to make a “white frame” with wood first of all. He then lacquers its surface and decorates it by inlaying carefully prepared strips of mother-of-pearl, some of which are as thin as threads, on a prearranged pattern by using the techniques of kkeuneumjil and jureumjil. Each of the individual work processes is completed with a stage of grinding, lacquering, and polishing the surface.

    In the Goryeo and early Joseon Periods, the most favored designs included peony blossoms, chrysanthemums, and lotus flowers. Designs became more diverse during the mid-Joseon Period as artisans began to extend their interest to flowers with birds, white cranes, grapes, apricot flowers, and the Four Gracious Plants.

    The traditional technique of inlaying mother-of-pearl is a time-consuming process that is currently preserved by, among others, two government-designated artisans, Song Bang-ung and Yi Hyeong-man.
  • 1966.6.29
    designated date
    Farm music performed when farmers are working while helping each other, by forming a cooperative farming team, in a broad sense, refers to music performed when people march, work, hold ceremonies, and enjoy games while beating small gongs, gongs, hourglass drums, and drums. The performers are called gut, maegu, pungjang, geumgo, or chwigun.

    All performers play musical instruments while wearing hats. In Pangut (entertainment-oriented performance), the chaesangmo game makes a fine show. On the other hand, paljinhaesikjingut, a military game, looks unique. Its beat is fast, powerful, and exciting.

    Jinju Samcheonpo Nongak, a successor of pangut, has higher artistic value. In Paljinbeop, Beokku Nori, sangsoe (leader of the farmers’ music troupe), and Mudong Nori (kids sing and dance), individual skills are excellent.
  • 1976.6.30
    designated date
    Jultagi was mainly performed on special holidays like April 15, Dano (5th day of the 5th lunar month) and Chuseok (Harvest Moon Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month). Tightrope clowns also performed for payment at private parties.

    There were two types of Jultagi performance, one for entertaining people of the noble class performed by exceptionally skilled clowns, and the other for commoners with the focus on gags and entertainment. Jultagi performance was comprised the tightrope clown, jokers, and the players of instruments like piri (flute), jeotdae (bamboo flute), haegeum (two-stringed fiddle), buk (drum), and janggo (hourglass-shaped drum).

    The rope was about 10m long and 3m high. The feat was performed usually by a well-trained man. A folding fan or a towel held in the clown’s hand was for balancing the body. The instrumental players brightened up the atmosphere. The clown entertained the spectators by displaying ten-plus movements on the rope, in addition to singing or telling jokes about depraved monks or noblemen, displaying foolish acts, or imitating a woman applying facial makeup.
  • 1995.6.30
    designated date
    There were three Jisos in Cheongsong that produced paper as a traditional process: Jisori in Andeok-myeon, Misa-ri in Pacheon-myeon, and Jungpyeong-ri. Gamgok Village in Singi 2-ri, Pacheon-myeon, Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do has long been known as a paper village because of its many oak trees and clear water.

    By the 1920s, more than 20 households in this village produced hanji, and residents who did not make a living also made it a side job. However, the supply of glass windows drastically reduced the demand for glassware, and modernized various rituals used mainly for hanji, resulting in a sharp drop in the consumption of hanji, which greatly reduced the Hanji battle.

    In such a difficult situation, Yi Sang-ryong, the holder of the Seondae function, moved to Songgang-ri to continue his family business, which began on the day of his transfer from the source of the Five Dynasties, and was designated as Gyeongsangbuk-do Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 23 Cheongsong Hanji.

    His eldest son, Lee Ja-seong, is currently serving as the owner of the Cheongsong Hanjijang function, taking over the family business. Samchejeong Pavilion, the ritual house of the Byeokjin Yi Clan in Gamgok Village, Shin Ki-ri, is the ritual house and pavilion of the three brothers, Lee Seok-il, Gamcheon Lee Jae-il and Seokcheon Lee Hyang-il, who started the family business.

    Recently, the demand for traditional Korean paper has been increasing due to the use of hwaseon paper, possession, books, and wallpaper used by painters. Yi Ja-seong, the holder of the function of Cheongsong Hanjijang, Gyeongsangbuk-do Intangible Cultural Property No. 23, does not use imported mulberry trees, but collects and uses raw materials from the area of Cheongsong-gun, the birthplace of the mulberry tree, and Yecheon Yonggung.

    Lee Ja-seong not only built 6,000 square meters of mulberry field near the workshop, but also created Cheongsong Hanji Experience Center to spread Cheongsong Hanji
  • 1995.6.30
    designated date
    Sambae is also called Be, and in Chinese, it is also called Ma, Mapo, and Po. The cambes were found in the Gungsan Shell Mound in the Neolithic Age, indicating that they were used before the discovery.

    During the Goryeo Dynasty, technology was developed and exported to China and was used with ramie as a means of cultural exchange. In the Joseon Dynasty, the production of sambae was slightly reduced as cotton production began.

    The production process is first cultivated and harvested by growing the cedar trees, then steamed the treetops that skimmed the leaves and dried in the sun.

    After splitting the three pieces of cloth, each string is extended and the length and width of the one piece of cloth determine how many rolls of thread will go in. Finally, after the process of feeding grass, we squeeze the fabric using a loom.

    Since it is a rare case in the country where a village is collectively inherited by a village, it is designated and protected as an intangible cultural asset.