Outside of the National Folk Museum of Korea

According to Wikipedia’s list of museums in South Korea, Korea has 19 national museums. Seoul itself has 4 of them. For this article, I visited the National Folk Museum of Korea, located in Seoul within the grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

I have learned a number of things about Korean folk history over the 4+ years I’ve lived in Korea. This is because I have a general interest in such things. So when I decided to visit the National Folk Museum of Korea, I was excited to test my knowledge and see what new things I could learn.

Dragon painted on a large flag

I paid 1,000 won for an electronic headset guide at the entrance. I gave myself permission to take as long as it would to slowly walk from display to display while listening to the voice recordings so that I might learn a bit more than by simply reading the placards.

Unfortunately, the device which works on an automated system, didn’t work as smoothly as I would have liked. I was warned when I received it, so I was prepared to manually advance the tracks to the appropriate ones when needed.

Scene of a person's 60th birthday celebration

I made it about half way through the museum before the battery died or for some other unknown reason, the device turned off. I could have asked for a replacement, but I didn’t. I had quickly grown tired of listening to the recordings as they basically gave the same information that was presented on the placards.

There are three major exhibitions for you to investigate: 1. History of Korea People, 2. The Korean Way of Life, and 3. Lifecycle of Koreans. Each was interesting and provided enough artifacts and replicas to please my curiosity.

A beautifully decorated ceramic vase

The most interesting thing that I learned was that during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897) it was customary for a person to spend 3 years mourning the death of a parent. Everyday during the 3 years, the son of the deceased parent would make ritual offerings of food. Furthermore, the son must “refrain from merriment” during this period of mourning. Interesting, right?

Sitting at my desk and looking back, I recommend visiting the National Folk Museum of Korea while you are in Seoul. I think it does a good job of presenting interesting artifacts in a professional way. If you want to get a quick look at Korea’s traditional and historical lifestyles and customs, you should give yourself some time to visit this museum.

Resources
National Folk Museum of Korea (Korea Tourism Organization)
National Folk Museum of Korea (Official)
National Folk Museum of Korea (Wikipedia)
List of Museums in South Korea (Wikipedia)

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