In the past, Korean society was divided into a ruling class, called yangban, and a subjugated class, or sangmin. Koreans behaved humbly to maintain the social order. For example, when a scholar published a book, he usually inserted a sentence in the preface along the lines of " I wrote this book without very much knowledge and not a great deal of talent." This "self-humiliation" may seem strange..
In Korean spirituality, the soul and spirit of a person is defined as Hon-Baek. Hon is the soul that rises to heaven, while the Baek is the spirit body that is interred underground. Jongmyo shrine was dedicated to hold ancestor worship ceremonies led by the incumbent Joseon King to please the Hon-Baek, the soul and spirits of the deceased kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty. During an elabora..
Few countries in the world manufacture their own paper to record their history. None can make paper that will last more than a thousand years, as traditional Korean paper Hanji does. The world`s oldest woodblock printed text, the Spotless Pure Light Dharani Sutra was printed on Hanji paper some 1,300 years ago, between 704 and 751. Hanji paper, made from the inner bark of the Dak tree, has almos..
The Gaya Kingdom of Korea, more accurately the Gaya Confederacy founded in 42CE, had a relatively short history by Korean standards. Gaya left the best known traditional Korean musical instrument, the Gayageum, a significant "plucked zither" instrument with 12 strings. In addition to the most aesthetically pleasing curves on Gaya`s pottery in all of Korea`s history, the Gaya civilization was kno..
Baekje was founded by Onjo, the son of Goguryeo`s progenitor, Jumong. Onjo expanded the territory southwards and designated Wiryeseong (within vicinity of today`s Seoul) as its capital. The kingdom gradually defined itself by annexing the Han River basin and expanding further to Liaoxi, china and to certain areas of Japan Baekje lost control of the Han River basin and moved its capital, first to..
Around 700,000 years ago, people started to live in Korean peninsula. As evidence of this, Paleolithic artifacts have been excavated all around the peninsula. In contrast to the Paleolithic Period, Neolithic sites have been found along the seas or around large rivers. The Bronze Age, which dates from 2000BC, is probably best known for dolmen, a famous burial site for chiefs. With the arrival of ..
