1.
Crown (headgear)
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In art, the crown may be shown being offered to those on Earth by angels. In religious art, a crown of stars is used similarly to a halo, crowns worn by rulers often contain jewels. A crown is often an emblem of the monarchy, a monarchs government, the word itself is used, particularly in Commonwealth countries, as an abstract name for the monarchy itself, as distinct from the individual who inhabits it. A specific type of crown is employed in heraldry under strict rules, costume headgear imitating a monarchs crown is also called a crown. Such costume crowns may be worn by actors portraying a monarch, people at parties, or ritual monarchs such as the king of a Carnival krewe. The nuptial crown, sometimes called a coronal, worn by a bride, in the present day, it is most common in Eastern Orthodox cultures. The Eastern Orthodox marriage service has a section called the crowning, wherein the bride and groom are crowned as king, in Greek weddings, the crowns are diadems usually made of white flowers, synthetic or real, often adorned with silver or mother of pearl. They are placed on the heads of the newlyweds and are held together by a ribbon of white silk and they are then kept by the couple as a reminder of their special day. In Slavic weddings, the crowns are made of ornate metal, designed to resemble an imperial crown. A parish usually owns one set to use for all the couples that are married there since these are more expensive than Greek-style crowns. This was common in Catholic countries in the past, a Crown of thorns according to the Bible, was placed on the head of Jesus before his crucifixion and has become a common symbol of martyrdom. According to Roman Catholic tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was crowned as Queen of Heaven after her assumption into heaven and she is often depicted wearing a crown, and statues of her in churches and shrines are ceremonially crowned during May. The Crown of Immortality is also common in historical symbolism, dancers of certain traditional Thai dances often wear crowns on their head. These are inspired in the worn by deities and by kings. Three distinct categories of crowns exist in those monarchies that use crowns or state regalia, coronation, worn by monarchs when being crowned. State, worn by monarchs on other state occasions, consort crowns, worn by queens consort, signifying rank granted as a constitutional courtesy protocol. In Classical antiquity, the crown that was awarded to people other than rulers, such as triumphal military generals or athletes, was actually a wreath or chaplet. Numerous crowns of various forms were used in antiquity, such as the Hedjet, Deshret, the Pschent double crown and it was referred to as the chaplet studded with sunbeams” by Lucian, about 180 AD
2.
Korea
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Korea is a historical state in East Asia, since 1945 divided into two distinct sovereign states, North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by China to the northwest and it is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan. Korea emerged as a political entity after centuries of conflict among the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Later Silla divided into three states during the Later Three Kingdoms period. Goryeo, which had succeeded Goguryeo, defeated the two states and united the Korean Peninsula. Around the same time, Balhae collapsed and its last crown prince fled south to Goryeo, Goryeo, whose name developed into the modern exonym Korea, was a highly cultured state that created the worlds first metal movable type in 1234. However, multiple invasions by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty during the 13th century greatly weakened the nation, following the Yuan Dynastys collapse, severe political strife followed, and Goryeo eventually fell to a coup led by General Yi Seong-gye, who established Joseon in 1388. The first 200 years of Joseon were marked by peace and saw the creation of the Korean alphabet by Sejong the Great in the 14th century. During the later part of the dynasty, however, Koreas isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname of the Hermit Kingdom, by the late 19th century, the country became the object of imperial design by the Empire of Japan. Despite attempts at modernization by the Korean Empire, in 1910 Korea was annexed by Japan and these circumstances soon became the basis for the division of Korea by the two superpowers, exacerbated by their incapability to agree on the terms of Korean independence. To date, both continue to compete with each other as the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. Korea is the spelling of Corea, a name attested in English as early as 1614. It is a derived from Cauli, Marco Polos transcription of the Chinese 高麗. This was the Hanja for the Korean kingdom of Goryeo or Koryŏ, Goryeos name was a continuation of the earlier Goguryeo or Koguryŏ, the northernmost of the Samguk, which was officially known by the shortened form Goryeo after the 5th-century reign of King Jangsu. The original name was a combination of the go with the name of a local Yemaek tribe. The name Korea is now used in English contexts by both North and South Korea. In South Korea, Korea as a whole is referred to as Hanguk, the name references the Samhan—Ma, Jin, and Byeon—who preceded the Three Kingdoms in the southern and central end of the peninsula during the 1st centuries BC and AD. It has been linked with the title khan used by the nomads of Manchuria
3.
Silla
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Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the worlds longest sustained dynasties. Although it was founded by King Park Hyeokgeose, the dynasty was ruled by the Gyeongju Kim clan for most of its 992-year history. It began as a chiefdom in the Samhan confederacies, once allied with China, thereafter, Unified Silla or Later Silla, as it is often referred to, occupied most of the Korean Peninsula, while the northern part re-emerged as Balhae, a successor-state of Goguryeo. After nearly 1000 years of rule, Silla fragmented into the brief Later Three Kingdoms, Silla, Hubaekje, and Taebong, handing over power to its successor dynasty Goryeo in 935. From its founding until its growth into a kingdom, Silla was recorded with various hanja phonetically approximating its native Korean name, 斯盧, 斯羅, 徐那, 徐耶, 徐羅. In 503, King Jijeung standardized on the characters 新羅, which in Modern Korean is pronounced Shilla, in the modern Mongolian language, Korea and Koreans are still known as Солонгос Solongos, which seems to be an alteration of Silla influenced by the Mongolian word for rainbow. Scholars have traditionally divided Silla history into three periods, Early, Middle, and Late. The Park clan held power for three generations before a coup by the Seok clan. During the reign of the first Seok ruler, Talhae of Silla, the Park and Seok clans constantly fought each other for power and both were eventually overthrown by the Kim clan. The Kim clan then ruled over Silla for many generations with the Park, the final ruler of Later Silla, King Gyeongsun, was a member of the Kim clan. During the Proto–Three Kingdoms period, the city-states of central and southern Korea were grouped into three confederacies called Samhan, Silla began as Saro-guk, a statelet within the 12-member confederacy called Jinhan. Saro-guk consisted of six villages and six clans, according to Korean records, Silla was founded by King Park Hyeokgeose in 57 BC, around present-day Gyeongju. Hyeokgeose is said to have hatched from an egg laid from a white horse. He is also the progenitor of the Park clan, now one of the most common names in Korea. The Samguk Sagi and Bei Shi say that the originally Lelang Commandery area which became the Jinhan confederacy was the origin of Silla. By the 2nd century, Silla existed as a state in the southeastern area of the Korean peninsula. It expanded its influence over neighboring Jinhan chiefdoms, but through the 3rd century was no more than the strongest city-state in a loose federation. To the west, Baekje had centralized into a kingdom by about 250, to the southwest, Byeonhan was being replaced by the Gaya confederacy
4.
Gyeongju
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Gyeongju, historically known as Seorabeol, is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering 1,324 km2 with a population of 264,091 people Gyeongju is 370 km southeast of Seoul, and 55 km east of Daegu. The city borders Cheongdo and Yeongcheon to the west, Ulsan to the south and Pohang to the north, numerous low mountains—outliers of the Taebaek range—are scattered around the city. Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla which ruled about two-thirds of the Korean Peninsula between the 7th and 9th centuries, later Silla was a prosperous and wealthy country, and its metropolitan capital of Gyeongju was the fourth largest city in the world. A vast number of sites and cultural properties from this period remain in the city. Gyeongju is often referred to as the museum without walls, among such historical treasures, Seokguram grotto, Bulguksa temple, Gyeongju Historic Areas and Yangdong Folk Village are designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The many major sites have helped Gyeongju become one of the most popular tourist destinations in South Korea. The city of Gyeongju was united with the nearby rural Gyeongju County in 1995 and is now an urban–rural complex and it is similar to 53 other small- and medium-sized cities with a population under 300,000 people in South Korea. As well as its historical heritage, Gyeongju today is affected by the economic, demographic. Tourism remains the economic driver, but manufacturing activities have developed due to its proximity to major industrial centers such as Ulsan. Gyeongju is connected to the rail and highway networks, which facilitate industrial. The early history of Gyeongju is closely tied to that of the Silla kingdom, Gyeongju first enters non-Korean records as Saro-guk, during the Samhan period in the early Common Era. Korean records, probably based on the chronicles of Silla, record that Saro-guk was established in 57 BCE. As the kingdom expanded, it changed its name to Silla, during the Silla period, the city was called Seorabeol, Gyerim or Geumseong. After the unification of the peninsula up to Taedong River in 668 AD, the city was home to the Silla court and the great majority of the kingdoms elite. Its prosperity became legendary, and was reported as far away as Persia according to the 9th century book The Book of Roads, records of Samguk Yusa give the citys population in its peak period as 178,936 households, suggesting that the total population was almost one million. Many of Gyeongjus most famous sites date from this Unified Silla period, in 940, the founder of Goryeo, King Taejo, changed the citys name to Gyeongju, which literally means Congratulatory district. In 987, as Goryeo introduced a system in three additional capitals were established in politically important provinces outside Gaegyeong, and Gyeongju was designated as Donggyeong
5.
National Treasure (South Korea)
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A National Treasure is a tangible treasure, artifact, site, or building which is recognized by the South Korean government as having exceptional artistic, cultural and historical value to the country. Many of the treasures are popular tourist destinations such as Jongmyo royal ancestral shrine, Bulguksa, Seokguram. As of January 2017, there are 320 distinct entries on the list, the treasures are numbered according to the order in which they were designated not according to their individual value. The National Treasures are designated within the heritage preservation system of the country, the first list of Korean cultural treasures was designated by Governor-General of Korea in 1938 during the Japanese occupation with The Act of Treasures of the Joseon dynasty. In 1955, the South Korean government declared as National Treasures the items previously on the Korean Treasures Preservation Order issued during Japans occupation of Korea, the current list dates to December 20,1962, when the Cultural Protection Act was enacted by the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction. There were 116 items on the National Treasures list at that time, numerous amendments have been made to the list since that time, most recently in 2004. Living National Treasure are holders, or keepers of Intangible Cultural Property, Namdaemun, also known as Sungnyemun, Jung District, Seoul. Severely damaged in the 2008 Namdaemun fire on February 10,2008, found in Pubuchong Tomb, Pomun-dong, Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. A stoneware vessel in the shape of a warrior on horseback, from the Old Silla period, seated iron vairocana Buddha statue of Borimsa temple, Jangheung County 118. Gilt-bronze pensive maitreya bodhisattva, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul 119, standing gilt-bronze Buddha with inscription of the seventh year of Yeonga era, National Museum of Korea, Seoul 120. Bell of Yongjusa, Yongjusa temple, Hwaseong 121, hahoetal and Byeongsantal masks, Andong 122. Three storied stone pagoda of Jinjeonsa temple site, Yangyang County 123, relics found from the five storied stone pagoda in Wanggung-ri, Iksan, Jeonju National Museum, Jeonju 124. Seated marble bodhisattva statue of Hansongsa temple, National Museum of Korea, green-glazed funeral urn with stone case, National Museum of Korea, Seoul 126. Relics found inside three storied Seokgatap pagoda of Bulguksa temple, Gyeongju 127, standing gilt-bronze avalokitesvara bodhisattva statue of Samyang-dong, National Museum of Korea, Seoul 128. Standing gilt-bronze avalokitesvara bodhisattva statue, Hoam Art Museum, Yongin 129, standing gilt-bronze bodhisattva statue, Leeum Art Museum, Yongin 130. Five storied stone pagoda of Jukjang-dong, Seonsan, Gumi 131, family register of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon Kingdom, National Museum of Korea, Seoul 132. Jingbirok, the war memoirs by Yu Seongryong, Andong 133, porcelain kettle in the shape of a lotus blossom, Hoam Art Museum, Yongin 134. Gilt bodhisattva triad, Hoam Art Museum, Yongin 135, hyewon pungsokdo, thirty-leaf album of genre paintings by Sin Yunbok, Gansong Art Museum, Seoul 136
6.
Tumulus
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A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, a cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus. Tumuli are often categorised according to their external apparent shape, in this respect, a long barrow is a long tumulus, usually constructed on top of several burials, such as passage graves. A round barrow is a tumulus, also commonly constructed on top of burials. The internal structure and architecture of both long and round barrows has a range, the categorization only refers to the external apparent shape. The method of inhumation may involve a dolmen, a cist, a mortuary enclosure, examples of barrows include Duggleby Howe and Maeshowe. The funeral of Patroclus is described in book 23 of the Iliad, Patroclus is burned on a pyre, and his bones are collected into a golden urn in two layers of fat. The barrow is built on the location of the pyre, achilles then sponsors funeral games, consisting of a chariot race, boxing, wrestling, running, a duel between two champions to the first blood, discus throwing, archery and spear throwing. Beowulfs body is taken to Hronesness, where it is burned on a funeral pyre, during cremation, the Geats lament the death of their lord, a widows lament being mentioned in particular, singing dirges as they circumambulate the barrow. Afterwards, a mound is built on top of a hill, overlooking the sea, a band of twelve of the best warriors ride around the barrow, singing dirges in praise of their lord. Parallels have also drawn to the account of Attilas burial in Jordanes Getica. Jordanes tells that as Attilas body was lying in state, the best horsemen of the Huns circled it, as in circus games. An Old Irish Life of Columcille reports that every funeral procession halted at a mound called Eala, whereupon the corpse was laid, archaeologists often classify tumuli according to their location, form, and date of construction. Some British types are listed below, Bank barrow Bell barrow Bowl barrow D-shaped barrow - round barrow with a flat edge at one side often defined by stone slabs. Disc barrow Fancy barrow - generic term for any Bronze Age barrows more elaborate than a hemispherical shape. Long barrow Oval barrow - a Neolithic long barrow consisting of an elliptical, platform barrow - The least common of the recognised types of round barrow, consisting of a flat, wide circular mound that may be surrounded by a ditch. They occur widely across southern England with a concentration in East and West Sussex. Pond barrow - a barrow consisting of a circular depression, surrounded by a bank running around the rim of the depression
7.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
8.
Later Silla
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Later Silla was a prosperous and wealthy country, and its metropolitan capital of Gyeongju was the fourth largest city in the world. During its heyday, the country contested with Balhae, a Goguryeo–Mohe kingdom, despite its political instability, Later Sillas culture and arts flourished. Through close ties maintained with Tang Dynasty, Buddhism and Confucianism became principal philosophical ideologies of the elite as well as the mainstays of the periods architecture and fine arts. Its last king, Gyeongsun, ruled over the state in name only and submitted to the emerging Goryeo in 935, although traditionally considered the first unified Korean state, modern Korean historians argue that later Goryeo was in fact the first truly unified state of the Korean nation. Modern Korean historians began to criticize the traditional view of Unified Silla as the unification of Korea, in 660, King Munmu of Silla ordered his armies to attack Baekje. General Kim Yu-shin, aided by Tang forces, defeated General Gyebaek, in 661, he moved on Goguryeo but was repelled. King Munmu was the first ruler ever to look upon the south of the Korean Peninsula as a political entity after the fall of Gojoseon. As such, the post-668 Silla kingdom is often referred to as Unified Silla, Unified Silla lasted for 267 years until, under King Gyeongsun, it fell to Goryeo in 935. Later Silla was an age of art and culture, as evidenced by the Hwangnyongsa, Seokguram. Unified Silla and the Tang maintained close ties and this was evidenced by the continual importation of Chinese culture. Many Korean monks went to China to learn about Buddhism, the monk Hyecho went to India to study Buddhism and wrote an account of his travels. Different new sects of Buddhism were introduced by these traveling monks who had studied such as Son. Unified Silla conducted a census of all size and population, as well as horses, cows and special products. The reporting was done by the leader of each town, a national Confucian college was established in 682 and around 750 it was renamed the National Confucian University. The university was restricted to the elite aristocracy, woodblock printing was used to disseminate Buddhist sutras and Confucian works. During a refurbishment of the Pagoda That Casts No Shadows, an ancient print of a Buddhist sutra was discovered, the print is dated to 751 CE and is the oldest discovered printed material in the world
9.
Baekje
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Baekje was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo, Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeos founder Jumong and So Seo-no, at Wiryeseong. Baekje, like Goguryeo, claimed to succeed Buyeo, an established in present-day Manchuria around the time of Gojoseons fall. Baekje alternately battled and allied with Goguryeo and Silla as the three kingdoms expanded control over the peninsula and it became a significant regional sea power, with political and trade relations with China and Japan. In 660 it was defeated, by an alliance of Silla and the Chinese Tang Dynasty, Baekje was founded in 18 BC by King Onjo, who led a group of people from Goguryeo south to the Han River basin. According to the Chinese Records of the Three Kingdoms, during the Samhan period, the Samguk Sagi provides a detailed account of Baekjes founding. Jumong had left his son Yuri in Buyeo when he left that kingdom to establish the new kingdom of Goguryeo, Jumong became Divine King Dongmyeong, and had two more sons with So Seo-no, Onjo and Biryu. When Yuri later arrived in Goguryeo, Jumong promptly made him the crown prince, realizing Yuri would become the next king, So Seo-no left Goguryeo, taking her two sons Biryu and Onjo south to found their own kingdoms with their people, along with ten vassals. She is remembered as a key figure in the founding of both Goguryeo and Baekje, Onjo settled in Wiryeseong, and called his country Sipje, while Biryu settled in Michuhol, against the vassals advice. The salty water and marshes in Michuhol made settlement difficult, while the people of Wiryeseong lived prosperously, Biryu then went to his brother Onjo, asking for the throne of Sipje. When Onjo refused, Biryu declared war, but lost, in shame, Biryu committed suicide, and his people moved to Wiryeseong, where King Onjo welcomed them and renamed his country Baekje. King Onjo moved the capital from the south to the north of the Han river, King Gaeru is believed to have moved the capital north of the river to Bukhansanseong in 132, probably in present-day Goyang to the northwest of Seoul. Through the early centuries of the Common Era, sometimes called the Proto–Three Kingdoms Period, during the reign of King Goi, Baekje became a full-fledged kingdom, as it continued consolidating the Mahan confederacy. In 249, according to the ancient Japanese text Nihonshoki, Baekjes expansion reached the Gaya confederacy to its east, Baekje is first described in Chinese records as a kingdom in 345. The first diplomatic missions from Baekje reached Japan around 367, King Geunchogo expanded Baekjes territory to the north through war against Goguryeo, while annexing the remaining Mahan societies in the south. During Geunchogos reign, the territories of Baekje included most of the western Korean Peninsula, Baekje continued substantial trade with Goguryeo, and actively adopted Chinese culture and technology. Buddhism became the state religion in 384. Baekje also became a sea power and continued mutual goodwill relationships with the Japanese rulers of the Kofun period, transmitting continental cultural influences to Japan
10.
Goguryeo
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Goguryeo was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean peninsula and was also associated with the foreign affairs of neighboring polities in China and Japan. The Samguk Sagi, a 12th-century text from Goryeo, indicates that Goguryeo was founded in 37 BCE by Jumong, a prince from Buyeo, after its fall, its territory was divided among the states of Later Silla, Balhae and Tang China. The name Goryeo, a form of Goguryeo, was adopted as the official name in the 5th century. In the geographic monographs of the Book of Han, the word Goguryeo was first mentioned in 113 BCE as a region under the jurisdiction of the Xuantu Commandery, page 33. In the Old Book of Tang, it is recorded that Emperor Taizong refers to Goguryeos history as being some 900 years old, in 75 BCE, a group of Yemaek who may have originated from Goguryeo made an incursion into Chinas Xuantu Commandery west of the Yalu. At its founding, the Goguryeo people are believed to be a blend of people from Buyeo and Yemaek, as leadership from Buyeo may have fled their kingdom and integrated with existing Yemaek chiefdoms. The Records of the Three Kingdoms, in the section titled Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians, implied that Buyeo, the earliest mention of Jumong is in the 4th century Gwanggaeto Stele. Jumong is the modern Korean transcription of the hanja 朱蒙 Jumong, 鄒牟 Chumo, the Stele states that Jumong was the first king and ancestor of Goguryeo and that he was the son of the prince of Buyeo and daughter of the Yellow River deity Habaek. The Samguk Sagi and Samgungnyusa paint additional detail and names Jumongs mother as Yuhwa, Jumongs biological father was said to be a man named Haemosu who is described as a strong man and a heavenly prince. The river god chased Yuhwa away to the Ubal River due to her pregnancy, Jumong was well known for his exceptional archery skills. Eventually, Geumwas sons became jealous of him, and Jumong was forced to leave Eastern Buyeo, the Stele and later Korean sources disagree as to which Buyeo Jumong came from. The Stele says he came from Buyeo and the Samgungnyusa and Samguk Sagi say he came from Eastern Buyeo, Jumong eventually made it to Jolbon, where he married Soseono, daughter of its ruler. He subsequently became king himself, founding Goguryeo with a group of his followers from his native country. A traditional account from the Annals of Baekje section in the Samguk Sagi says that Soseono was the daughter of Yeon Tabal, a wealthy influential figure in Jolbon and married to Jumong. However, the same source states that the king of Jolbon gave his daughter to Jumong. She gave her husband, Jumong, financial support in founding the new statelet, Jumongs given surname was Hae, the name of the Buyeo rulers. According to the Samgungnyusa, Jumong changed his surname to Go in conscious reflection of his divine parentage, Jumong is recorded to have conquered the tribal states of Biryu in 36 BCE, Haeng-in in 33 BCE, and Northern Okjeo in 28 BCE. Goguryeo developed from a league of various Yemaek tribes to an early state, in the time of Taejodae in 53 CE, five local tribes were reorganized into five centrally ruled districts
11.
Gold Crown Tomb
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The Gold Crown Tomb, is a Silla tumulus located in modern-day Gyeongju, South Korea, the former capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom. Believed to date from the fifth or sixth century CE, the tomb was excavated in 1921 and it was the first tomb that was found to contain a gold crown of the Silla royalty, and is still the largest crown excavated thus far. The tomb takes its name from the crown, the diameter of the tomb is 45 m and the height is 12 m. Such stone mounded tombs only existed in the Shinar Era and it is believed that the tomb was varnished and lacquered. The structure of the tomb and the Buddhist influence suggest that it was built after the reign of King Jijeung and this would place the date around the 6th century, which was before the Unified Silla period. The Gold Crown Tomb has one burial mound, and the structure is simple, the artifacts were found in the process of construction work in the backyard of a private house in 1921. Surveying started immediately and Japanese interest in Silla tumuli rose with the beginning the excavation, as a result, other large tombs, such as GeumRyungChong and SeaBongChong, were discovered. Gold and silver ornaments were excavated at the same time as the Gold Crown. They were made with a band of either gold or silver and had 17 pendants in various shapes. The silver belt ornaments have a design as those excavated in Baekje Royal Tomb. The vessels were made of gold and silver, gold and bronze alloying, in addition, pots with four corners and Korean traditional caldrons made of cast iron were inscribed with delicate engraving that showed relations with Goguryeo at the time. A bronze tripod pouring vessel is possibly of Chinese import, the working class of the time were unlikely to have used metal vessels and these vessels indicate the high quality of life of the Silla ruling class. Weapons found included gold and silver swords and gold and bronze helmets, a golden girdle found in the tomb is another important symbol of royalty and is only found in royal tombs. The girdle is about two metres in length, and is made up of 39 plaques, with various charms dangling from the main belt. The golden crown found in this tomb is notable for its intricate open metal-work inner cap containing images of bird wings, the ornamentation of the crown is simple and balanced and features heart, fish scales, and diamond T shapes. A diadem ornament features an image of a bird about to fly, on the wings of the crown, a dragon pattern is engraved. List of Korea-related topics History of Korea Korean sword Korean art Crown of Silla
12.
Cheonmachong
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Cheonmachong, formerly Tomb No.155 in south korea, is a tumulus located in Gyeongju, South Korea. The tomb was excavated in 1973 and is believed to date probably from the fifth century, the tomb was for an unknown king of the Silla Kingdom. The tomb, in typical Silla style, is a wood-lined chamber running east to west and is covered in a mound of boulders and this kind of tomb is said to follow the pattern of a tomb in Pazyryk, Russia. The tomb is 47 metres in diameter,157 metres in circumference, the chamber of the tomb contained a lacquered wooden coffin which had burial goods placed around it. A total of 11,500 artifacts were recovered from the tomb, the name of the tomb derives from a famous painting of a white horse which is depicted on a birch bark saddle flap, also referred to as a mud-guard. The horse, a Cheonma, has eight legs and is depicted with wings on its feet and this painting is a rare example of extant Silla painting and indicates a strong influence by the Korean Goguryeo Kingdom. The other side of the saddle flaps depict horsemen and the phoenix, the tomb also yielded many other treasures including a gold crown and a gold girdle, both replete with jade comma-shaped beads. These trappings of royalty indicate that a king was buried in the tomb, besides the crown and girdle, the chamber also held gold bracelets and gold rings for every finger of the buried king. Kim, Jeong-gi et al.1974 Cheonmachong Balguljosa Bogoseo, History of Korea Silla Korean art Crown of Silla Gold girdle of Korea Cheonmachong - Ancient History Encyclopedia Asian Historical Architecture, Heavenly Horse Tomb
13.
Tillya Tepe
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The hoard is often known as the Bactrian gold. The ornaments include necklaces set with stones, belts, medallions. After its discovery, the hoard went missing during the wars in Afghanistan, until it was rediscovered, a new museum in Kabul is being planned where the Bactrian gold will eventually be kept. The heavily fortified town of Yemshi-tepe, just five kilometres to the northeast of modern Sheberghan on the road to Akcha, is half a kilometre from the now-famous necropolis of Tillia-tepe. Several coins dated up to the early 1st century CE, with none dated later, a silver coin was found in one of the tombs from the reigns of the Parthian king Mithridates II, who ruled c. The coin was found in tomb III, and was held in the hand of the defunct woman. An imitation gold coin of Parthian King Gotarzes I was found in the hand of the defunct woman in tomb 6. The fact that this coin is in gold, and not silver or bronze as is usually the case for Parthian coinage, the coin is counterstamped with the frontal depiction of what might have been a local chieftain. The counterstamp was added so as to not damage the portrait of the Parthian king, a gold coin was also found in tomb III showing the bust in profile of the wreath-crowned Roman Emperor Tiberius. On the reverse is an enthroned, sumptuously draped female figure holding a spray, coins of this type were minted in the city of Lugdunum in Gaul, between 16 and 21 CE. A Buddhist gold coin from India was also found in tomb IV, on the reverse, it depicts a lion with a nandipada, with the Kharoshthi legend Sih vigatabhay. On the obverse, an almost naked man wearing an Hellenistic chlamys. The legend in Kharoshthi reads Dharmacakrapravata and it has been suggested that this may be an early representation of the Buddha. Finally, a worn coin has been identified as belonging to the Yuezhi chieftain Heraios. It is thought that the site belonged to Sakas, although some suggest the Yuezhi or eastern Parthians as an alternative, several of the artifacts are highly consistent with a Scythian origin, such as the royal crown or the polylobed decorated daggers discovered in the tombs. Several of the defuncts exhibited ritual deformation of the skull, a practice which is documented among Central Asian nomads of the period. These pieces have much in common with the famous Scythian gold artifacts recovered thousands of kilometers west on the banks of the Bosphorus, a high cultural syncretism pervades the findings, however. The artifacts were also intermixed with items coming from much farther and this seems to be a testimony to the richness of cultural influences in the area of Bactria at that time
14.
Iranian peoples
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The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse Indo-European ethno-linguistic group that comprise the speakers of the Iranian languages. Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a branch of the Indo-Iranians in Central Asia in the mid 2nd millennium BC. In the 1st millennium AD, their area of settlement was reduced as a result of Slavic, Germanic, Turkic and Mongol expansions and many being subjected to Slavicisation. The Iranian peoples include Balochs, Kurds, Gilaks, Lurs, Mazanderanis, Ossetians, Pashtuns, Pamiris, Persians, Tajiks, Talysh people, the term Iran derives directly from Middle Persian Ērān and Parthian Aryān. The Middle Iranian terms ērān and aryān are oblique plural forms of gentilic ēr- and ary-, there have been many attempts to qualify the verbal root of ar- in Old Iranian arya-. The following are according to 1957 and later linguists, Emmanuel Laroche, Old Iranian arya- being descended from Proto-Indo-European ar-yo-, meaning assembler. Harold Walter Bailey, ar- to beget, unlike the Sanskrit ā́rya-, the Old Iranian term has solely an ethnic meaning. Today, the Old Iranian arya- remains in ethno-linguistic names such as Iran, Alan, Ir, in the Iranian languages, the gentilic is attested as a self-identifier included in ancient inscriptions and the literature of Avesta. The earliest epigraphically attested reference to the word occurs in the Bistun Inscription of the 6th century BC. The inscription of Bistun describes itself to have composed in Arya. As is also the case for all other Old Iranian language usage, in royal Old Persian inscriptions, the term arya- appears in three different contexts, As the name of the language of the Old Persian version of the inscription of Darius I in the Bistun Inscription. As the ethnic background of Darius the Great in inscriptions at Rustam Relief and Susa, as the definition of the God of Iranians, Ohrmazd, in the Elamite version of the Bistun Inscription. In the Dna and Dse, Darius and Xerxes describe themselves as an Achaemenid, a Persian, son of a Persian, although Darius the Great called his language arya-, modern scholars refer to it as Old Persian because it is the ancestor of the modern Persian language. The trilingual inscription erected by the command of Shapur I gives a clear description. The languages used are Parthian, Middle Persian, and Greek, tou Arianon ethnous despotes eimi, which translates to I am the king of the kingdom of the Iranians. In Middle Persian, Shapur says ērānšahr xwadāy hēm and in Parthian he says aryānšahr xwadāy ahēm, the Avesta clearly uses airiia- as an ethnic name, where it appears in expressions such as airyāfi daiŋˊhāvō, airyō šayanəm, and airyanəm vaējō vaŋhuyāfi dāityayāfi. In the late part of the Avesta, one of the homelands was referred to as Airyanəm Vaējah which approximately means expanse of the Iranians. The homeland varied in its range, the area around Herat
15.
Saka
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The Saka or Saca was the term used in Persian and Sanskrit sources for the Scythians, a large group of Eastern Iranian nomadic tribes on the Eurasian Steppe. Modern scholars usually use the term Saka to refer to Iranians of the Eastern Steppe, rené Grousset wrote that they formed a particular branch of the Scytho-Sarmatian family originating from nomadic Iranian peoples of the northwestern steppe in Eurasia. They migrated into Sogdiana and Bactria in Central Asia and then to the northwest of the Indian subcontinent where they were known as the Indo-Scythians, modern debate about the identity of the Saka is partly from ambiguous usage of the word by ancient, non-Saka authorities. According to Herodotus, the Persians gave the name Saka to all Scythians, however, Pliny the Elder claims that the Persians gave the name Sakai only to the Scythian tribes nearest to them. The Scythians to the far north of Assyria were also called the Saka suni by the Persians, the Assyrians, of the time of Esarhaddon, record campaigning against a people they called in the Akkadian the Ashkuza or Ishhuza. However, modern consensus is that the Saka language, ancestor to the Pamir languages in northern India and Khotanese in Xinjiang. Another people, the Gimirrai, who were known to the ancient Greeks as the Cimmerians, were associated with the Sakas. In ancient Hebrew texts, the Ashkuz are considered to be an offshoot from the Gimirri. The Saka were regarded by the Babylonians as synonymous with the Gimirrai, the Sakā paradraya were the western Scythians or Sarmatians. Both the Sakā tigraxaudā and Sakā haumavargā are thought to be located in Central Asia east of the Caspian Sea, Sakā haumavargā is considered to be the same as Amyrgians, the Saka tribe in closest proximity to Bactria and Sogdiana. In the modern era, the archaeologist Hugo Winckler was the first to associate the Sakas with the Scyths, J. M. Sakā and Skuthai evidently constituted a generic name for the nomads on the northern frontiers. Persian sources often treat them as a tribe called the Saka. Modern scholars usually use the term Saka to refer to Iranian-speaking tribes who inhabited the Eastern Steppe, the Saka people were an Iranian people who spoke a language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. They are known to the ancient Greeks as Scythians and are attested in historical and archaeological records dating to around the 8th century BC. In the Achaemenid-era Old Persian inscriptions found at Persepolis, dated to the reign of Darius I, likewise an inscription dated to the reign of Xerxes I has them coupled with the Dahae people of Central Asia. The contemporary Greek historian Herodotus noted that the Achaemenid Persians called all of the Iranian Scythian peoples as the Saka. According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great confronted the Massagetae, a related to the Saka. Darius the Great also waged wars against the eastern Sakas, who fought him with three armies led by three kings according to Polyaenus, in 520–519 BC, Darius I defeated the Sakā tigraxaudā tribe and captured their king Skunkha
16.
Eurasian nomads
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The Eurasian nomads were a large group of nomadic peoples from the Eurasian Steppe, who often appear in history as invaders of Europe, the Middle East and China. The generic title encompasses the varied ethnic groups who have at times inhabited the steppes of Central Asia, Mongolia, Early periods in Chinese history involved conflict with the nomadic Rong and Xiongnu peoples to the west of the Wei valley. Iron and bronze was supplied from China, the Roman army hired Sarmatians as elite cavalrymen. The earliest example of an invasion by a people may have been by the Proto-Indo-Europeans themselves. Cimmerian is the first invasion of equestrian steppe nomads that is known from historical sources and their military strength was always based on cavalry, usually marked by prowess as mounted archers. Kurgan is a term for steppe burial mounds, which sometimes contained very elaborate burials. J. R. R. Tolkiens Rohirrim may be seen as an idealised Germanic people influenced by these romantic notions, Tolkiens Wainriders of eastern Rhûn recall ancient steppe peoples like the Scythians. Similarly, George R. R. Martins nomadic Dothraki people are influenced by the lifestyles and cultures of historical horse people. Nomadism persists in the steppelands, though it has generally been disapproved of by modern regimes, chronologically, there have been several waves of invasions of either Europe, the Near East, India and/or China from the steppe. Mongols, Turks, and others, Eurasian nomads and the sedentary world, Early riders, The beginnings of mounted warfare in Asia and Europe. Nomads and their neighbours in the Russian Steppe, Turks, Khazars, warriors of the steppe, A military history of Central Asia,500 B. C. to A. D.1700. New York, Sarpedon Publishers,1997, Cambridge, MA, korotayev, Dmitri Bondarenko, V. de Munck, and P. K. Vladivostok, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reprinted in, The Early State, ed. by Leonid Grinin et al. Nomadism, Evolution, and World-Systems, Pastoral Societies in Theories of Historical Development, journal of World-System Research 8, 368–388. In Nomadic Pathways in Social Evolution, kradin, Dmitri Bondarenko, and T. Barfield. Moscow, Center for Civilizational Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nomads of Inner Asia in Transition. Littauer, Mary A. Crouwel, Joost H. Raulwing, selected writings on chariots and other early vehicles, riding and harness. Shippey, Thomas Tom A. Goths and Huns, The rediscovery of Northern culture in the century, in The Medieval legacy
17.
Steppe
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In South Africa they are referred to as Veld. The prairie is an example of a steppe, though it is not usually called such and it may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude. The term is used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a forest. The soil is typically of chernozem type, steppes are usually characterized by a semi-arid and continental climate. Extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 45 °C and in winter, besides this huge difference between summer and winter, the differences between day and night are also very great. In the highlands of Mongolia,30 °C can be reached during the day with sub-zero °C readings at night, the mid-latitude steppes can be summarized by hot summers and cold winters, averaging 250–510 mm of precipitation per year. Precipitation level alone is not what defines a steppe climate, potential evapotranspiration must also be taken into account, the Eurasian Grass-Steppe of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands had a role in the spread of the horse, the wheel, and the Indo-European languages. The Indo-European expansion and diverse invasions of horse archer civilizations of the steppe eventually led to, the Pannonian Plain is another steppe region in eastern Europe, primarily Hungary. Another large steppe area is located in the central United States, western Canada, the shortgrass prairie steppe is the westernmost part of the Great Plains region. The Channeled Scablands in Southern British Columbia and Washington State is an example of a region in North America outside of the Great Plains. In South America, cold steppe can be found in Patagonia, relatively small steppe areas can be found in the interior of the South Island of New Zealand. In Asia, a subtropical steppe can be found in semi-arid lands that fringe the Thar Desert of the Indian subcontinent, in Australia, subtropical steppe can be found in a belt surrounding the most severe deserts of the continent and around the Musgrave Ranges. Ecology and Conservation of Steppe-land Birds by Manuel B. Morales, Santi Mañosa, Jordi Camprodón, international Symposium on Ecology and Conservation of steppe-land birds
18.
Crown of Baekje
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The Crown of Baekje refers to several artifacts excavated that are believed to be the royal headgear of the kings, queens, and nobility of the Baekje Kingdom. Some of the follow the same tradition as Silla crowns in that they share the tree-motif. However, the diadems of the kings and queens suggest that Baekje people had a tradition for their royal headgear. The Geumjegwansik are a pair of two gold diadems that were worn by the king of Baekje, designated on July 9,1974, they are the 154th national treasure of Korea. The Gongju National Museum currently holds these diadems in their collection and they were excavated from the King Muryeongs tomb in Gongju, South Korea in 1971. The diadems were neatly stacked on top of other and were found placed near the head of the king in the coffin. The first of the pair of diadems is 30.7 centimeters tall and 14 centimeters in width, the diadems were cut from thin plate gold which was only two millimeters in thickness. At the bottom of both diadems is a ring which is believed to have used to hook and attach the diadems to a royal cap. Based on historical records the king was said to have decorated a gold flower on the back of his black cloth hat and it is believed these diadems would be placed on the left and right or front and back of the royal cap. The diadems would be placed on both sides of the cap and would resemble wings, an important motif in shamanism that probably represented a belief in rebirth, the whole diadem looks like a mass of vines or branches that are shaped into a flame-like pattern. Flower-like patterns are at the top of the diadem and the lower right, the flame-like pattern and honeysuckle-arabesque pattern, may have also been derived from Buddhist traditions because of their similarities to the halos of Buddhist sculpture. The diadems are also decorated with many spangles of gold, the Geumjegwansik are identical in shape and size and were found in the same tomb as national treasure of Korea No.154, in King Muryeongs tomb. They are the 155th national treasure and were designated on July 9,1974, the diadems were found in the head of the queens coffin, placed neatly on top of each other. They are both 22.6 centimeters in height and 13.4 centimeters in width and these diadems were made by cutting sheet gold. They are ornamented by carving into the gold and the elaborate pattern was attached to these plates. Honeysuckle and lotus motifs shape the ornaments and overall shape gives them the impression of a flame, like the kings ornaments, it is believed that these two diadems were attached to the sides of a royal cap. Unlike the kings diadems, the queens were not adorned with spangles, the Gilt-bronze Crown from the Sinchon-ri Tumulus is from the Three Kingdoms of Korea period. It was designated as the 295th national treasure of Korea on September 22,1997 and is housed at the National Museum of Korea
19.
Crown of Gaya
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The crowns of Gaya refers to two excavated pieces that are believed to be the headgear of the elite of the Gaya Confederacy. However, the Gaya crowns are obviously distinctive from the traditions of the Silla and Baekje, the Geumgwan mit busok geumgu refers to a collection of artifacts including a gold crown and its accompanying accessories, finger rings, and earrings. The crown is housed at the Hoam Art Museum. This artifact, along with its accessories, was designated as a national treasure of Korea on December 21,1971. The crown is believed to be from the fifth or sixth century CE and the crown measures 11.5 centimeters in height,3.6 centimeters in width, the crown has three distinctive parts. The headband is made of gold and it is decorated with tiny gold mirrors which are attached to the band. The band itself is incised with dotted decorations running on the top, attached to the band are jade gogok. However, whether these beads were supposed to be on the headband is still debated because they were not found on the crown when it was excavated. The appendages of the crown are placed equidistant from each other on the circular headband and these appendages look similar to fleur de lis symbol but are more often described as grass-shaped or floral-shaped. Each appendage is identical and has three sets of prongs flowing downward at a angle and is topped with a jewel-shaped finial. These appendages resemble a crown of Baekje which also had flowing floral-like patterns instead of the crowns of Silla. Finally, the crown came with four floral-shaped ornaments which were used as diadems. Jade gogok were attached to the gold ornaments as well as tiny gold disks and it is believed that these ornaments follow Silla styles and are also incised with dots in a diamond motif like the headband of the crown. National treasures of Korea Gaya Confederacy Crown of Silla Crown of Baekje Cultural Heritage, National Treasure No.138 Hoam Art Museum, Leeum Gallery
20.
World tree
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The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots. It may also be connected to the motif of the tree of life. In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the world tree, Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Yggdrasil is an ash tree that is central and considered very holy. The Æsir go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts, creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the harts Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, the giant in eagle-shape Hraesvelgr, the squirrel Ratatoskr and the wyrm Níðhöggr. Scholarly theories have proposed about the etymology of the name Yggdrasil, the potential relation to the trees Mímameiðr and Læraðr. The world tree is represented in the mythologies and folklore of Northern Asia and Siberia. In the mythology of the Samoyeds, the world tree connects different realities together, in their mythology the world tree is also the symbol of Mother Earth who is said to give the Samoyed shaman his drum and also help him travel from one world to another. The symbol of the tree is also common in Tengriism. The world tree is visible in the designs of the Crown of Silla, Silla being one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea and this link is used to establish a connection between Siberian peoples and those of Korea. Among pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, the concept of trees is a prevalent motif in Mesoamerican mythical cosmologies. The Temple of the Cross Complex at Palenque contains one of the most studied examples of the tree in architectural motifs of all Mayan ruins. Among the Maya, the world tree was conceived as, or represented by. The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright caiman, directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in Mesoamerican calendars, and the directional colors and deities. Mesoamerican codices which have this association outlined include the Dresden, Borgia and it is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept. World trees are depicted with birds in their branches. The central world tree has also interpreted as a representation of the band of the Milky Way
21.
Korean shamanism
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Korean shamanism, also known as Muism or Sinism Singyo religion of the shin, is the ethnic religion of Korea and the Koreans. Although used synonymously, the two terms are not identical, Jung Young Lee describes Muism as a form of Sinism - the shamanic tradition within the religion, other names for the religion are Shindo, Shindoism, Gosindo, and Pungwoldo. It has approximately 5-15 million followers, in contemporary Korean language, the shaman-priest or mu is known as a mudang if female or baksu if male, although other names are used. Korean mu shaman is synonymous with Chinese wu, which defines priests both male and female. The role of the mudang is to act as intermediary between the spirits or gods, and the plain, through gut, seeking to resolve problems in the patterns of development of human life. Central to the faith is the belief in Haneullim or Hwanin, meaning source of all being, and of all gods of nature, the utmost god or the supreme mind. The mu are mythically described as descendants of the Heavenly King, son of the Holy Mother, however, other myths link the heritage of the traditional faith to Dangun, male son of the Heavenly King and initiator of the Korean nation. Korean Muism has similarities with Chinese Wuism, Japanese Shinto, Ainu religion, in some provinces of Korea the shaman is still called dangul dangul-ari. The mudang is similar to the Japanese miko and the Ryukyuan yuta, Muism has exerted an influence on some Korean new religions, such as Cheondoism and Jeung San Do. According to various studies, many Christian churches in Korea make use of practices rooted in shamanism. The Korean word mu is thought to come from the root as the Chinese wu. The Korean language and culture, however, has developed its own terminology, already in Yi dynasty records, also mudang apparently derives from Chinese, and originally meant the altar of mu and not the person itself. The Korean word Mu means Heaven of Mago land, the priest for Mu is Muin of Shaman. Man in Shaman is the meaning of the muin of Suri, mudang is used mostly for female shamans, though not exclusively. Male Korean mu are called by a variety of names, such as sana mudang in the Seoul area, or baksu mudang, baksu may come from a Korean adaptation of siberian names for male shamans, such as baksi, balsi or bahsih. The mu is known as magician, medicine man, mystic, what set him apart from other healers and priests is his ability to move at will into trance states. During a trance, the soul leaves his body and travelled to other realms. The mu provides healing on many levels, physical, psychological and spiritual, the work of the mu is based on the holistic model, which takes into consideration, not only the whole person, but the individuals interaction with his environment, both his inner and outer world
22.
Afghanistan
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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
23.
Metalworking
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Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large-scale structures. The term covers a range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts. It therefore includes a wide range of skills, processes. Metalworking is a science, art, hobby, industry and trade and its historical roots span cultures, civilizations, and millennia. Metalworking has evolved from the discovery of smelting various ores, producing malleable and ductile metal useful for tools, modern metalworking processes, though diverse and specialized, can be categorized as forming, cutting, or joining processes. Todays machine shop includes a number of machine tools capable of creating a precise, the oldest archaeological evidence of copper mining and working was the discovery of a copper pendant in northern Iraq from 8,700 BCE. The earliest substantiated and dated evidence of metalworking in the Americas was the processing of copper in Wisconsin, Copper was hammered until brittle then heated so it could be worked some more. This technology is dated to about 4000-5000 BCE, the oldest gold artifacts in the world come from the Bulgarian Varna Necropolis and date from 4450 BCE. Not all metal required fire to obtain it or work it, isaac Asimov speculated that gold was the first metal. His reasoning is that by its chemistry it is found in nature as nuggets of pure gold, in other words, gold, as rare as it is, is sometimes found in nature as the metal that it is. There are a few metals that sometimes occur natively. Almost all other metals are found in ores, a mineral-bearing rock, another feature of gold is that it is workable as it is found, meaning that no technology beyond a stone hammer and anvil to work the metal is needed. This is a result of properties of malleability and ductility. The earliest tools were stone, bone, wood, and sinew, at some unknown point the connection between heat and the liberation of metals from rock became clear, rocks rich in copper, tin, and lead came into demand. These ores were mined wherever they were recognized, remnants of such ancient mines have been found all over Southwestern Asia. Metalworking was being carried out by the South Asian inhabitants of Mehrgarh between 7000–3300 BCE, the end of the beginning of metalworking occurs sometime around 6000 BCE when copper smelting became common in Southwestern Asia. Ancient civilisations knew of seven metals. Here they are arranged in order of their potential, Iron +0.44 V
24.
Goldworking
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A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Goldsmiths must be skilled in forming metal through filing, soldering, sawing, forging, casting, the trade has very often included jewellery-making skills, as well as the very similar skills of the silversmith. Many universities and junior colleges also offer goldsmithing, silversmithing, compared to other metals, gold is malleable, ductile, rare, and it is the only solid metallic element with a yellow color. It may easily be melted, fused, and cast without the problems of oxides and gas that are problematic with other such as bronzes. It is fairly easy to weld, wherein similarly to clay two small pieces may be pounded together to make one larger piece. Gold is classified as a noble metal—because it does not react with most elements and it usually is found in its native form, lasting indefinitely without oxidization and tarnishing. Gold has been worked by humans in all cultures where the metal is available, either indigenously or imported, and the history of these activities is extensive. Superbly made objects from the ancient cultures of Africa, Asia, Europe, India, North America, Mesoamerica, some pieces date back thousands of years and were made using many techniques that still are used by modern goldsmiths. Techniques developed by some of those goldsmiths achieved a level that was lost and remained beyond the skills of those who followed. In medieval Europe goldsmiths were organized into guilds and usually were one of the most important, the guild kept records of members and the marks they used on their products. These records, when they survive, are useful to historians. Goldsmiths often acted as bankers, since they dealt in gold and had sufficient security for the storage of valuable items. The Sunar caste is one of the oldest communities in goldsmithing in India, in India, Vishwakarma are the goldsmith caste. The printmaking technique of engraving developed among goldsmiths in Germany around 1430, the notable engravers of the fifteenth century were either goldsmiths, such as Master E. S. or the sons of goldsmiths, such as Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. A goldsmith might have an array of skills and knowledge at their disposal. Gold, being the most malleable metal of all, offers opportunities for the worker. In todays world a variety of other metals, especially platinum alloys. 24 Carat is pure gold and historically, was known as fine gold, because it is so soft, however,24 Carat gold is rarely used
25.
Granulation (jewellery)
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Granulation is a jewellery manufacturing technique whereby a surface is covered in spherules or granules of precious metal. The technique is thought to have its origins in Sumer about 5,000 years ago, in the first millennium B. C. the technique was used by Etruscans living in present-day Italy. Greek craftsmen also employed the technique, but it was the coming from Etruria which became famous. There are three techniques that may be used to attach granules to a metal surface, hard soldering, fusing. The metals used in granulation are usually gold and/or silver alloys of high purity - alloys below 18 kt. gold, with each technique the process begins with the making of the granules themselves. The granules are usually made from the material as the base to which they will be affixed. Very narrow fringes may be cut along the edge of a sheet of metal. After being melted into globules, these may be sorted into various sizes by the use of appropriate meshes, another option is to use thin wire coiled around a mandrel, the coil then being cut into small rings - this creates even-sized granules when melted. Hard soldering metal items together exploits the capillary action of solder with a melting point flowing between the items to be bonded. Soldering is routinely used by jewellers and is an ancient technique. Extremely small pieces of solder are positioned close to the point of contact between the granule and the metal, and then heated to melting point. The necessity of repeating this process hundreds of times renders the technique impractical and expensive. An improvement to this method is filing the solder to powder size, the work area is painted with tragacanth and the granules are bedded on this using a fine brush. Having dried, the work is sprinkled with the flux-solder powder, surplus solder will lodge in the gaps between the granules, an effect which cannot be avoided. Fusing joins metals composed of the alloy by the use of heat alone. A sheet of metal of thickness near the diameter of the granules ensures an even heat distribution, the granules are positioned using a diluted flux and fine brush, after which the sheet is fired in a reducing oven. At melting temperature the granules and sheet metal fuse, leaving no flux or solder and this technique was used by the Etruscans in the first millennium B. C. Modern techniques achieve fusing by using electric current and the process is known as fusion welding, the electric current passes through each granule, generating sufficient heat to weld the granules to the base
26.
Filigree
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It often suggests lace and remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork. It was popular as well in Italian, French and Portuguese metalwork from 1660 to the late 19th century and it should not be confused with ajoure jewellery work, the ajoure technique consisting of drilling holes in objects made of sheet metal. The English word filigree is shortened from the use of filigreen which derives from Latin filum meaning thread. The Latin words gave filigrana in Italian which itself became filigrane in 17th-century French, though filigree has become a special branch of jewellery in modern times, it was historically part of the ordinary work of the jeweler. Indeed, all the jewelry of the Etruscans and Greeks was made by soldering together, archaeological finds in ancient Mesopotamia indicate that filigree was incorporated into jewelry since 3,000 BC. Specific to the city of Midyat in Mardin Province in upper Mesopotamia, to this day, expert craftsmen in this region continue to produce fine pieces of telkari. The Egyptian jewelers employed wire, both to lay down on a background and to plait or otherwise arranged jour, but, with the exception of chains, it cannot be said that filigree work was much practiced by them. Their strength lay rather in their work and their molded ornaments. Many examples, however, remain of round plaited gold chains of fine wire, such as those that are made by the filigree workers of India. From some of these are hung smaller chains of finer wire with minute fishes, a number of earrings and other personal ornaments found in central Italy are preserved in the Louvre and in the British Museum. Almost all of them are made of filigree work, but the feathers and petals of modern Italian filigree are not seen in these ancient designs. Instances occur, but only rarely, in which filigree devices in wire are self-supporting, the museum of the Hermitage at Saint Petersburg contains a large collection of Scythian jewelry from the tombs of the Crimea. Many bracelets and necklaces in that collection are made of twisted wire, some in as many as seven rows of plaiting, others are strings of large beads of gold, decorated with volutes, knots and other patterns of wire soldered over the surfaces. In the British Museum a sceptre, probably that of a Greek priestess, is covered with plaited and netted gold wipe, finished with a sort of Corinthian capital and a boss of green glass. It is probable that in India and various parts of central Asia filigree has been worked from the most remote period without any change in the designs. Very fine grains or beads and spines of gold, scarcely thicker than coarse hair, also noted is silver filigree of Karimnagar in Telangana state. These objects, besides being enriched with precious stones, polished, but not cut into facets, byzantine filigree work occasionally has small stones set amongst the curves or knots. Examples of such decoration can be seen in the Victoria and Albert, examples include the Cross of Lothair in Aachen
27.
Etruscan civilization
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The Etruscan civilization is the modern name given to a powerful and wealthy civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio. Culture that is identifiably Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC, the latter gave way in the 7th century BC to a culture that was influenced by ancient Greece, Magna Graecia, and Phoenicia. The decline was gradual, but by 500 BC the political destiny of Italy had passed out of Etruscan hands, the last Etruscan cities were formally absorbed by Rome around 100 BC. Politics were based on the city, and probably the family unit. In their heyday, the Etruscan elite grew very rich through trade with the Celtic world to the north and the Greeks to the south, archaic Greece had a huge influence on their art and architecture, and Greek mythology was evidently very familiar to them. The study also excluded recent Anatolian connection, the ancient Romans referred to the Etruscans as the Tuscī or Etruscī. Their Roman name is the origin of the terms Tuscany, which refers to their heartland, and Etruria, which can refer to their wider region. In Attic Greek, the Etruscans were known as Tyrrhenians, from which the Romans derived the names Tyrrhēnī, Tyrrhēnia, the word may also be related to the Hittite Taruisa. The Etruscans called themselves Rasenna, which was syncopated to Rasna or Raśna, the origins of the Etruscans are mostly lost in prehistory, although Greek historians as early as the 5th century BC, repeatedly associated the Tyrrhenians with Pelasgians. Strabo as well as the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus make mention of the Tyrrhenians as pirates, pliny the Elder put the Etruscans in the context of the Rhaetian people to the north and wrote in his Natural History, Adjoining these the Noricans are the Raeti and Vindelici. All are divided into a number of states, the Raeti are believed to be people of Tuscan race driven out by the Gauls, their leader was named Raetus. Historians have no literature and no original Etruscan texts of religion or philosophy, therefore, much of what is known about this civilization is derived from grave goods, another source of genetic data on Etruscan origins is from four ancient breeds of cattle. Analyzing the mitochondrial DNA of these and seven other breeds of Italian cattle, the other Italian breeds were linked to northern Europe. Etruscan expansion was focused both to the north beyond the Apennine Mountains and into Campania, some small towns in the sixth century BC disappeared during this time, ostensibly consumed by greater, more powerful neighbours. However, it is certain that the structure of the Etruscan culture was similar to, albeit more aristocratic than. The mining and commerce of metal, especially copper and iron, led to an enrichment of the Etruscans and to the expansion of their influence in the Italian peninsula and the western Mediterranean Sea. Here, their interests collided with those of the Greeks, especially in the sixth century BC and this led the Etruscans to ally themselves with Carthage, whose interests also collided with the Greeks. Around 540 BC, the Battle of Alalia led to a new distribution of power in the western Mediterranean, from the first half of the 5th century BC, the new political situation meant the beginning of the Etruscan decline after losing their southern provinces
28.
Persian people
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The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group that make up over half the population of Iran. They share a cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language. The ancient Persians were originally a branch of the ancient Iranian population who entered modern-day Iran by the early 10th century BC. The English term Persian derives from Latin Persia, itself deriving from Greek Persís, in the Bible, it is referred to as Parás —sometimes Paras uMadai —within the books of Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemya. Although Persis was originally one of the provinces of ancient Iran, varieties of this term were adopted through Greek sources, thus, in the Western world, the term Persian came to refer to all inhabitants of the country. 10th-century Iraqi historian Al-Masudi refers to Pahlavi, Dari and Azari as dialects of the Persian language, in 1333, medieval Moroccan traveler and scholar Ibn Battuta, referred to the people of Kabul as a specific sub-tribe of Persians. Lady Mary Sheil, in her observation of Iran during the Qajar era, describes Persians, Kurds and Leks to identify themselves as descendants of the ancient Persians. On March 21,1935, the king of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi, issued a decree asking the international community to use the term Iran. However, the term Persian is still used to designate the predominant population of the Iranian peoples living in the Iranian cultural continent. The earliest known written record attributed to the Persians is from the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, the inscription mentions Parsua as a tribal chiefdom in modern-day western Iran. The ancient Persians were originally a branch of the Iranian population that, in the early 10th century BC. They were initially dominated by the Assyrians for much of the first three centuries after arriving in the region, however, they played a role in the downfall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes, another branch of population, founded the unified empire of Media as the regions dominant cultural and political power in c.625 BC. Meanwhile, the Persian dynasty of the Achaemenids formed a state to the central Median power. In c.552 BC, the Achaemenids began a revolution which led to the conquest of the empire by Cyrus II in c.550 BC. They spread their influence to the rest of what is called the Iranian Plateau, at its greatest extent, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from parts of Eastern Europe in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east, making it the largest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenids developed the infrastructure to support their growing influence, including the creation of Pasargadae and its legacy and impact on the kingdom of Macedon was also notably huge, even for centuries after the withdrawal of the Persians from Europe following the Greco-Persian Wars. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, until the Parthian era, the Iranian identity had an ethnic, linguistic, and religious value, however, it did not yet have a political import
29.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
30.
Gogok
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Gobeunok or Gogok are comma-shaped or curved beads and jewels that appeared in prehistoric Korea through the Three Kingdoms period. Gogok is also romanized as kogok and kokkok or kokok. They are also found in Siberia and Northeast Asia, but are most numerous in Japan, although usually made from jadeite which mined in Japan, they have been discovered made from many different materials such as nephrite, stone, clay, bone and glass. They range in size range from 1 to 10 cm, have a hole in the middle of the round part for threading. Used as earrings and necklaces, and as decoration on crowns, belts, some are further decorated with gold or silver attachments. The curved nature of the beads and their similarities to bear claws has led to a theory of Scytho-Siberian influence. In Korea, jade gogok are found at prehistoric sites, throughout the Korean peninsula, nephrite gogok are found inand Bronze Age sites in stone burial chambers. This probably indicates that gogok were symbols of prestige and power buried with the elites of society, the most famous examples of gogok in Korean art are from the Three Kingdoms period, in Silla royal crowns, earrings, necklaces, and belts. These treasures were found in the mounds and royal mausoleums of Silla, Baekje. They declined in use from about the middle of the 6th century, the origin of gogok is contested by archaeologists because these jewels are common in Kofun tombs of Japan, where they are known as magatama. One archaeologist, James Keally, who believes gogok originated in Japan cites the fact that gogok have been reported in Jōmon sites in Tohoku as early as about 1000 BCE, Korea Britannica article Doosan World Encyclopedia article Yahoo Korea Encyclopedia Magatama Crown of Silla List of Korea-related topics
31.
History of Japan
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It is widely accepted that first Human habitation in the Japanese archipelago traced back to prehistoric times. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi in the first millennium BC, during this period, in the first century AD, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han. Between the fourth century and the century, Japans many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government. The imperial dynasty established at this time continues to reign over Japan to this day, in 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō, marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered an age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from time and onwards was a mix of Buddhism. Over the following centuries the power of the Emperor and the imperial court gradually declined and passed to the military clans, the Minamoto clan under Minamoto no Yoritomo emerged victorious from the Genpei War of 1180–85. After seizing power, Yoritomo set up his capital in Kamakura, in 1274 and 1281, the Kamakura shogunate withstood two Mongol invasions, but in 1333 it was toppled by a rival claimant to the shogunate, ushering in the Muromachi period. During the Muromachi period regional warlords called daimyō grew in power at the expense of the shogun, eventually, Japan descended into a period of civil war. Over the course of the sixteenth century, Japan was reunified under the leadership of the daimyō Oda Nobunaga. After Hideyoshis death in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power and was appointed shogun by the Emperor, the Tokugawa shogunate, which governed from Edo, presided over a prosperous and peaceful era known as the Edo period. The Tokugawa shogunate imposed a strict class system on Japanese society, the American Perry Expedition in 1853–54 ended Japans seclusion, this in turn contributed to the fall of the shogunate and the return of power to the Emperor in 1868. The new national leadership of the following Meiji period transformed their isolated, underdeveloped island country into an empire that closely followed Western models and became a world power. Although democracy developed and modern civilian culture prospered during the Taishō period, Japans powerful military had great autonomy, the military invaded Manchuria in 1931, and from 1937 the conflict escalated into a prolonged war with China. Japans attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to war with the United States, Japans forces soon became overextended, but the military held out in spite of Allied air attacks that inflicted severe damage on population centers. Japans unconditional surrender was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 14 August 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Allies occupied Japan until 1952, during which a new constitution was enacted in 1947 that transformed Japan into a constitutional monarchy, after 1955, Japan enjoyed very high economic growth, and became a world economic powerhouse. Since the 1990s, economic stagnation has been a major issue, an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 caused massive economic dislocations and a serious nuclear power disaster
32.
Hangul
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The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul in South Korea and as Chosŏngŭl/Chosŏn Muntcha in North Korea is the alphabet that has been used to write the Korean language since the 15th century. It was created during the Joseon Dynasty in 1443 by King Sejong the Great, in South Korea, Hangul is used primarily to write the Korean language as using Hanja in typical Korean writing had fallen out of common usage during the late 1990s. In its classical and modern forms, the alphabet has 19 consonant and 21 vowel letters, however, instead of being written sequentially like the letters of the Latin alphabet, Hangul letters are grouped into blocks, such as 한 han, each of which transcribes a syllable. That is, although the syllable 한 han may look like a single character, each syllabic block consists of two to six letters, including at least one consonant and one vowel. These blocks are arranged horizontally from left to right or vertically from top to bottom. Each Korean word consists of one or more syllables, hence one or more blocks, of the 11,172 possible Hangul syllables, the most frequent 256 have a cumulative frequency of 88. 2%, with the top 512, it reaches 99. 9%. The modern name Hangul was coined by Ju Sigyeong in 1912, han meant great in archaic Korean, and geul is the native Korean word for script. Taken together, then, the meaning is great script, as the word han had also become one way of indicating Korea as a whole the name could also potentially be interpreted as Korean script. Korean 한글 is pronounced, and in English as /ˈhɑːn. ɡʊl/ or /ˈhɑːŋɡʊl/, when used as an English word, it is often rendered without the diacritics, hangul, and it is often capitalized as Hangul, as it appears in many English dictionaries. Hankul in the Yale romanization, a system recommended for technical linguistic studies, North Koreans call it Chosŏngŭl, after Chosŏn, the North Korean name for Korea. Because of objections to the names Hangeul, Chosŏngŭl, and urigeul by Koreans in China, until the early 20th century, Hangul was denigrated as vulgar by the literate elite, who preferred the traditional hanja writing system. They gave it such names as these, Achimgeul, in the original Hanja, it is rendered as 故智者不終朝而會，愚者可浹旬而學。 Gugmun Eonmun Amgeul. Am is a prefix that signifies a noun is feminine Ahaetgeul or Ahaegeul Hangul was promulgated by Sejong the Great, the Hall of Worthies, a group of scholars who worked with Sejong to develop and refine the new alphabet, is often credited for the work. The project was completed in late December 1443 or January 1444, the publication date of the Hunmin Jeong-eum, October 9, became Hangul Day in South Korea. Its North Korean equivalent, Chosongul Day, is on January 15, various speculations about the creation process were put to rest by the discovery in 1940 of the 1446 Hunmin Jeong-eum Haerye. This document explains the design of the consonant letters according to articulatory phonetics, to assuage this problem, King Sejong created the unique alphabet known as Hangul to promote literacy among the common people. However, it entered popular culture as Sejong had intended, being used especially by women, the late 16th century, however, saw a revival of Hangul, with gasa literature and later sijo flourishing. In the 17th century, Hangul novels became a major genre, by this point spelling had become quite irregular
33.
Hanja
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Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. Borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation, hanja-mal or hanja-eo refers to words that can be written with hanja, and hanmun refers to Classical Chinese writing, although hanja is sometimes used loosely to encompass these other concepts. Because hanja never underwent major reform, they are almost entirely identical to traditional Chinese, only a small number of hanja characters are modified or unique to Korean. By contrast, many of the Chinese characters currently in use in Japan and Mainland China have been simplified, and contain fewer strokes than the corresponding hanja characters. Today, a working knowledge of Chinese characters is still important for anyone who wishes to study older texts. Learning a certain number of hanja is very helpful for understanding the etymology of Sino-Korean words, hanja are not used to write native Korean words, which are always rendered in hangul, and even words of Chinese origin—hanja-eo —are written with the hangul alphabet most of the time. A major motivation for the introduction of Chinese characters into Korea was the spread of Buddhism, the major Chinese text that introduced hanja to Koreans, however, was not a religious text but the Chinese text, Cheonjamun. One way of adapting hanja to write Korean in such systems was to represent native Korean grammatical particles, for example, Gugyeol uses the characters 爲尼 to transcribe the Korean word hăni, in modern Korean, that means does, and so. However, in Chinese, the characters are read as the expression wéi ní. This is an example of Gugyeol words where the radical is read in Korean for its meaning. Hanja was the means of writing Korean until King Sejong the Great promoted the invention of hangul in the 15th century. However, even after the invention of hangul, most Korean scholars continued to write in hanmun and it was not until the 20th century that hangul truly replaced hanja. Officially, hanja has not been used in North Korea since June 1949, additionally, many words borrowed from Chinese have been replaced in the North with native Korean words. However, there are a number of Chinese-borrowed words in widespread usage in the North. The replacement has been less total in South Korea where, although usage has declined over time, some remains in common usage in some contexts. Each hanja is composed of one of 214 radicals plus in most cases one or more additional elements, the vast majority of hanja use the additional elements to indicate the sound of the character, but a few hanja are purely pictographic, and some were formed in other ways. This dual meaning-sound reading of a character is called eumhun, the word or words used to denote the meaning are often—though hardly always—words of native Korean origin, and are sometimes archaic words no longer commonly used. South Korean primary schools abandoned the teaching of hanja in 1971 and it is taught in separate courses in South Korean high schools, separately from the normal Korean-language curriculum
34.
Chinese characters
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Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and some other Asian languages. In Standard Chinese, and sometimes also in English, they are called hànzì. They have been adapted to write a number of languages including, Japanese, where they are known as kanji, Korean, where they are known as hanja. Collectively, they are known as CJK characters, in English, they are sometimes called Han characters. Chinese characters constitute the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world, Chinese characters number in the tens of thousands, though most of them are minor graphic variants encountered only in historical texts. Studies in China have shown that literacy in written Chinese requires a knowledge of between three and four thousand characters. In Japan,2,136 are taught through secondary school, the characters used in Japan are distinct from those used in China in many respects. There are various national standard lists of characters, forms, in South Korea, when Chinese characters are used they are of the traditional variant and are almost identical to those used in places like Taiwan and Hong Kong. In Old Chinese, most words were monosyllabic and there was a correspondence between characters and words. Rather, a character almost always corresponds to a syllable that is also a morpheme. However, there are a few exceptions to this correspondence, including bisyllabic morphemes. Modern Chinese has many homophones, thus the same syllable may be represented by many characters. A single character may also have a range of meanings, or sometimes quite distinct meanings, cognates in the several varieties of Chinese are generally written with the same character. They typically have similar meanings, but often quite different pronunciations and these foreign adaptations of Chinese pronunciation are known as Sino-Xenic pronunciations, and have been useful in the reconstruction of Middle Chinese. When the script was first used in the late 2nd millennium BC, words of Old Chinese were generally monosyllabic, increasing numbers of polysyllabic words have entered the language from the Western Zhou period to the present day. The process has accelerated over the centuries as phonetic change has increased the number of homophones and it has been estimated that over two thirds of the 3,000 most common words in modern Standard Chinese are polysyllables, the vast majority of those being disyllables. The most common process has been to form compounds of existing words, words have also been created by adding affixes, reduplication and borrowing from other languages. Polysyllabic words are written with one character per syllable
35.
Gyeongju National Museum
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The Gyeongju National Museum is a museum in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Its holdings are largely devoted to relics of the Silla kingdom, the museum is located immediately adjacent to the royal tomb complex, in an area which also includes the Gyerim forest, Cheomseongdae observatory, Banwolseong palace, and Anapji Pond. The museum was first founded in 1945 as the Gyeongju Branch of National Museum of Korea, the main building of the museum was built in 1968. The museum was upgraded as Gyeongju National Museum in 1975 and has been under expansion since then, the museum contains important items of national cultural heritage. They include the Emille Bell, which is said to ring with the sound of a child who was sacrificed for its casting, there are several Silla crowns in the museums collection. The museum also holds many artifacts excavated from Anapji Pond and artifacts excavated from the Hwangnyongsa Temple site, many holdings are displayed outdoors, a common practice in Korean museums. The Gyeongju National Museum has maintained a research department for decades. This role has lessened with the onset of government-funded buried cultural heritage research centres across Korea since the mid-1990s, tourism in Gyeongju List of museums Official website
36.
National Museum of Korea
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The National Museum of Korea is the flagship museum of Korean history and art in South Korea and is the cultural organization that represents Korea. A poll of nearly 2,000 foreign visitors, conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in November 2011 and it is one of the largest museums in Asia. Emperor Sunjong established Koreas first museum, the Imperial Household Museum, during the Korean War, the 20,000 of the museums pieces were safely moved to Busan to avoid destruction. When the museum returned to Seoul after the war, it was housed at both Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung Palace, in 1972, the museum moved again to a new building on the grounds of the Gyeonbokgung Palace. The museum was moved again in 1986 to the Jungangcheong, the former Japanese General Government Building, in October 2005, the museum opened in a new building in Yongsan Family Park in Seoul, South Korea. The museum is situated on used to be a golf course that was part of the Yongsan Garrison. The US Army returned a part of the land in 1992 to the Korean government, while the plans for the museum inside the park began in 1993, its opening was delayed repeatedly by a helipad, which was eventually relocated in 2005 by agreement. The museum contains over 310,000 pieces in its collection with about 15,000 pieces on display at one time and it is the sixth largest museum in the world in terms of floor space, now covering a total of 295,551 square metres. In order to protect the artifacts inside the museum, the building was built to withstand a magnitude 6.0 Richter Scale earthquake. The display cases are equipped with shock-absorbent platforms, there is also an imported natural lighting system which utilizes sunlight instead of artificial lights and a specially designed air-conditioning system. The museum is made from fire-resistant materials. The museum also has special exhibition halls, education facilities, a museum, huge outdoor exhibition areas, restaurants, cafes. The museum is divided into three floors, symbolically, the left of the museum is supposed to represent the past, while the right side of the museum represents the future. The ground floor contains parks, gardens of plants, waterfalls and pools, and a collection of pagodas, stupas, lanterns. On the first floor is the Prehistory and Ancient History Gallery, artifacts from important prehistoric sites and settlements such the Bangudae Petroglyphs and Songgung-ni are found in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Rooms. Also on the first floor is the Medieval and Early Modern History Gallery, which showcases the cultural and historical heritage throughout the Unified Silla, Balhae, Goryeo, and Joseon periods. The eight rooms of the include the Unified Silla Room, Balhae Room, Goryeo Room. The second floor contains the Donation Gallery and the Calligraphy and Painting Gallery, the Calligraphy and Painting Gallery is divided into four rooms, the Painting Room, the Calligraphy Room, the Buddhist Paintings Room, and the Sarangbang
37.
Jade
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Jade is an ornamental green rock. The middle member of series with an intermediate composition is called actinolite. The higher the content, the greener the colour. Jadeite is a sodium- and aluminium-rich pyroxene, the precious form of jadeite jade is a microcrystalline interlocking growth of jadeite crystals. The English word jade is derived from the Spanish term piedra de ijada or loin stone, from its reputed efficacy in curing ailments of the loins, nephrite is derived from lapis nephriticus, a Latin translation of the Spanish piedra de ijada. Nephrite and jadeite were used from prehistoric periods for hardstone carving, jadeite has about the same hardness as quartz. Nephrite is slightly softer but tougher than jadeite and it was not until the 19th century that a French mineralogist, Alexis Damour, determined that jade was in fact two different minerals. Among the earliest known jade artifacts excavated from prehistoric sites are simple ornaments with bead, button, additionally, jade was used for adze heads, knives, and other weapons, which can be delicately shaped. As metal-working technologies became available, the beauty of jade made it valuable for ornaments and decorative objects. Jadeite measures between 6.0 and 7.0 Mohs hardness, and nephrite between 6.0 and 6.5, so it can be worked with quartz or garnet sand, of the two, jadeite is rarer, documented in fewer than 12 places worldwide. Translucent emerald-green jadeite is the most prized variety, both historically and today, Burma and Guatemala are the principal sources of modern gem jadeite. In the area of Mogaung in the Myitkyina District of Upper Burma, jadeite formed a layer in the dark-green serpentine, Canada provides the major share of modern lapidary nephrite. Nephrite jade was used mostly in pre-1800 China as well as in New Zealand, the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic Coast of North America, Neolithic Europe, in addition to Mesoamerica, jadeite was used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures. Dushan Jade was being mined as early as 6000 BC, in the Yin Ruins of the Shang Dynasty in Anyang, Dushan Jade ornaments were unearthed in the tomb of the Shang kings. Jade was used to create many utilitarian and ceremonial objects, from indoor decorative items to jade burial suits, Jade was considered the imperial gem. There, white and greenish nephrite jade is found in quarries and as pebbles. The river jade collection is concentrated in the Yarkand, the White Jade, jadeite, with its bright emerald-green, pink, lavender, orange and brown colours was imported from Burma to China only after about 1800. The vivid green variety became known as Feicui or Kingfisher Jade, in the history of the art of the Chinese empire, jade has had a special significance, comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West
38.
Korean art
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Korean arts include traditions in calligraphy, music, painting and pottery, often marked by the use of natural forms, surface decoration and bold colors or sounds. The earliest examples of Korean art consist of stone age works dating from 3000 BC and these mainly consist of votive sculptures and more recently, petroglyphs, which were rediscovered. This early period was followed by the art styles of various Korean kingdoms, Korean artists sometimes modified Chinese traditions with a native preference for simple elegance, spontaneity, and an appreciation for purity of nature. The Goryeo Dynasty was one of the most prolific periods for a range of disciplines. The Korean art market is concentrated in the Insadong district of Seoul where over 50 small galleries exhibit, galleries are cooperatively run, small and often with curated and finely designed exhibits. In every town there are smaller regional galleries, with artists showing in traditional. Art galleries usually have a mix of media, attempts at bringing Western conceptual art into the foreground have usually had their best success outside of Korea in New York, San Francisco, London and Paris. An art given birth to and developed by a nation is its own art, humans have occupied the Korean Peninsula from at least c.50,000 BC. Pottery dated to approximately 7,000 BC has been found and this pottery was made from clay and fired over open or semi-open pits at temperatures around 700 degrees Celsius. The earliest pottery style, dated to circa 7,000 BC, were flat-bottomed wares were decorated with designs, raised horizontal lines. Jeulmun-type pottery, is typically cone-bottomed and incised with a comb-pattern appearing circa 6,000 BC in the archaeological record and this type of pottery is similar to Siberian styles. Mumun-type pottery emerged approximately 2000 BC and is characterized as large, undecorated pottery, mostly used for cooking, between 2000 BC and 300 BC bronze items began to be imported and made in Korea. By the seventh century BC, an indigenous culture was established in Korea as evidenced by Korean bronze having a unique percentage of zinc. Items manufactured during this time were weapons such as swords, daggers, also, ritual items such as mirrors, bells, and rattles were made. These items were buried in dolmens with the cultural elite, additionally, iron-rich red pots began to be created around circa 6th century. Comma-shaped beads, usually made from nephrite, known as kokkok have also found in dolmen burials. Kokkok may be carved to imitate bear claws, another Siberian influence can be seen in rock drawings of animals that display a life line in the X-ray style of Siberian art. The Iron Age began in Korea around 300 BC, Korean iron was highly valued in the Chinese commanderies and in Japan
