Introduction

Korea impressed the world by hosting the 1988 Olympic Games and more recently the 2002 World Cup. At the opening ceremonies Korean arts were displayed for the world to see. This achievement was made more amazing in light of Korea's modern history. Korea survived the attempts of the Japanese to eradicate Korean culture during the Japanese occupation between 1910-1945. Korea's survival spirit continued after the country was left devastated by the Korean War between 1950-1953. The country flourished and was able to put on elaborate displays of its culture.

Music and Dance

Korean traditional music is usually divided basically into two groups: classical or court music, jeongak, for the upper echelons of society, and folk music, minsogak, for the common people.

The first Korean classical music was Chinese court music and was known in Korea as tangak meaning that it had come from the Tang Dynasty in China. It was first introduced during the Shilla period, but now the term refers to all Chinese music.

Korean drums

Confucian music came later during the Koryo period when the Chinese emperor sent performers to the Koryo court. The music is simple and reflects the harmony of Confucianism. King Sejong enjoyed Confucian shrine music for Confucian ceremonies and also for entertaining in the royal court.

Buddhist music includes yombal, or the recitation of sutras, hwachong, a humble request by a monk who bangs a cymbal while another may hit a drum and pompae, which is a ritual chant used a Buddhist rites.

Folk music was popular with farmers and often accompanied shamanic rituals requesting a good harvest. The different kinds of folk music include nongak, sanjo, samulnori and pansori.

Nongak is an outdoor affair that combines singing, dancing and music. Sanjo is lively folk tunes, whereas pansori is like traditional Korean opera, which is an epic tale performed by a solo singer to the beat of a drum.

Samulnori is four-man drumming and dancing and is a combination of traditional, shamanic and modern compositions. The four instruments are the hourglass drum (changgo), large gong (ching), small gong (kkwaenggwari) and the barrel drum (puk).

Korean traditional music is usually played on percussion, wind and string instruments.
Among the characteristic traditional instruments are the kayagum, a 12-string zither, the yanggum, a percussion string instrument that is a predecessor of the modern day piano, and the tanso, a bamboo flute.

The drumming that accompanies dancing can be exciting. One form of dance requires the dancers to play the drums and dance at the same time. The most popular folk dances are seungmu, drum dances, talchum, mask drama and salpuri which has roots in early religion.

The masked dance usually doesn't have one story that threads through the performance. Instead, each scene is independent, usually a satire of all types of people with pantomime singing and comedy.

Folk dance is usually very lively and colourful. In the fan dance, the dancers wear brightly coloured costumes and they form a circle that has the appearance of a flower.

A classic court dance is the ball throwing dance where the girls have to throw a ball through a hole and are either rewarded by the flower girl or are punished with a black mark on their cheek from the brush girl. Other famous court dances are the sword dance and the mugo, a drum dance with eight dancers. The patterns that are made by four dancers with flowers and the others with drumsticks symbolise military formations.

Some famous dances are Buddhist in origin, for example the butterfly dance and the cymbal dance. In the former the angels symbolically come from heaven, in the latter they play the cymbals. With the drum dance the sufferings of the dead are relieved with each drum beat. The dances are usually accompanied by chanting.

Sungmu is a monk dance that represents either enlightenment or temptation. The dancer wears a robe with long sleeves and acts out being alternately attracted and repelled by the beating drum. The tension mounts until he is drawn to the drum, when he produces the drumsticks from his sleeves. He builds up the tension by drumming then finally walks away.

Arts and Crafts

The earliest Korean paintings are murals that date back to the Three Kingdoms period. Chinese painting and calligraphy influenced Korean traditional art. During the Koryo period, Buddhist painting became popular and later with the influence of Christian missionaries Korean painting took on features of landscapes and scenes from everyday life.

Unlike western painting, which is life-like and almost like a photograph, Korean painting has no viewing point and the eye is allowed to wander over the painting. There is also no perspective and objects appear out of proportion. The colours in Korean painting are calm and subtle.

Traditional paintings usually consist of landscapes, flowers, birds, portraits and altar portraits of Buddha. The four noble gentleman paintings are called sagunja. The four plants are the plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo. Confucian scholars painted these during the Chosun dynasty. The plants represent courage, nobleness, productivity and integrity respectively.

Sculpture became popular with the introduction of Buddhism. Buddha sculptures were carved in bronze, wood and stone. These declined in the 14th century when the country adopted Confucianism. Shamanic woodcarvings were found all over Korea. The grandfather stones at Jeju Island are thought to be carvings of guardian spirits.

Korean pottery originally came from China. The Koreans developed their own kind of celadon, a bluish green ceramic that the Chinese came to envy. Buncheong is a Korean creation, a kind of pottery with a grey tinge with simple designs. The Japanese had their eye on this design and forced the potters and their families to live in Japan and work for the Japanese. This sparked the Imjin War.

The Koreans are also famous for their paper products. Hanji is made from hemp or mulberry pulp. It produces a durable material that has been used to make wardrobes, chests, calligraphy desks, and when oiled it can be used to cover floors or to make umbrellas and fans.

Calligraphy or seoye was popular with the educated elite during the Chosun period. It was a form of mental discipline and along with painting and poetry was one of the necessary accomplishments for the cultured gentleman. Four tools are needed for calligraphy, an ink stick, and a stone for grinding, paper and animal-hair brushes. Traditionally, Chinese characters were painted within an imaginary square. The thickness of the ink and the composition are important and the artist could not make any corrections.

Writing

The Tripitaka Koreana is a Buddhist work that was written on a series of wood blocks. It is housed at the Haein Temple and was believed to protect Korea from foreign invasions. The monks print them by covering the block in ink and printing it on paper.

Hangul is one of Korea's proudest inventions. King Sejong and his scholars created the Korean alphabet in the 16th century. It was a welcome change from the Chinese characters that were previously used only by the educated elite. Hangul is phonetic, scientific and relatively easy to learn which might account for why Korea has one of the highest literacy rates in the world.

Buddhism, Confucianism and Shamanism influenced early literature. Early works, such as legends and folk tales express an appreciation of nature. The morals of respect for elders and leaders, good being rewarded and evil punished are significant in early literature.

The most famous early work is the Samguki or The History of the Three Kingdoms, which was written by Ki Pu Shik in 1145. Samukyusa or the Myths and Legends of the Three Kingdoms was written in by Illyeon to complement the Samguki. It was written in the 12th century but was not printed until 1512. The content is not systematic and is not about the three kingdoms, but mostly the Shilla Kingdom. There are stories about the creation of Korea by the man-god Tangun and the origins of Buddhism. The book, while it is not strictly historical, gives an insight into the thinking of the time.

While early Korean literature was heavily influenced by Chinese works, after the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945 there was a decisive turn away from Chinese and Japanese influence, and western and Christian thought is now more prevalent in modern Korean literature.

Architecture

The traditional Korean house has an elevated one-storey design, with wooden beams set in stone, clay walls and roof tiles. No nails were used to assemble the structure, only notches so the house could be easily dismantled. The traditional roof slopes upwards at the edges as if it is smiling.
The house is arranged around a courtyard and covers two, three or four sides of a square with the courtyard in the centre. The number of areas in the house depended on the wealth of the family. A rich family would have had separate quarters for the women, men and servant as well as an ancestral shrine.
Koreans use the traditional heating system or ondol today, although there are some differences. The traditional system consisted of a clay floor and burning coal underneath, nowadays the floor is heated by water pipes. The traditional floor is covered with oiled paper that is comfortable to sit and sleep on. Rooms often have low ceilings to make the most of the warmth.

Games

Probably the most popular board games that are still played in Korea are paduk and changgi. Paduk, originally from Japan (where it is known as go) has a grid and the two players either have white or black counters. The pieces do not start on the board; each player alternately places one counter at a time. There is no front line as in chess. The aim is to occupy as much territory as possible. Changgi is originally from China, and is similar to chess, in that each of the Chinese characters on the pieces represent a war figure. The pieces are either red or blue, and the stronger opponent can play with fewer pieces. Another board game is yutnori, which was usually played on New Years Eve. The game is played by throwing beans or sticks in the air then calculating the score according to where they land on the board.

Paduk and changgi are generally played by men, but a traditional women's game is nolttwigi or the jumping see-saw. It was popular at New Year's when the women could show off their new clothes. They would jump on the end of the board, springing their partner in the air. It is said that women liked this game because it meant they could see over their courtyard walls.

The tug of war from Yongsan was a game that has links with the next year's crop. If they pulled the rope they believed that they would have rain and if the women won they would have a good harvest.

Korean wrestling or ssireum was later passed on to Japan where it was developed into sumo. Tightrope walking and kite flying were also popular. There are about 17 different kinds of tightrope walking and the artist would have to sing songs or tell stories at the same time.

Martial Arts

The martial arts that exist today are a fusion of the ancient traditions and they have been standardised after 1945. They have been affected recently by the Japanese occupation when Korean martial arts were banned.

Taekwondo literally translates as the way of the foot and the fist and has its roots in the ancient martial arts of subak, hwarangdo and taekyon. In recent times it has been affected by Japanese karate during the occupation. It is characterised by high fast spinning kicks. Each student is expected to perform breaking tests and display knowledge of pressure points. Taekwondo is not as effective as other martial arts as a self-defence method as it does not involve fighting on the ground where most street fights end up. Taekwondo is also a sport where the objective is not to hurt your opponent but to demonstrate your power and speed. Every Korean man receives Taekwondo training during his military service years. Like all martial arts, the qualities of discipline and correct behaviour are valued.

Hapkido literally means the way to co-ordinate internal energy. Its method is made up of kicking, striking, twisting, throwing and joint locking. The emphasis is on using the hands and the feet whereas Taekwondo is mostly kicking. Weapons are used in advanced stages of training. This is a good martial art for self-defence.

In ancient times, there were three kinds of martial arts; Sahdoh Musul, which was tribal martial arts, Boolkyo Musul, which was Buddhist, and Koongjoong Musul, which was for the royal court. Recently these were combined to form Kuk Sool. Other combination martial arts are Tang Soo Do, which attempted to unite all martial arts under one name and Kong Shin Bup, which means empty body and open mind.

Links

On Korean Arts:
http://cinema.sangji.ac.kr/WINDOW/window/win00104.htm

Performing Arts:
http://korea.insights.co.kr/english/song/index.html

Links on Korean Arts:
http://dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/South_Korea/Arts_and_Entertainment/

Arts and Crafts:
http://www.artsandcraftskorea.com/

Korean musical instruments:
http://park.org/Korea/Pavilions/PublicPavilions/KoreaImage/exit/efo1.html
http://www.korea-np.co.jp/pk/037th_issue/98040808.htm

Korean traditional music:
http://ailab.kyungpook.ac.kr/kmd/korea_music.htm

Listen to Korean music:
http://www.ware4u.com/things/music.htm

Guide to Hapkido and Taekwondo
http://hoshinsulonline.tripod.ca/

Taekwondo:
http://www.barrel.net/

Hapkido:
http://www.hapkido.co.kr/eng/main.html

Kuksool:
http://www.kuksoolwon.com/english.htm

Korean folk games:
http://www.korea.net/learnaboutkorea/library/library_slides_8.html

Korean literature:
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/literature.htm
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/north%20korea/pro-literature.htm

Korean Calligraphy:
http://cinema.sangji.ac.kr/WINDOW/window/win00116.htm

On Korean painting:
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/north%20korea/pro-painting.htm
http://www.asia-art.net/korean_paint.html

Korean paper crafts:
http://www.koreancatholic.org/info/heritage/heritage8.htm

Korean architecture:
http://nongae.gsnu.ac.kr/~mirkoh/ob1.html

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