Nogo Maul: Traditional Tea House with Music

The 노고마을 -- Nogo Maeul (village) tea house -- is located on the outskirts of Gurye and has full view of the Nogodan Peak of Jiri Mountain from where it takes it name. Nogodan Peak is the second highest peak in Jirisan and overlooks the valley where Gurye is nestled, and it is famous for its spectacular view of a sea of clouds, and the fog which shrouds its vegetation-clothed heights. 

The name 'Nogodan' itself means "altar of the old woman" and is an honorific of the word "Halmidang" meaning Grandmother Shrine. In Taoism, the "Grandmother" is a reference to the national goddess 'Seosul Seongmo' or sometimes 'Seondo Seongmo'. The cone-shaped rock-structured shrine pagoda still is on top of Nogodan and rituals to the grandmother goddess may still be held here (not clear on this point).

In any regard, the Nogo Maeul tea house takes its name from the famous peak overlooking the fields and valleys and the little two-story tea house with its large windows for drinking while gazing in reflection at the sea of clouds rolling over the Nogodan peak. The tea house is upstairs, with thick wooden tables and shelving for many hand-fashioned tea sets, tea bowls and other tea serving accessories. The wife of the establishment runs the tea house (and also a mountain vegetable restaurant nearby) and the husband makes and teaches pottery on the first floor. 

My photographer friend and I were taken as guests of the Gurye government to traditional sites to display the quaintness of Gurye, to promote Gurye and especially to promote pansori in Gurye. I will be returning to this tea house but only when I have more time to enjoy a leisurely sipped pot or two while contemplating the mountains. A rainy day would definitely be best as mist makes a spectacular shroud to the surrounding mountains.

This is not a traditional tea ceremony. Those are highly ritualized and time-consuming. This was more a time of reflection over a few kinds of tea and a break to our busy Gurye schedule of seeing and reporting on the Pansori Festival currently being held by the government.

we were served several teas
different teas for different moods, complementary to different foods, for different environments

While we were there, the teen-aged daughter also came in and played the haegum, a traditional 4-version medley of the famous "Arirang". Each version comes from a different region and has different tone qualities. I was so interested in seeing someone play the bamboo haegum close-up because I could more minutely observe the fingering placement and the draw and pull of the bow. Basically, the thumb is used for vibrato and the bow is sawed back and forth, pushed and pulled. In one direction the bow is pulled against one of the two thick silk strands and in the other direction it is pushed against the other thick strand. One strand makes a deep throaty tone; the other is higher-pitched. As for the horsehair bow bound with a leather strap, it is unlike the violin bow that needs tight tension on the horse hairs, the haegum bow requires the horse hairs to be quite loose. The tightness and firmness of how the hairs interact with the silk strands is determined by the tightening of the hand itself. I asked to give it a try, but wow, keeping the bow properly taut really takes a lot of concentration. The sounds I made would be an embarrassment to mention.

I was fascinated by the hand positions and the push and pull of the horsehair bow. Beautiful and mellow in sound!

Pansori Festival 2014 in Guyre

Guyre is located in Jeollanamdo, 30 minutes from the southern coastal city of Suncheon, 20 minutes from Namwon "the city of love" where the famous love story Chunhyang originated (and memorialized in pansori), and 1hr 30 minutes from the metropolitan city of Kwangju. This small mountain city of Guyre is surprisingly famous for a number of reasons:

• famous for its protective mountain range, Jiri-san (mountain)
• known for its "three majestic things and three beauties" - The 3 majestic things are Jiri-san, Seomjin-kang (river), and its broad rice field. The 3 beauties are the breathtaking views, abundant crops and generous people. 
• famous for three Korean temples: Cheoneunsa, Yeongoksa, and especially for Hwaomsa, one of the top ten temples within Korea
• becoming well-known as a longevity belt as it has a surprisingly large number of centenarians. The longevity belt is comprised of four small cities: Guyre, Gokseong, Sunchang, and Damyang, all in a swath northwest of Jiri-san.
• internationally popular for its annual half-ironman race
• popular locally for its yellow Sansuyu (cornus flower) Festival in March. 75% of the domestic sansuyu is grown in Guyre. The sansuyu is historically known as a medicinal plant for curing liver inflammations, diabetes, high blood pressure, cold hands and feet, and for boosting the immune system. It's also used locally to flavor tea and fine liquors.
• somewhat famous for its mountain vegetables
• known as the place of origin for pansori especially but other traditional musics too like samulnori

Pansori and its two branches: Dongpyeonjae and Seopyeonjae

Pansori literally derives from "pan", a large flat area for the gathering of the people, and "sori" or sound, so it is a music of story-telling in a flat area, and this style of music was most enjoyed by the peasant class who gathered together for friendly street and field entertainment. In the process of story-telling, a vocalist relates the tale in a rise and fall emotional cadence while the gosu or drummer beats his large hourglass drum with a stick in his right hand and pats the drum's nether side intermittently with his left hand. (There are rare individuals who reverse this order and become "famous" for their alternative approach).

Pansori was designated as an intangible heritage UNESCO treasure in 2003. Originally there were 12 pansori songs but only 5 remain. The birth of pansori was in the 16th century during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897), and Guyre was the originating city of Dongpyeonjae (literally "east + side + way" or the eastern form). Seopyeonjae originated west of the Seomjin-kang and the river was the divisor of the two branches. To any familiar with the cadence, tone and musical approach, the differences between the two branches of pansori can readily be perceived. West of the Seomjin-kang are fields and the music is said to be reflective of the terrain with a gentle melody that flows and has decorative music; the music is therefore described as feminine. East of the Seomjin-kang are mountains and so the terrain reflective music is strong, powerful but having a simple non-decorative music, in short, a masculine musical style. I am curious if anyone thinks of these two groupings as the yin and yang of pansori.

4th Dongpyeonjae Music Festival

The Dongpyeonjae Music Festival was first held in 2009, and this year celebrates its fourth organized festival. Although the festival is labeled as a pansori performance, Guyre is famous for other traditional musics and therefore other music-style performances are included in the festival.  To start off the music festival, a soul-cleansing or 굿 'gut' or exorcism was held at the Dongpyeonjae Heritage Center, the only permanent space dedicated to pansori in Guyre.

씻김굿 or "wash the sorrow" exorcism

This particular gut originated on Jindo, an island that lost many men to the wiles of the sea. The men would go out in their fishing boats, leaving women behind to pray for their men's safe passage back to them. Many men however did not return and thus the origin of a gut to the sea, women making prayers for the safe passage of their men to the next world, 구각새계 or "paradise world", a Buddhist term but then shamanism, confucism and Buddhism are woven culturally and spiritually together. Here in landlocked Guyre prayers for the safe passage of newly appointed Master Seo Gong-cheol to paradise was held before his commemorative memorial stone was unveiled to the public. Seo Gong-cheol (1911-1982) was selected as the most recent master, a master of the gayageum. Seo Gong-cheol won his accolades by a pansori committee that recently discovered and re-evaluated his music, finding it surprisingly lyrical, and so his title of grand master is posthumously bestowed. Similarly, Seo Gong-cheol's spirit may have been restless from being unappreciated and so may have wandered incorrectly; thus, the gut is to send his spirit peacefully onward to the paradise.

paying "tribute" to the pansori spirit to speed it on its way to paradise

The gut is performed in metaphor. The many meter-long white cloth is a metaphor for the sea, the ship is a metaphor for passage onward, and together they symbolize the passage over space to the paradise world. As for the color white used heavily in the performance, it is the color of the cloths of commoners of the time, the color of performance for guts, archery, and some shaman dances, and it is the color most representative of death in Korea. During the ship's spiritual sailing, onlookers approach, bow deeply and then place money (usually in increments of W10,000) respectfully on the "sea" in front of the "sailing ship" or place it in the metaphorical ship itself. This money is a type of toll to pay the spirit into paradise; it also is for traveling money -- some goes for the food and magkeolli -- to feed the deceased on his/her spirit trip.

With the gut performed and the spirit directed onward to paradise, Seo Gong-cheol's commemorative memorial stone for his great contribution to pansori was uncovered. A basket of white chrysanthemums (the flower of peace in death) was placed nearby and pansori singers and musicians, at least two of whom were recognized as intangible cultural assets, selected a flower, bowed to his memorial stone and placed their prayer, the white carnation, in front of his commemorative stone. Family, teachers, students, others followed, each selecting a white chrysanthemum and going through the same ritual of respect.

two intangible cultural assets bowing to another of the master pansori performer's commemorative memorial stone

The new commemorative stone of Master Seo Gong-chul (1911-1982)
master of the gayageum 

The line of five commemorative stones to masters of pansori 

Seo Gong-cheol's commemorative stone is at the end of a line of four other commemorative memorials to pansori masters, and all five memorial stones are gazed at by the large statue of 국창 송만갑, National Master Song Man-gab (1865-1939). 국창 or national master is such an honorary title that originally it could only be given by the king, but there has been no king of Korea for over a century and the name was bestowed on Song Man-gab post-king and dynasty.

To eat together after a gut is to have and share fortune

Some pansori performances

Although this is only the 4th Dongpyeongjae Festival, this is the 18th Songmangap Pansori and Drummer Contest, of course named after National Master Song Man-gap of the statue earlier discussed. In the festival performances, intangible cultural holders appear to perform. Students of pansori, if they qualify, perform. Many of the performers are descended from other pansori performers.

One of the most famous performers was by Master Singer Lee Nan-cho, a woman dressed in an emerald green hanbok waving a hanji-and-bamboo fan in her "흥부가" or Hongbu-Nolbu story. She kicked off the pansori singing event with her powerful contralto opening performance. In pansori performances the audience is expected to interact with the performer as traditionally the "pan" or flat space for gathering people was on the same plane as the performer and without lines or barrier to the performer. Therefore, to show their appreciation performers shouted out "얼씨구", "얼쑤", "좋~다!" and "잘헌다" and the singer, affirmed with her powerful musical interpretation, sang louder with more dramatics.

Jeong Ui-jin, not as famous, sang "수궁가" or the turtle and the rabbit. Like the Hongbu-Nolbu story, this one too originated within Korea. Her drummer, a 고장북, not a 고수, was Kim Cheong-man, a very famous left-handed drummer! (As I understand it, a 고수 is designated by the government as a cultural property holder but this man received his designation from the city of Daejeon, hence the specific name difference.)

The male singer Park Jeong-seon, first prize winner in the Jeonju Pansori Festival, sang a portion of the "적벽가", a story about 조조 for the reuniting of divided China. Among the five remaining pansori stories, this is the only one of foreign origin and influence. In the Joseon dynasty when pansori became popular, Korea was intimately linked with Big Brother China and followed a lot of the Chinese traditions, which included borrowing their literature and art. Thus, the borrowing of this epic song. A portion of this performance is a part where the performer sings the part of a bird singing; he mimics the trills of the bird with song, a very popular but difficult performance.

The two other pansori songs included in the five existing pansori performances are "심정가" (blind man's daughter, a story of filial piety) and "춘향가" (a love story about a daughter of a kisaeng and a yangban; a story of virtue and purity).

Pansori singers have a rough, sand-papery voice from years of practice bellowing out song for crowds and wracking their very existence to convey emotion and depth of feeling. Similarly, pansori singers never just walk into a performance without first "warming up" their voice; therefore, they sing a "당가" (short song) to warm up their voice to get the throaty pansori depth they desire.

Of course the festival is to hear the performances of masters of pansori, or drumming, and see other performances like the "farmer's dance" related to Guyre, but this festival is also about a competition to discover another great pansori artist and award a prize. Jeon Ji-hye, age 31, won first place or the president's prize in the contest. During her performance of a particularly famous piece from "춘향가", the audience really responded with "얼씨구", "얼쑤", "좋~다!" and "잘헌다". I thought her voice much sweeter and less gravelly than her competitors, which somewhat surprised me as her competitors had achieved the rough harshness of time and wear and emotional depth. That said though, she really could evoke the emotion with her sweeter voice. Jeon Ji-hye is a graduate of Jeonnam Univeristy and Hanyang University. Born in 1983 in Naju, her interest in pansori drum started when very young, but shifted to desiring to be a singer when she watched competitors in the Jeonju Pansori Festival (전주대시습놀이) as a middle school student. She has already received many prized in various pansori competitions, and now she sweeps the performance hall and takes first place. This is inspiring as she did not grow up with Dongpyeonjae but rather influenced by the Seopyeonjae style.

The number of competing artists in the 18th Songmangap Pansori Singer and Drummer Contest was 197. They were grouped in 9 sections -- six for pansori singers and three for drummers.

And a link to more information on Guyre and pansori in Guyre - Dongpyeonjae Pansori Experience

Amsa Prehistoric Site

Amsa is the site of a Neolithic village that used lattice-design earthenware (4,000~3,000 BCE). The site was discovered in 1925 as a result of a flood, and excavations began in 1967. Various forms of Neolithic house sites, lattice-design earthenware, stone axes, stone arrowheads, stone mortars, and stone pestles were unearthed. Nine pit houses have been recreated within the park precincts and an exhibition hall of primitive life gives explanation and visuals to some of the archeological discoveries.

The Neolithic culture is characterized by a household being established and settled. Use of polished stone tools and pottery, which began a guestimated 12,000 years ago, are other characteristics of the culture. The relics at this location have been excavated from Amsa-dong, Songjung-ni, Jigyeong-ni, Yul-li, Sangsi, and Gyodong. The Neolithic people from this area resided in groups along riverbanks and seashores where they found abundant water and food. In other regions Neoliths lived in caves. Neolithic people sustained themselves with hunting, fishing and the gathering of wild plants. Many relics discovered in the Amsa area suggest a well-organized community. Relics include residential sites, tombs, shell mounds, comb-patterned pottery, and other household accessories, while evidence of a hunting-fishing culture are reflected in the animal bones, shellfish, and various tools made of stone and/or bone including stone spears, arrowheads, fishing spears and net sinkers. Farming tools include stone plowshares, stone sickles, stone mortars, and grinding stones. With the variety of tools a well-established society peeks at us from several millennium ago.

Neolithic sites of the Han River basin

What is known about the Neoliths is they adapted to seasonal changes—hunting and fishing in season, gathering plants and farming in others. It is surmised that they migrated some based on seasons but returned to a home area for wintering and perhaps another for the farming season. While at home, they made pottery and stoneware and repaired their houses damaged by wind and rain. They also performed rituals and held festivals, made music and demonstrated aesthetics in their earthenware texture and design.  

In addition to the fish and meat they hunted for, they gathered fruit such as acorns, walnuts, apricots, as well as edible grasses and roots. Later when grain farming became popular (around 5,000 years ago), millet became an important staple food for the Neoliths, and in later house construction Neoliths even had stone-ovens in their homes. Their homes were either circular or of rounded-square constructions, and their floors were dug down to 50-100 centimeters below the ground while the walls were made of heavy grasses, twigs, branches and other fibrous materials.

Many types of pottery have been found in excavations, but it is the comb-patterned pottery that is representative of the Neolithic period. There are several types of the comb-patterned pottery according to when, where and how each was made—such as appliqued, stamped, incised, and doubled-rimmed. The shapes of the pottery vary, for instance, bowl-shaped, bottle-shaped, funnel-shaped and spout-shaped; however, the most common is the bowl-shaped. Other variations to the comb-patterned pottery include colored, bull’s horn-shaped, pear-shaped, among others. The comb-pattern in Amsa-dong is speculated to have been made for the first time some 6,500 years ago. Most of the discovered comb-pattern discovered in the Amsa-dong vicinity were pointed at the bottom and decorated with engraved lines and dots.

types of patterns (based on region, how it was made, etc) on Neolithic pottery

a comb-patterned piece of pottery

There are over 500 relics in the Amsa Prehistoric Experience Village Museum. Around the museum are various representative houses, statues of Neoliths performing various stone age tasks, and a lot more. Since I went during a festival, a huge stage had been set up with various dancers scheduled to perform throughout the day. I watched a few performances and certainly my favorite was the women drum-dancers with their swirling vibrant hanboks. And since this is Korea and this place was mainly built for children's entertainment (and thus the vast majority of this site is rather cheesy), a little hands-on archery is located in more than one place around the park site. 

Archery is such a national sport and can be traced back to the cultural roots of the nation and further back when the population were tribes of the steppe culture.

Visiting was a nice little outing. Seeing the dancing women performers was great. I wouldn't recommend this place, however, as the whole park was not really designed for academics but for kids' entertainment. That said, learning about and seeing shards of comb-patterned pottery was pretty awesome.

Hahoe, Traditional Village of Performance

Three hours on the Mungunghwa train from Seoul to Andong, Gyeongsanbuk Province, and another 50 minutes by local bus brings the traveler to Hahoe Village, a village nearly encircled by a curve in the Nakdong River. The name Hahoe stems from ha meaning “river” and hoe for “turning around”, in short, a village nestled in the river. When looking at the village from the cliffs opposite, the village resembles a lotus flower floating on the river or the spiraling yin-yang taeguk surrounded by flowing water, both images evident of the strong geomantic principles for which the village site was chosen.

Hahoe Village, along with another traditional village with Joseon-style architecture, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The housing in the village is a mixture of tile-roofed residences for the yangban class of the Ryu clan and are surrounded by the thatched-roof houses of the peasant class. Unlike many traditional villages that attract tourism, the majority of the Hahoe houses are inhabited and even have rooms available for overnight paying guests. Others offer simple meals or the popular Korean fast-food of fish-paste on a stick, ramyun noodles or rice cake in a peppery sauce. Still others have rooms converted into tea and soju rooms.

The village is renowned for not only its traditional housing but other traditional architectural structures like a pavilion, manor houses and a Confucian shrine that are classed as folklore material, not to mention a western-style church, other shrines, a mask museum and in the heart of the city a 600-year-old zelkova tree that is said to be resident of the village spirit, Samsin. In traditional times it was under the village tree, where the village spirit resided, that people rested, performed or prayed for the well-being and success of the village. Now visitors likewise visit the tree to release their prayers. After walking three times around the zelkova one writes his or her name and wish on a streamer of white paper and fastens the paper to the tree where the wind and the spirit gather the prayers. The lower branches of the tree and the low fence around its trunk are a froth of streaming prayers whispering in the wind.

The biggest attraction to Hahoe Village, however, is the talchum, the mask dance. There are 13 regional styles of Korean talchum in existence, and Hahoe has a most unique style. Unlike other mask dances which feature masks made of hanji—Korean traditional paper—and were burnt following the masked funeral or other ritual performance, the making of the alder wood Hahoe masks are steeped in legend.

According to legend, a man named Heo in the mid-Goryeo dynasty (57 – 935 BCE) received a message from an oracle on the way to break the misfortune of the village. He was to completely isolate himself for the duration it took him to carve 12 masks depicting the natures of mankind. Unfortunately on the 100^th day of isolation and while he was yet carving the final mask, his virgin lover could not bear the isolation any longer and peeked through the window of his workshop. Instantly upon viewing him, he spewed blood and died, and the virgin lover in shame and remorse committed suicide. The villagers, knowing that bad luck and illness could descend upon them by the spirit of the broken-hearted lover, gave sacrificial rites to her to appease her spirit and ask for her protection from other evil spirits for a woman’s fury knows no limits. And thus, the virgin lover became the protecting village spirit. Whether the legendary lover is the same as Samsin, the protecting spirit inhabiting the aged zelkova, however, is not clear.

Despite dying before completion of his oracle-given task, Heo’s 11 completed masks and one-half mask were used in an exorcism to rid the bad luck from the village, and thus was born the byeolsingut, a ritualized performance praying for the well-being of the village, for crop fertility and for a bountiful harvest.

The byeolsingut, registered as Important Intangible Cultural Properties, is the oldest known mask dance in Korea. It is a masked drama that incorporates dance, mime, music, animals and spirits in a story-line that often mocks human characteristics. It particularly attacks the yangban class for their greed and the monks for their corrupt morals but other human behaviors are exaggerated and mocked as well, like the pure and demure virgin and her alter-ego the vulgar granny. The drama was performed by the peasant class and, in a society suppressed by rigid hierarchies, street performances in entertaining play format were a way of expressing sentiments and opinions not to otherwise be voiced. The sting of attack could thus be viewed as a mere performance and therefore the peasants were not fearful of punitive reprisals for their “outspokenness” or even open lewdness.

The byeolsingut has eight episodes, all entertaining to the ribald disposition of the peasant class and in line with praying for fertility to the land. Sexual innuendo is therefore the common thread through all eight episodes, from the butcher who kills the bull-beast and removes the heart and testicles to sell to the audience, to the old widow singing of her loneliness, to the lecherous monk who watches a young flirty girl “water the flowers”, and to the yangban with his delightfully rude servant and a scholar competing over the flirty, shameless virgin. The performance ends with all actors—of course involving the audience throughout—on stage and suddenly whisking themselves off to the off-stage wedding and the wedding night, which is not a part of the common performance.    

During the performance, the audience is expected to participate. Members are pulled from the audience, particularly foreigners that stand out, a bald man or an attractively dressed female, and gentle fun is poked at them in Korean with some bits of English slipped in. The foreigners are encouraged to dance with the actors, the audience is further entertained, and the parody of mockery and satire is extended.

Hahoe Village is open year-round but mask performances are held only in the warm-weather months, particularly on weekends, and throughout the 10-day long Andong Mask Festival held in the fall. The festival is a grand mixture of world-wide mask dances as well as the various representative mask dances of Korea. For 10 days international mask dances are held in the host city of Andong and local dances are performed in the traditional village of Hahoe. The final fanfare for the festival is the julbulnori, the traditional firework display back in Hahoe Village on the last Saturday night of the festival. Julbulnori roughly translates as “a line of fire play” which is pretty accurate as to how it appears. Several lines of fireworks are strung from the 64-meter high Buyongdae cliffs, which overlook Hahoe Village. On the final Saturday night of the Andong Mask Festival the lines are lighted and they sizzle and burn vigorously while paper lanterns are lit and released as prayers into the heavens; below on the Nakdong River lighted boats float gracefully beneath the burning lines of fireworks and from the heights of the cliffs above western-style fireworks are lit to explode overhead. 

As soon as the fireworks start to fizzle, the masses make rushes to catch the last bus back to Andong or to their cars to beat the jam of one-way traffic back to the non-traditional. This year the Andong Mask Festival 2015 will be from September 25 to October 4—and the neighboring Hahoe Village will host more traditional performances, more fireworks and be the gateway to yet more visitors wanting a cultural experience in a nostalgically traditional village-wide stage. 

[Published in Korean Quarterly, Vol 18, No 3, Spring 2015, p 64-65]

Opening of First Archery Gallery in Seoul

The first archery gallery in Korea just opened at Hwanghakjeong, near Sajik Park and walking distance from the great imperial palace Kyoungbokgung. It's about time that a gallery was established to laud one of Korea's oldest sports and ways of life. Currently there are 8 archery ranges in Seoul and 360 within the country but this is the first gallery that looks at the history of the great sport, the sport that almost literally defines the spirit and essence of the righteous Korean man. The establishment and opening of the gallery is due to the sponsorship of the Korean government, the Seoul city government and the district office and the cost for its construction was about W700,000,000 (US645,000). 

Kyoungju has a Hwarang Educational Center where young people are taught public speaking, poetry, archery and martial arts (taekwondo). This center is modeled after the concept of the Hwarang ("Flower Youth") of the Silla Dynasty. The original Hwarang were elite bands of aristocratic youth who trained in martial arts and military maneuvers as well as philosophy, poetry and even dance. But it is at this educational center where the modern-day elitist in archery goes for more training. And it will be at the Hwanghakjeong in Seoul where archers and visitors may now come to get a broader glimpse of the rich history or archery in Korea.

On the outskirts of Kyoungju is a statue of Yoo Shin Kim, a Hwarang captured in silent motion portraying the eternal stance of the Korean archer "pushing against the mountain" just after simultaneously "pulling the tiger's tail".  (source)

A glimpse at the rich history of archery in Korea

Archery has been a male sport and tool of war since early times. A few stories in which archery has played a significant role in history are as follows:

After the Three Kingdoms period, the Silla dynasty rose to power but was attacked by their allies, the Chinese Tang army, who had helped Silla overthrow the two armies of the Three Kingdoms. For years they battled with both armies suffering successes and losses until finally in 735 AD, the Tang army finally retreated.

Another critical battle in which Korean archers played a vital nation-saving role was when the Japanese under Hideyoshi invaded Korea in the late sixteenth century (1592-1598). After devastating battles fought on both sides, the Japanese were finally thrust back. One reason for their loss is the Japanese were disadvantaged by the lesser range of their bows. The Korean bows were far superior in distance shooting and lighter in weight and therefore easier to maneuver and transport, especially in war. 

One much more recent attack on Korea where bows and arrows were vital for repulsion of the enemy was in the nineteenth century when invaders (mainly from France and the United States) tried to forcefully open a port in Korea. In 1866, the United States sent the ship "General Sherman" to forcibly establish a port; however, Koreans strongly resented and rejected the "invasion", raining the ship with arrows and setting the ship ablaze. Soon afterwards, Catholics in Korea were massacred so   France sent a squadron to Ganghwado, where like the Americans they were repulsed by Korean units. However, it was only inevitable that the doors of Korea would and did open, especially as the archers could not compete against the superior firing power of the west.

Pictures of arrow development (Hwanghakjeong Gallery display)
(top) arrows for horse-riders during the Goguryeo dynasty
typical arrow during the Goguryeo dynasty
during the Baekjae dynasty
during the Silla dynasty

Now in times of peace, Korea focuses on archery as a form of meditation and sport, and indeed Koreans excel at the sport in the Olympics. A notable percentage of top-ranking archers herald from Korea. They not only gain monetary benefit and world prestige but they also disseminate Korean traditional philosophy and training related to the martial art.

Philosophy of Korean Archery: "Movement of Tranquility"

In defining the essence of Korean archery as a martial art, balance and concentration are the two key elements as they encompass the entire act of meditation. But what are the underlying motivations for practicing "the movement of tranquility"?

• a means to improve one's self
• Emperor Kojong gave a command for encouraging archery for the cultivation of the mind and body of the people
• the uniting of movement and tranquility to help the mind to relax and focus

Korean traditional archery was founded upon traditional values, much like those of the Hwarang of the Silla Dynasty.  

The Nine major PRECEPTS of Korean archery: 

The precepts read vertically from right to left and below they are transcribed and their concepts translated into English.  (source) 

1. In Ae Duk Haeng
   Be seen as a model of love and virtue
2. Sung Shil Gyum Sohn
   Act with humbleness and honesty.
3. Ja Joong Jul Jo
   You should solidly protect your integrity through discreet behavior.
4. Ye Eui Um Soo
   Be courteous.
5. Yum Jik Gwa Gahm
   When in a position of power, act with integrity and bravery.
6. Sub Sa Moo Un
   Don't speak while there is shooting.
7. Jung Shim Jung Gi
   Have a straight mind and straight body.
8. Bool Won Seung JaDon't resent someone who wins.
9. Mahk Mahn Tah Goong
   Don't touch another person's bow.

Eight principles of Korean traditionary archery:

1 and 2:  To observe the topographical situations carefully and then the force of winds
3 and 4:  To make the firm stance, and concentrating a strong force upon the stomach while the chest is relaxed
5 and 6:  To push the jumson, the pushing hand, as you push the mountain and to pull the gahkjison, the pulling hand, as you pull a tiger's tail. (Both hands must maintain the perfect balance of the force.)
7 and 8:  To look into your own mistakes when you fail rather than out at external rhythms.

An archer shoots over the black stone with Chinese characters that basically translate  "Right mind, right body" and which means to be silent while shooting in order to have the right mind to be right in body.
The Korean archer does not shoot alone but waits till others gather to take turns and be right in mind and right in body collectively. This archer waited until he was joined by four other archers before stepping down in the range shooting area restricted only to archers.

Gallery paintings and folklore with archery:

The famous picture 동래부 순정도 (dongraebu sunejoldo) painted in 1760 is a depiction of a battle in the Imjin War (1592) when Korea was sadly defeated by the Japanese. The picture shows the Japanese attacking and breaking down the fortress wall around a fortified town in Pusan. The Japanese had archers as well as western guns. They also far out-numbered the Koreans with their 14,700 invaders against the 4000 Koreans armed with only bows and arrows. 

original   (source)

a section copy of the original -- the section shows the both the Japanese and the Korean with their weapons
(displayed in the Hwanghakjeong gallery)

The  famous 복새선은도 picture shows the means and method of testing generals in the remote testing ground. Of interest, generals had to be even more skilled than other archers and so their tests were more rigorous. Following is the famous picture as well as the type of arrows generals were supposed to shoot during their exam.

복새선은도 (1664)   (source)
depiction of an archery field (1621-1691)
Boksaek is the name of an old forest village now in North Korea (renamed 함경도)
Boksaek literally means in the far northern part

Different style of arrows for different types of archers (Joseon dynasty)
(top) for learners
typical arrow for archers - 112.5 grams
arrows for the exam for generals - 225 grams

And of course folklore painter Kim Hong Do (1745 - 1806) is represented in the new gallery -- his famous pen and ink sketches of an archer. Actually the whole picture is a composition of three sketches depicting the carrying of arrows in an arrow case, the bending and forming of a gakgung (Korean traditional bow), and the shooting of the bow and arrow under scholarly instruction.

활쏘기

Hwanghakjeong under King Kojong (1852 - 1919)

In 1876 the Japanese forced entry into the ports of Korea and demanded trade relations. The Americans, French and other countries soon followed. With westernization suddenly upon the formerly "hermit nation" reforms were suggested to "get the Koreans up to speed" on trade and interacting in a more open-minded manner. And like the Japanese had established the Meiji Reforms (started in 1866 with new and on-going changes through 1912) which radically altered Japan's political and social structure and helped them to emerge as a modernized nation in the early 20th century, Korea was expected to adopt similar reformation measures. Thus, the Gabo Reforms. The Gabo Reforms (1894 - 1896) were not as well accepted in Korea and were cut short before the initial five-year program was to be completed. Yet, in that time measures had been enacted to reduce the bow as an out-dated weapon, and thus began the quick decline of Korean archery. By the late 19th century the use of the Korean bow was a virtually obsolete martial art and the Gabo Reforms of 1894 removed archery from the gwageo (Military Service Exam), and until Emperor Kojong patronized it a few short years later, archery saw a rapid decline on the peninsula.

In 1899 Prince Heinrich of Prussia, who had a fascination with the Korean archery style, suggested that Emperor Kojong make a sport of it. Impressed that a foreigner was charmed by a previously treasured art, Emperor Kojong decreed the establishment of an archery range for the cultivation of the mind and body of the people. Of course in the Confucian society, hierarchy was very important, so as to still maintain class structure, different targets were to be used on the range by the different classed people. (I think Emperor Kojong borrowed the target image concepts from China.)

boar - non-statused commoners
deer - high-ranking officers
bear - king
tiger - emperor, so only Emperor Kojong and his son Emperor Sunjong (Korea proclaimed itself an empire in 1897)  

I thank Shin Dong-Sul, the Director of the Archery Gallery, for giving Stephen Wunrow, photographer for the American-based Korean Quarterly, and myself a guided tour, and I give a special thanks to Cho In-Souk, PhD in Architectural History for being such an interesting and patient translator. Cho In-Souk is also a member of the Hwanghakjeong guild.

The art of constructing traditional Korean bows was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1971.  Director Shin Dong-Sul says he doesn't know well about the craftsmanship, but he is certainly very good at bending bows for members to shoot. (Traditional bows are stored unstrung and so they curl back into a relaxed position. To leave a bow taut at all times would be to weaken its springiness.

References:

http://www.atarn.org/korean/IA_kr_1.htmhttp://www.journalscape.com/kenny/2004-08-23-09:57