Feature
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A Royal Table during the Joseon Dynasty
Eating is about more than just relieving hunger and absorbing nutrients. It is also a cultural act of consuming the symbolic meanings carried by food. The cuisine of a particular community is often considered an indicator of its cultural development. As the Korean Peninsula was governed by a monarchy into the early 20th century, the culinary traditions of the royal family can be thought of as demonstrating the culmination of fine Korean dining. Written records on royal cuisine remain only from the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled the Korean Peninsula from 1392 to 1910. The government of the Republic of Korea placed the royal cuisine of the Joseon Dynasty on the national intangible heritage list in 1971 and has been managing it as an important component ever since.
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Trees as Community Natural Heritage
The Cultural Heritage Administration recently unveiled a plan to transform the heritage categorization and naming system that was in place for over for 60 years after the enforcement of the Cultural Property Protection Act in 1962. At the center of the planned changes is a reconceptualization of the inheritance of the past from munhwa-jae (“cultural property”) to gukga-yusan (“national heritage”). The current term, munhwa-jae, has long been criticized for its linguistic focus on the materiality of heritage. The new term, gukga-yusan, has been adopted to denote the more spiritual aspects of heritage and to transcend the limits implied by the term “cultural property” to encompass nature as well. By doing so, it is intended to better emphasize such values as sustainable development, community participation, and conservation for future generations. According to the new system, national heritage is comprised of cultural heritage, natural heritage, and intangible heritage.
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The DMZ Recalls Both Conflict and Peace
There are certain areas around the world set aside as demilitarized zones where military installations, activities, and personnel have been banned. Antarctica, a 254-kilometer-long strip between Iraq and Kuwait, and anywhere more than 100 kilometers from the earth’s surface are all designated demilitarized zones. These areas have been created through agreements between two or more parties in an attempt to prevent hostilities or sometimes to allow international freedom of movement.
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Farmers’ Music for the Korean People
Farmers’ Music, a Definitive Korean Folk Tradition Nongak, literally meaning “farmers’ music,” is an ages-old performance tradition in Korea. It is also known by terms such as pungmul, pungjang, dure pungjang, and dure pungpul. Koreans have long performed nongak for diverse communal purposes such as appeasing gods, driving away evil spirits, and praying for and then celebrating a good harvest. (...)
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The Oldest but the Most Effective and Cutting-Edged Heritage
What characteristics make the humankind distinguish itself from other animal species? One might suggest bipedalism, language, social interactions, and etc., but we need materialistic evidence in order to be archaeologically implicative. Then the oldest man-made artifact can be the first material evidence to indicate that humankind can be separated from other species. The Paleolithic implements, artifacts made of stones during the Old Stone Age from about three million and a half (3.5Ma) to ten thousand years ago (10Ka), can be considered to be such evidence.