Language

The language grammar and vocabulary are in some ways similar to Japanese; the structure differs. Dialects are regional; differing mainly in accent, but are so similar that comprehension for speakers, or listeners, is not an issue. Key difference in dialect are also attributed to social status. Korea has one of the highest literacy rates in the world due to the phonetic nature of the written language which was invented in the mid-fifteenth century to give one language to Koreans.

Beliefs

The spiritual ground and beliefs of Koreans are built mainly around the religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Christianity. Of these, especially Confucianism has a long record of influence in Korea, and its political and social philosophies can still clearly be seen in today’s Korea. However, Buddhism and Christianity are also highly visible in the society where the Buddhist South Koreans account for 46% of the population and a lot of the areas in South Korea that are listed as world heritage sites are Buddhist temples. For example, the concept of hierarchy in Korea comes from Confucianism. The hierarchy is built based on a person’s age, job status, education level, and general social rank. Thanks to Confucianism, a lot of emphasis is put upon respecting one’s elders and ancestors.

Traditions And Customs

There are two major holidays in South Korea every year: Lunar New Year’s Day (설날, seollal) in January-February and Korean Thanksgiving (추석) in September-October. Both holidays are celebrated together with family, with respecting ancestors, certain holiday foods, and family games playing a big part of the day. These are all part of the Korean traditions and customs.

One of the most important parts of 설날, both traditionally and today, is to perform a ritual called 세배 (sebae). In it, the whole family, dressed in 한복, performs a deep traditional bow, while wishing for the year to bring in a lot of luck. For food, it is normal to eat rice cake soup, savory pancakes, and stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables.

On 추석, on the other hand, it is 차례 (charye), an ancestral memorial rite, that is the most important part of the holiday. It involves a whole lot of preparation in order to create a table of offerings, and on the table will also be two candles at the edges, an incense holder in the middle, and the memorial tablet, symbolizing the spiritual presence of the ancestors, at the very center.

Korean dance

Based on Korean history, dances in Korea were formed as a part of shamanistic rituals, an impressive five thousand years ago. Over time and the different dynasties, varieties of folk dances have evolved from these ritualistic dances. There were more than 12 types of dances that were popular to perform in the court in front of royals, for example. Some of the most popular and common traditional dances, well-known even today, are as follows:

탈춤 (talchum) = a dance performed while wearing a mask 가인전목단 (gainjeonmokdan) = a calm dance where a vase of flowers is placed at the center of the stage and the dancers will dance around the vase, picking out flowers from the vase 농악 (nongak) = an energetic dance including also drums 부채춤 (buchaechum) = a fan dance.

Korean Painting

Painting is a type of art that has been a part of Korean culture since prehistoric times. In its earliest form, Korean painting was a form of rock art, where images were created by carving out parts of a rock surface. Once Buddhism arrived in Korea, new painting techniques were introduced, quickly becoming the common and popular way to paint. This includes, for example, calligraphy.

Korean Folk Music

Korean folk music is typically referred to as 판소리 (pansori), which has even been designated as an intangible cultural property by UNESCO. Pansori is performed by one singer and one drummer. Some pansori songs also include dancers and/or narrators. Another type of folk music is 풍물 (pungmul), which involves drumming, singing and dancing; it is traditionally called 농악, which has been mentioned above.

Korean Pottery

The history of pottery and ceramics in Korea goes back thousands of years. The dominant ingredient used in Korean pottery and its style have changed over the dynasties (Goryeo dynasty to Joseon), ranging from coils and clay to pottery, to porcelain. Korean ceramics have also had a strong influence on shaping Japanese ceramics.

Korean Traditional Homes

A traditional Korean home is called 한옥 (hanok). It was thought that they cannot be built on any random spot, but the site to build the house on needs to be carefully selected. In detail this means that the houses should be built against a hill so that they’d receive as much sunlight as possible; a way of thinking that is still shared in modern Korea as well.

For heating, 온돌 (ondol) was used. 온돌 means floor heating. It has been in use in Korea since prehistoric times, and it is still the main form of heating today, in modern apartments as well, typically heated up using gas.