KOREA INTRODUCING

By: ISB Korean Parent Community

Korea uses its own language, and the alphabet uses Hangul, a unique character created by King Sejong (1397-1450) of the Joseon Dynasty. It is scientifically evaluated as an excellent character in that it can record a very large number of speech sounds by combining 24 consonants and vowels.

Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul was built in the Joseon Dynasty, but inherited the tradition of the Goryeo Dynasty palace and was built at the foot of a mountain in accordance with the natural topography. As a great historical heritage with Biwon, a traditional Korean garden, Nakseonjae, located in the palace, retains the beauty of traditional hanok and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Located in Mt. Toham, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Seokguram Grotto was completed in 774 as a representative stone cave temple of the Unified Silla Period. It is a work of excellent sculpting technique and is designed so that the light of the sun rising over the East Sea penetrates deep into Seokguram Grotto and illuminates the Buddha’s forehead.

Built at the same time as Seokguram Grotto, Bulguksa Temple has an excellent overall layout, and Dabotap and Seokgatap towers standing side by side in the front yard of Daeungjeon stand out in particular. Both pagodas express the Silla style, but Seokgatap is simple, while Dabotap is sophisticated and splendid.

The Haeinsa Tripitaka Koreana and Jekyungpan are also known as the Tripitaka Koreana because the number of Buddhist scriptures engraved on wood for 15 years from 1236 during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) is 81,258 in total. It is a valuable world cultural heritage.