Museum in LA Shows Joseons Noble Class
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Los Angeles is one of the big cities where a large number of ethnic Koreans live. To provide a better understanding of Korea's native culture and history to the ethnic Korean community in the city, the National Folk Museum of Korea and the Korean Cultural Center are holding the exhibition, ``Emerging Country in East Asia _ Elegant Life of Noble Class in the Joseon Kingdom.''
The Korean Cultural Center has reopened the Korean Folk Art Museum in L.A. as a cooperative project with the National Folk Museum of Korea by renovating the previous gallery's small permanent exhibition.
The museum _ located on the first floor of the Cultural Center _ opened Oct.31 and is divided into five parts to introduce the traditional lifestyle and living spaces of Koreans during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).
The museum utilizes touch screens, flash videos, animation and LCD screens to give visitors a better understanding and impression of Korean traditional culture at a glance _ an upgrade from the previous exhibition.
``We're proud of reopening the museum with sufficient historical relics and reproductions in a multicultural city not only for Koreans but also for many other ethnic groups,'' Hwang Bo-myeong, a curator of Seoul museum, said.
He said that about 300 American high school students visit the center every week as part of ethnic educational programs.
The exhibition displays 262 historical relics, replicas and documents focusing on the Joseon period, which was the closest time period to present day Korea and a crucial element in understanding Korean heritage.
The museum says that it selected the culture of the Joseon Kingdom as it has a significant influence in the daily lives of Koreans today.
During this time, ``sadaebu,'' or aristocrats, led society and were committed to Neo-Confucianism, which defined the kingdom's political ideology. For the noble man, constant academic study and training in Neo-Confucian theories were considered the essential part in the building of one's character.
The exhibit hall presents the living spaces of ``sadaebu'' such as the husband's room of the house, called ``sarangbang,'' which epitomizes the understated class of a Confucian scholar; the wife's room, called ``anbang,'' which represents the essence of Korean beauty with its dignity and elegance.
It also sheds light on Confucian values, which are also evident in traditional wedding ceremonies and ancestral rites that stress family relationships and devotion to parents.
The first introductory part ``Korea, Connecting Past and Present'' presents prehistoric relics to modern items by era with various graphics and photos in details.
In the second section ``Life Close to Nature, '' visitors can experience villages and large communities, as well as the sites of houses and tombs located according to the country's geographical character dominated by mountainous regions and based on Feng Shui.
The hall shows traditional Korean houses, such as ``hanok,'' distinctive for its ``ondol,'' floor-based heating system and ``maru,'' wooden-floor style hall, and ``chogakip,'' or straw-thatched houses, and other representations of the nature-friendly lives of Koreans.
It also exhibits replicas of traditional maps, compasses and other ancient geographic books, which indicate how Korean ancestors interacted with nature, with the mountains, fields and rivers becoming an essential part of daily life.
The third section ``Anbang, Women's Room'' recreates Joseon women's space decorated with an elegant interior and equipped with furniture and amenities such as wardrobe chests, double-drawer baskets and cabinets, exquisitely designed with wood, mother-of-pearl ornaments and colored horns. The furniture was often inscribed with characters and design wishing for wealth, fortune and longevity of the family members.
The hall displays tray tables, dining dishes and other sewing tools, which offers a glimpse of other women's lifestyles.
The fourth part ``View of Nature and the World'' showcases various old items and books used by ``sadaebu'' which shows their life characterized by honest frugality.
The hall shows the old books they studied such as the ``Thousand-Character Text'' for children between the age of 5-6 and ``Dongmongseonseup,'' a textbook for children who had finished learning the basic 1,000 Chinese characters.
After mastering a basic knowledge of Chinese characters, children read ``Sohak,'' or the children's manners book, which covered such topics as loyalty to the nation and filial piety to parents, then moved to the ``Four Books (of Ancient China);'' the ``Analects of Confucius,'' the ``Works of Mencius,'' the ``Doctrine of the Mean,'' and the ``Great Learning.'' They continue to read the ``Three Classics of Ancient China'' _ the ``Book of Odes,'' the ``Canon of History'' and the ``Book of Changes.'' The hall also presents various items used by scholars for arts and entertainment, which they enjoyed in nature.
The fifth part ``Becoming One'' displays videos about a traditional wedding ceremony and other nuptial items such as palanquin, chamber pot, bridal robes and wedding gift boxes.