Art of Korea

• Korean art uses similar concepts of both Chinese and Japanese art, but gives it simplicity and spontaneity, together with a feeling of harmony with nature.
• Korean masks were used in war by both soldiers and their horses; for burial rites and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in ritual dances, as well as courtly, and theatrical plays.
• The masks offered freedom for performers to anonymously express their criticisms of powerful local people, such as members of aristocracy or the Buddhist monastic hierarchy.
• Talchum is a Korean dance performed while wearing a mask, miming, speaking, and even sometimes singing.
• Talchum is a regional term that refers to dances of Hwanghae provice in North Korea.
• Talchum plots include the frustrations felt by the lower classes towards the Confucian literati Yangban, due to the latter’s treatment of the commoners.
• Sandae noli are Korean dances from the Seoul or Gyeonggi province region.
• Themes of Talchum include exorcism rites, ritual dances, satire, parody of human weaknesses, social evils, and the privileged class.
• Korean Calligraphy is the Korean tradition of artistic writing in Hangul (Korean alphabet) or Hanja (Chinese characters).
• Traditional Korean calligraphy is created with a soft and flexible brush with strokes that change in broadness and speed, on a white sheet of paper.
• Basic Tools in Calligraphy include a brush, paper, ink stick, and inkstone.
• Hanja Calligraphy is the practice of writing in Chinese characters adapted to and incorporated into Korean language, which has been practiced in Korea for more than a thousand years, and was knowledge that the wealthy and educated prided themselves with.
• Hangul Calligraphy uses the alphabet where each letter represents a sound, and only flourished relatively recently due to its simplicity.
• Hangul is considered a script for the uneducated lower class and women.
• Hwajeopdo (Pictures of flowers and butterflies) are Korean paintings influenced by Chinese paintings, usually depicting landscapes, facial features, and Buddhist topics.
• In Korean paintings, mountains and water are important features because they are sites for building temples.
• Landscape painting in Korean paintings represents a portrayal of nature itself.
• Korean drama or K-drama refers to televised dramas in the Korean language, made in South Korea, mostly in a miniseries format that are set in contemporary times or in historical settings (sageuk).
• K-dramas can be romantic comedies and action series to fusion science fiction dramas.
• Korean art uses similar concepts of both Chinese and Japanese art, but gives it simplicity and spontaneity, together with a feeling of harmony with nature.
• Korean masks were used in war by both soldiers and their horses; for burial rites and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in ritual dances, as well as courtly, and theatrical plays.