Environmental Harmony of Korean Traditional Housing

Housing Construction and Environment

The features of the Korean climate are affected by the temperate climate, four seasons, and then the cold and dry northern regions in contrast to the humid and warm southern regions. And thus, the traditional housing across the peninsula is likewise affected by the architectural layout and construction.

This well compiled outline of the variations between the housing structures across the peninsula was put together by Oh Eun Jung, Eom Yum Sik and Park Do Young in a presentation related to environment. All picture and information credit goes to them ... my learning curve was high and I was highly interested, so with permission, they share their information with the common public here. Now I can understand when I go to museums and folk villages and other cultural sites why the houses look different, and some radically so. The biggest confusion has been when cultural folk villages have houses brought in from various areas but there is no comment on the construction related to the different area where the house originally stood ... but now I see the light!

THE NORTHERN AREAS

(predominantly in North Korea)

THE NORTHERN HOUSING



ㅁ shaped sturcture

ondol, heated floor system

thick walls for insulation and small windows to maintain regular indoor temperature

low ceiling for retaining the heat

NORTHEASTERN HOUSING

linear houses with wings and multiple rooms

jeoungjugan, a large central room heated by the kitchen next door (perhaps could be called a hearth room) for communal living and warmth

NORTHWESTERN HOUSING

┏ shaped structure - usually designed so to fit neatly within a rugged terrain which might have trees, slopes or limited flat land

no wide floors - the rooms are simple and small and easily heated

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CENTRAL HOUSING
areas include southern part of the Hwanghae province, Kyunggi, Kangwon, and Choongcheong provinces ...... ㄱ shaped house (major form) ; udegi house (Ulreng Island) ; neowa house(mountainous areas)


ㄱ-SHAPED HOUSE   

ㄱ-shaped because of relationship with outer environment and with inner environment

building materials are planks, rice straw and mud for plugging the holes - all natural materials found locally and readily accessible

UDEGI HOUSE

Udegi refers to the unusual protective wall around the building.

The weather of Ulreung Island is maritime with heavy snow falls, so the addition of high walls around the house protects the dwellers from the elements and seals a passage for people to work in violent (which is frequent) weather

Both people and animals are protected together yet separate in this structure

Building materials are logs, tree bark, rice straw, mud and grass for caulking the logs

NEOWA HOUSE

neowa, meaning "bark of the tree"

the mountainous region house - materials easily accessible in the mountainous regions which used to be heavily wooded

all-year round advantages with compact structure for safety, warmth and solid protection from the mountain winds

unlike many other homes, this house stands alone with all residents living inside and most having direct access to the outdoors via private doors; no walls and typically no out-buildings

SOUTHERN AREA

(Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces + Jeju Island)

JEOLLA AND GYEONGSANG PROVINCES

 ㅡ-shaped house (a single-winged house) - designed so wind can easily pass through

community room with wide floor

wide overhanging eaves angled so the sun does not scorch those on the wide porches or so the wind does not beat rain against the walls of the house

big windows that allow flowing breezes in summer

JEJU ISLAND

squat house with several wings - the purpose was the hug the earth and keep under the winds

having a  net-like covering over the straw-thatch to prevent the wild winds of Jeju from lifting the roof

simple inner structure for snugness (even though the winters could be quite cold, I don't think Jeju houses had ondol - the common feature of traditional Korean houses in the north)

IN SUMMARY

Arabic Classes at the Egyptian Embassy

In mid-May feeling somewhat bored after completing the writing component of my semester classes, I was looking for something to do with my suddenly lightened schedule. So I tried to enroll in an online class only to find out that registration had closed the previous day. What a bummer! So I went online to the Korea-4-expats site to see what was interesting and available around Seoul. Humph! There are just too many festivals in Korea - flower-festival-this and kimchi-festival-that - and they all pretty much have the same purpose, to entertain people on a very superficial level but not really "teach" anything meaningful. Well, that's my egghead opinion anyway.

What I like experiencing is something common, even ho-hum-everyday, but it should be either cultural or offer some kind of learning value - maybe a pansori performance, lectures on Korea, plays or ballets or Korean dance performances, a photography display, volunteering experience with elderly or a children's home, watching people on the street, even walking through open-air marketplaces or up a mountain - basically things of anthropological interest attract me. Well, it was my lucky day for listed under "things to do" was an offer of Free Arabic Classes for 8 consecutive Tuesdays. Right up my alley! Of course I cleared my Tuesday evenings (and opted to forego the regular Tuesday night Royal Asiatic Society lectures), downloaded a script of the Arabic alphabet (gibberish then, readable now) and showed up at the Egyptian embassy on time, ready to learn!

I have to say the learning style was very intense with the philosophy "sink or swim". I dog-paddled. But dog-paddling was very meaningful and the cultural knowledge I got from the class was phenomenal. To give a few examples, a religious meaning of "Mo-ses" is derived from the Arabic words for tree and water because Moses was found between the trees/bushes/rushes and the water. Koran is a derivative of to read. The word beautiful or attractive (which seems to be only used for women while men are primarily referred to as intelligent - hmm) stems from female camel. (This might come across as offensive in our modern world where Culture subsumes Nature, but the buried cultural beauty must be considered!) In fact, Arabic has two names for female camel and the other is similar in sound to 낙타, which our teacher speculates might be the only Arabic word borrowed into Korean, and that name when used in an adjective form in Arabic means elegant, which is also applied to women.

And then for a bit of cultural relativism. The root of administration or administer in Arabic is to carry as in to carry the people, while in English the root is to care for or attend to others; these etymologies shows how the origin of administration was seen in reference to serving the multitude under its respective offices (my opinion, at least in the west, is that most administrations have taken on a heirarchical role in society and though the administrative offices are set up to care for the people, there is power involved and a desire to keep that power or control over the people, but then language is dynamic and ever changing.). As in all languages, ethnocentrism exists and in Arabic the Middle Sea is what is on western maps as the Meditarranean Sea. (People of the US arrogantly refer to themselves as Americans while in fact Canadians, Guatemalans and Peruvians could technically call themselves that as they live on one of the American continents. And then there's Korea that has the on-going debate with Japan over the East Sea vs. the name of the Sea of Japan, a current very sticky issue.) It's obvous in learning Arabic that the religious and social cultures are so intimate with the language - and I love the cultural applications! The Sapir-Whorf Theory proved once again. And understanding the cultural forces affecting the language have made Arabic so alive and exciting!

One last word, though, has me scratching my head. It's the Arabic word for Venice, sounding very much like boondocks. Wow! Now I have to look into the origin of the term boondocks because it's possible that Venice as an ancient thriving export city on the Mediterranean, and very distant from the Arabic speaking countries, might have been the indirect catalyst for the borrowing of the Arabic term boondocks into English in reference to the distance involved in reaching a distant city or place ... or maybe that connotation of being distant and far-removed from one's self came later or was even borrowed from another language.

Anyway, exciting class. 20 or more showed up the first night, but it was rather a quick introduction to a totally new writing system and a complex one at that, so by week #5 the number of people had dwindled to about a core of 8-9. Tonight, our last night I'm not sure how many are in attendance as I couldn't make it because of my prearranged summer vacation plans. However, I know the core of us who stuck out the majority of the classes really REALLY loved the language and cultural exposure.

Not only did we acquire basic knowledge on sentence construction, insights into etymology and root derivatives, as well as a tiny intro to variations between the different Arabic dialects, we even got to try some of the delectable Egyptian desserts ... hahaha, our teacher (a very busy diplomat) was tied up one night in a meeting and then Seoul p.m. traffic so arrived late, but he brought us gastronomical compensation - traditional Egyptian desserts! How nice! And yum!

Well, the eight weeks have flown by and tonight is the last night of the class. How sad. Anyway, although I probably won't ever study this language to reach competency, I don't want to forget the alphabet, the basic greetings and the tiny core of words and syntax that I've picked up. Since 22 countries in the world speak some form of Arabic, even the basic knowledge that I've acquired will give me a better world view. It's certainly given me a lot of cultural understanding on a culture I knew relatively nothing about before :) And if there is ever another offer for a class in Arabic through the Egyptian embassy, I'd say "Go for it!" Mohammad, our teacher, taught this class once before (last October I think), and as a Korean in the class put it this time around, "He's a great cultural ambassador."

Garlic Saturated Marketplace

Trucks transporting garlic bulbs, marketplaces spilling over with garlic bulbs tied in huge sachets, garlic bulbs being deskinned by ajummas in the subway, or to be laid in doorways to dry in the sun or even tied up in clumps to dry under eaves ... garlic everywhere! Ah, the garlic harvesting season has arrived, and with it the air made pungent with fresh earth clods and garlic vapors. I love it! People back stateside just don't understand the importance of using garlic to flavor food, and so back ages ago when I got off the plane my first time in Korea and my first meal was filled with aromatic garlic and flavored with salt instead of sugar, I knew I was "home"!

Back then (in the early 1990s), garlic was sold by the bulbs in the marketplace. In the intervening years, garlic came to be sold skinned in the marketplace or stores (as stores grew in size and gained popularity for selling produce) and then later it was sold freshly pressed in the stores. A machine would press the garlic in front of housewives and then huge spoonfuls would be ladled in a plastic bag and weighed. At first this was a luxury and looked down upon as the garlic wasn't considered it's freshest or most pungent when cooking, but gradually the concept of buying freshly minced garlic in the stores caught on. Now, the store garlic presses are long gone and many companies package different sizes of plastic cartons of "fresh" pressed garlic. It's really not so "fresh" as frequently it's already turning yellow which means its aged and been exposed to oxygen for a period of time. Call me old-fashioned but the food value in this oxidized garlic has been lowered through shelf life and so I buy my garlic peeled but without the skin broken. Formerly, even the peeled garlic looked great but now there are often pits and wrinkles in the garlic testifying also to some shelf life. Korea certainly is not the agricultural society it once was, but short of me taking up a hoe and growing my own, I, like the other "city folks", depend on the less than fresh garlic and produce to be sold in large supermarkets.

Anyway, the new garlic apparatus I've seen this year (it might have been in existence before, I just didn't know about it) is an automatic trimmer. One person feeds uprooted garlic stalks through a machine and the stalk gets chopped away and separated from the bulb which is shot out the side for another person to bag for marketing ... or perhaps for further processing. This is incredibly efficient in a country that "wolfs down" garlic in kimchis, stews, with meats and sauces, as bases for noodles and broths, and you name it. The apparatus very much reminded me of our American-made old-fashioned hand-cranked corn shucker and separator. The concepts of separating the refuse from the food product is practically identical, and both so cultural important as American is a corn-based society and Korea a garlic-based one. Yeah, I think it's fair to call garlic as one of Korea's staple foods as it certainly falls in one of the top 10 foods that Koreans are most likely to purchase when making a meal.

And then of course when so many garlic bulbs are filling the markets, there are garlic stems in huge bundles and cheaply sold too. The air-conditioned green grocery shelves are well laden with stems and so of course they surface quite frequently in side-dishes in restaurants particularly at this time of year. Lightly stir-fried these lose their pungency and take on a sweetish flavor. Many Koreans cut the stalks into small segments and stir-fry them with seafood or anchovies.

They're a very common side dish at this time of year ... and seriously need to be introduced as a food staple likewise in the states. While visiting my parents last summer, I wanted to make a side dish with the garlic stems but unfortunately the US is lacking in this department. I got lucky however when my brother spotted a wad of them in a Vietnamese store. I had actually overlooked them because Vietnamese garlic stems are triangular and look more fragile. No matter. They still have a rich pungency that appeals ... and when I made a chili with them once and a side-dish another time, my family became "sold" on having these pungent stems as part of their vegetarian meals too!

Gwanno Mask Drama

ORIGIN AND TRADITION

Gwanno Mask Drama is different from other region's mask drama in that the performers were the government servants, and is known alternately as the "Gangneung Mask Play". Unlike other countries, a mask dance in Korea is only a pantomime and speechless dance enactment. The origin of this particular mask drama is derived from Hahoe Byeolsin Gut and Donghea-an Byeolsin Gut (a gut is a type of exorcism for spirits, luck, wealth or health). The mask dance is ritualistic in nature, and in Gangneung's local history book, Imyeongji, the play was recorded to be continuously performed by shaman, ritual and mask performers.

The Gwanno Mask Dance is known for its long history. In 1909 it was abolished but through historical, research on January 16, 1967 it was designated as Important Intangible Cultural Asset. At that time, Kim Dong-ha and Cha Hyeong-won were designated as traditional artists. In 1985, the original figure was performed by civilians in Yucheon-dong, Gangneung City. On August 2, 1993, Kwon Yeong-ha was designated as traditional performing artist, followed by Kim Jong-hoon on July 22, 2000. The performance was chosen as a Masterpiece of Human Oral Tradition and Intangible Heritage in UNESCO on November 25, 2005.

CHARACTERISTICS AND SIGNIFICANCE

..... The local god offering play is the tradition of the mask drama.

..... It is the only pantomime and speechless mask dance in the country that is composed of dance and motion only.

..... Through performing gwanno, civilian and govenment employees are united.

..... Yangban's comical satire shows he harmony and prosperity of the community.

..... Somae Gaksi's expression of strong chastity implies her morality in the Confucian social order.
..... Jangjamari's big belly shape symbolizes the prayer for abundance and prosperity.
..... It is believed that the red swords and grim looks will chase bad spritis away, invoke blessings, dispel illness and pray for the good health of the society.

..... The region's traditional dance and melody make civilian's tradition good.

CHARACTER INTRODUCTION

Yangban Gwangdae (Yangban Clown)

The unusual length of beard that stands for vain authority and the sharp peaked hat that is used by low class level government officials during the Joseon Dynasty are quite different from a gentle shape hat (cheongja-gwan) used by yangban or aristocrats. This enactment typifies an old man without any strength but one who is trying to show his power. He is scared whenever he meets Ssi Ttakttagi but when he looks at Somae Gakssi he is faint-hearted and doesn't know what to do. His dance and action reveal his hypocritical image.

Somae Gaksi (Young Lady)

Somae Gaksi is a young and beautiful woman but her character has a tempting disposition. She seduces Yangban Gwangdae while they play together and finally Yangban Gwangdae falls into the subject of satire. Somae mans a little plum, which is the name of the young lady, and Gakssi is a word representing the female.

Sisi (hush hush) Ttakttagi

Sisi means hush hush, the sound for chasing away evil spirits. Ttakttagi is the term representing dancers of the mask dance, and they are the characters for chasing away evils. Their faces have knife scars and the wooden mask painted with 5 colors that will frighten women. Moreover, dancing with a sword in their hands of course invokes terror. According to the historical research, Sisi Ttakttagi performed wearing a scary mask so that there would be no measles or small pox in summer of Dano.

Jangja Mari

Jagja Mari is not only a unique name, but also unique in appearance. It is the only character in the mask dance that doesn't wear a mask; instead he wears gunny sack-like hemp clothes. With only eyes and ears visible, his whole body is covered with a seaweed and strange cloth outfit over a bamboo hoop to make him look fat. The core of Jangja Mari's dramatic content is humorous action, impersonation, and characature through his uncanny seaweed-strung outfit. His performances are where the audience most frequently guffaws.

Musicians

Korean masks dances are different from western ones in regard to point of view and the musicians who surround the play's arena and who sometimes function as characters in the play itself. In the episodes, they sometimes lead the excitement, apply exclamations, and provoke humor to purposefully delight the audience. In the present times, however, the farmers are center arena with percussion instruments played by a peasant band on the outer edge. In ancient times, the musical performers were shaman and music players, not the peasants themselves.

STAGE DETAILS

Scene 1 : The Entrance of Jangja Mari

Two Jangja maris start the opening performance of the mask dance. They stir up dust noisily, stick out their bulging stomachs, run circularly to widen the arena, sometimes teasing the audience by making people sit in and even dance simulated sex appealing acts.

Scene 2 : Love betwist Yangban Gwangdae and Somae Gaksi

While Yangban Gwangdae appears decent and shows a dignified manner, he comes closer and courts Somae Gaksi. Somae Gaksi is werig a graceful mask, yellow vest and red skirts dancing shyly and demurely. At first she refuses Yangban Gwangdae's courtship but after getting to know each other they start going around the place with both arms around each other's shoulders, expressing their affection.

Scene 3 : Interruption of Sisi Ttakttagi

Two Sisi Ttakttagis, wearing horrible masks, run in from opposite sides, dancing wide-sweeping sword dances. They are jealous of the love between Yangban Gwangdae and Somae Gaksi, they interrupt and imitate them, sometimes they push and pull them until they separate them. Separated, one Sisi Ttakttagi teases Yangban Gwangdae and the other teases Somae Gaksi. The one teasing Somae Gaksi wants to dance with her but she stubbornly refuses until finally forced whereupon Yangban Gwangdae sees and becomes both angry and lovesick.

 Scene 4 : Somae Gaksi Attempts Suicide
At last, furious Yangban Gwangdae pushes back Sisi Ttakttagi and pulls Somae Gaksi away. Although Somae Gaksi asks for forgiveness, Yangban Gwangdae still continues to berate her, and so to prove her innocence, Somae Gaksi attempts suicide. But to kill herself, she does so by hanging herself by Yangban Gwangdae's long beard, a humorous satire of pulling the beard which represents authority. Her virtue vs. the virtue of his authority. The satire of proving one's innocence through a death ritual has its comic effects.

Scene 5 : Reconciliation of Yangban Gwangdae and Somae Gaksi
The intention of Somae Gaksi's suicide is to prove her innocence, provoke Yangban Gwangdae's kindness to be comical and to vanish misunderstandings. The play ends with the reconciliation with themselves and ultimately with the community. The muscians, performers and audience start to dance together and embody the feast's spirit of reconciliation and harmony.

The above pictures and synopsis of the mask drama enactment was taken from a brochure picked up at a museum in Gangneung from a previous visit to seaside city, which is proud for their mask dance festival and which attracts many visitors every year.