Presentation on Korea's Arts and Culture

I was unable to make the meeting on Tuesday. Today, March 7, I attended a “Presentation on Korea's Arts and Culture” at the Asia Pacific Museum in Pasadena. It was sponsored by the Korean Spirit and Culture Promotion Project. We met in the museum's auditorium and watched a DVD on various Korean contributions and their developments. Afterward, we went downstairs where they served us a Korean meal and gave us books. The women involved with KSCPP wore beautiful Han Boks, the traditional dress of women. They mingled with participants and asked us about the DVD. One young woman asked us to fill out a survey to find out what our knowledge and exposure was to Koreans and Korea. It was a very pleasant and enlightening afternoon.
In the DVD, they presented some cultural accomplishments by historical dynasty. The Unified Silla Dynasty saw a prolific use of gold on Buddhist statues, crowns and a prominent artifact called the Siriya Casket. It was so intricately made that it has taken modern researchers the use of microscopes and technology to discover how this artifact was made. Their findings reveal that the artisans understood the heating and combinations of metal to solder gold but not melt it. The figures were so small with a significant amount of details.
The DVD presented wood block printing and the Sokkuram Grotto of the same dynasty. The advancement in these things cover math, science, art and religion beyond anything that had been known to that time.
They also covered celadon pottery of Koryo dynasty. This is the dynasty of the making of the Tripitakka Koreana ~ blocks that were used to print Buddhist scriptures. The storage depository was phenomenal since it incorporated technology to preserve the blocks using ventilation techniques. The blocks weigh 250 million tons.
This is hard because they presented so many wonderful things. I took five pages of notes and I see this is getting long and I'm not going to be able to summarize them all. I'll mention some of the other accomplishments: the painting of the 15,000 Buddhists and the use of paint that hasn't faded or flaked (made of lead, mercury, copper and gold) combined with other minerals for color. There was the invention of movable type 200 years before Gutenberg. Painting techniques were developed, mostly of Buddhist themes which were welcome throughout Asia. When people were depicted, clothing and hair styles indicated social status. There were crafted metal products, especially lotus incense burners.
The Choson Dynasty produced a national palace that balances artistic beauty with natural harmony. King SeJong invented HanGul, the Korean alphabet, along with dozens of other things. Punchong pottery in 15-16th century was innovative. They made white porcelain which became very popular. It was serene and not opulent, which was more in touch with the thinking of the day.
Historically, Korea has had a rough road with periods of fantastic accomplishments. Korea is re-emerging culturally. <><