Hangook Minseokcheon (Korean Folk Village)

We had the chance to visit the Korean Folk Village. It is a really interesting place. It is a living history museum with houses from different areas and periods, and demonstrations of all sorts of different types of arts, crafts, foods and agriculture that were typical of Korean villages. It was great to see the more traditional aspects of Korea.

Sarah is standing in front of a group of jangseung, or Korean totem poles. These carved poles are set near the entry to a village to scare away evil spirits and bad luck. Layden is tying a prayer to a lattice work of ropes strung over a cairn of stones.

This little Korean boy (left), maybe about 4 years old, is standing next to a group of kimchee jars. In the late summer the Korean women prepare kimchee - cabbage with red peppers and brine- and put them in these jars. The jars are buried and the kimchee ferments. This preserves the cabbage and helps to prevent scurvy during the winter months. Kimchee is a staple at just about every meal. On the right is a traditional thatch-roof farm house, being prepared for the winter. There is corn hung to dry (and peppers too, but not in this picture). The large green things are some sort of really big cucumber- when we asked we were told "is pickle." Under the front porch area is the beginnings of the winter wood pile. The floors of traditional houses are raised to accomodate the clever and effective heating system. The kitchen area is at one end of the house and a flue system draws the heat from the stove under the floors to a chimney at the other end. It is a rather efficient system.

This is a house and also a shelter for animals - sort of half and half. The farmer is sweeping cobwebs off the eaves and bugs off the drying corn with a traditional brush broom.

Here is a video of a portion of the "Farmers Dance" which was very noisy and quite athletic and really colorful. We were particularly impressed with the men that kept the ribbons on their hats twirling at a furious pace while walking, leaping and never losing their balance.

On the left is a man who makes rope and mats. He is sitting in the middle of a large mat that he has started. On the right is a fan maker. Here he is splitting wood to make the handles for fans. Later he adds the thin spines and then the paper. We noticed that with just a few exceptions, the trade or craft and the living space shared the same structure.

The men on the left are blacksmiths who are making spoons and chopsticks out of brass - A LOT of hard hammer work! The man on the right is making paper. Rice and wood pulp (we think) form the basis of the paper.

This woman is spinning cotton. She is wearing traditional Korean dress known as hanbok. This woman represents the middle class. Her hanbok is silk (though even for her class, daily chores were done in a simpler cotton hanbok) and she has a fine wooden chest with brass fittings. You will notice that she, like many of the other workers, is sitting on the floor. While western-style furniture is becoming more common, many Koreans still sit on the floor for most activities. In the winter this is the warmest place to be and in the summer the raised floor provides some protection from bugs and dirt.

On the left is a model of one style of tile roof. Sarah is fascinated with the traditional architecture and all its many styles. On the right is the beautifully painted eave of a building. This elaborate decoration was used on temples, shrines, public buildings, and houses of the upper classes. The colors are quite vibrant and the designs very intricate.

There was lots more to see and do here than we could possibly show, but we thought that we would leave you with this very impressive acrobat. He was amazing - especially when you consider that he was in his 60's!