By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The National Folk Museum of Korea is holding a special exhibition to present about 200 pieces of Confucian relics related to North Gyeongsang Province.
Marking ``2009: The Year of North Gyeongsang Folk Culture,'' the exhibition highlights the development and interrelationships between Confucian culture and the region with respect to its geography, values and traditions, and its meaning for living in a modern-day industrial culture.
``North Gyeongsang Province produced a slew of prominent scholars compared to other regions, mainly due to the environmental benefits that were good for study and meditation,'' said Wi Chul, curator of the museum.
The curator said that one fourth of state officials came from Gyeongsang Province during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The region also developed the pavilion culture, which turned the natural environment into a place of co-existence between people and nature.
He said that the exhibition features 21 items, including six national treasures, from the family clans of Uiseong Kim, Andong's Gwon, Andong's Kim and Gwangsan's Kim, which represent the region.
The exhibit,``Embracing Neo-Confucians Ideals,'' consists of five sections. The first section, ``North Gyeongsang Province, the Unity of Nature and Human Beings,'' offers various maps of Joseon and other geographical books portraying the region and the environment.
Surrounded by mountains, this unique geographical condition provides a perfect natural environment for ``seonbi,'' or Confucian scholars, who want to live with nature to write poetry or meditate as spiritual training throughout their lives.
As a result, the seonbi built houses with pavilions in the mountains, enjoying a sense of inner peace by becoming one with nature.