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A “gat,” or headgear only allowed for gentry |
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.
A seonbi’s “hopae,” or identity tag |
For the seonbi, the natural surroundings of the region were perfect for realizing harmony with the cosmos and for attaining an ideal life in the province.
The second section, ``Between the Ideal and Reality,'' shows the seonbi's roles in the aspect of Confucianism, which had a large impact on the politics and educational practices of the period.
The seonbi believed that providing a proper education in Confucian principles for their children was one of their top priorities.
They also believed that real leadership is achieved through education and good government in Confucianism. Thus they preferred to home-school younger family members rather than sending them to a public school. Usually, one of the respected, educated and older family members led the youth education. The first of seowon, or private academies, was established in the region. The seowon with their own ancestral shrines provided a Confucian education.
The section includes the Joseon's prominent Confucian scholar Yi Hwang's County Examinations Answer Sheet owned by the Gyeongbuk National University's museum.
The third section, ``Social Communication and Self Improvement,'' shows how the seonbi interacted with other colleagues to share the academic knowledge and promote their friendship.
The seonbi organized ``gyehoe'' or Confucian associations to establish social networks both in private and public activities. They met other scholars and exchanged ideas and shared the same goals through the association. There were various kinds of gyehoe and a wide range of age groups in participation.
In fact, this network served not only as a way to socialize, but also offered an opportunity to learn and observe the good manners and moral behavior of other seonbi, and to build one's moral character by keeping good company.
In this section, there are several hanging boards from pavilions on display, as there were numerous pavilions during the period in the region.
The fourth section of ``Family Continuity and Circulation'' presents the family cycle to maintain the ancestral tradition through dynamic gadgets, such as a projection which shows the traditional ritual service.
The family cycle starts with a married couple and shows how the family expands as the children get married and have children of their own. In Korean culture, taking care of one's parents, physically and spirituality after they have passed away, is considered the moral duty of children.
In general, the descendents pay respect to their ancestors through traditional rites. The conducting of ancestral rites shows visitors that Uiseong's Kim family still observes the memorial service in a traditional way. Although the rites may have become simplified and less time consuming today, the traditional value of ancestral rites is still very important to modern Koreans, the museum said.
In this section, Uiseong's Kim clan has lent their ritual wares, family tree documents and various ancestral relics such as folding screens for the exhibition.
The last section, ``Raising Public Issues on the Throne'' reflects the seonbi's active participation to real political affairs.
The seonbi were involved in public issues, in addition to their commitment to Confucianism scholarship.
Their political participation could be seen in ``sangseo,'' which were a kind of petition offered up to the throne to express concern over certain issues. Sometimes, they sent the names of over 10,000 people in one of these letters called ``maninso.''
The section displays the largest petition, or ``maninso'' which is 1.2 meters in height and 20 meters in width.
Five ``maninso'' out of seven during the Joseon came from the region. This demonstrates how active and determined seonbi could be in public matters.
The exhibition will be open through Aug. 31. Admission is free. For more information, call (02) 3704-3153.
chungay@koreatimes.co.kr |
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yistory@koreatimes.co.kr
