Lotte World Folk Museum

Hi there team. I am going to keep on with the history theme that seems to have started on this blog for the moment. I managed to get in and see the Lotte World Folk Museum, which is located on the third floor of the Lotte Department Store complex in Jamsil in Seoul, and is basically the entrance to the Lotte World theme park area. I made my mind up last week that I would do it today so after finishing my teaching job for the day at 12pm, I took myself up on that plan.

And it was a good thing I did.

I say that because even though the actual area of the museum is small, there was enough scenery, situation, and scent to give a really good feeling to the museum and its ideal of providing a small yet solid depiction of the history of Korea.

It really did start right at the entrance to the museum. It was like you were walking into a temple, with the initial set depicting a type of Korean architecture that is common place amongst the many temples and shrines in Korea. Admittedly I am unsure of the era of the architecture involved, yet I must say that it did appear to have what looked like a strong chinese influence.

But hehehe thats about the only Chinese stuff you are likely to see in the museum. The entrance being done away, the path then leads on to a rather solid insite into Korean history through the use of model, act, and visual.

The museum is pretty much divided up into sections. You have a Traditional Wedding Hall, a historic exhibition hall, a miniature village, a performance hall and a Jeojagori where you can sample some delightful Korean traditional food.

The Jeojagori is pretty much the first place most people in the museum tend to encounter when they first come in. It is pretty much divided up into four sections, named Songpa, Jumak, Seokchon, and Mongcheon. Each of these sections contains food that is said to be representative of the food eaten in Korea during the Joseon Period, a period which lasted for 5 centuries from the year 1392 to 1910, when the Japanese entered Korea and pretty much colonised it.

You know what team, I honestly believe that there would have been many fat people in Korea in this time. Do you know why I feel this ??? Well, if the food I was able to look at today was any indication, people would have eaten so much of it because it was so damn good !!!!!! Many Korean specialities that are around today were the staple of the diet back then, and these included well known Korean favourites such as Bulgogi, Octopus jeon-gol ( a type of Octopus soup ), Spiced soup with room, Pajeon ( a kind of pancake ), a traditional Korean alcoholic drink named Makkeoli, Bibimbap ( rice and veg ), spicy bean soup, cold noodle soup, and Samgyetang ( Ginseng Chicken Soup ).

Now thats a feast that is sure fit for a king let me tell ya !!!

After leaving the sweet scents and aromas of the Jeojagori, I ventured through to the traditional wedding area of the museum. I must say I was quite interested to see the various exhibits pertaining to the customs and culture of a traditional Korean wedding, especially as I was able to witness an enactment of one. A traditional Korean wedding is not too disimilar from a western wedding, yet has quite a few little intricate differences that really do set it apart.

Back in historic ages, the wedding was generally held at the brides house, with the groom coming over to pick up the bride and take her back to his parents house, where they would live together. The wedding costumes would be very traditional in nature, and the grooms family would carry a chest of gifts to the brides family. Both the man and woman would wear what is called a Jeogori, which is a form of wedding jacket, special headware, and Hanbok, the traditional Korean dress.

Aside from special clothing and costumes, the Korean Wedding also shares what you could say was a set procession for things to happen. It was generally common practice that the bridegroom would arrive first, and would of course be followed by the bride. Both would reach the altar where I do believe it was a buddhist priest would perform the ceremony. The next thing to happen would be the offering of a goose, as a sign of good luck for the married couple. Traditional wedding bows would then take place, and there would be a kind of toast to celebrate the wedding. The final act would be of course the procession out of the house as newlyweds off to lead their new lives.

Just as I decided to head off to the main exhibition hall hehehe. This part of the museum was quite visual and stimulating indeed.

The Hall is pretty much divided into 7 different little subsections, each little sub talking about a different part of Korea's history.

You have the prehistoric room where you can see exhibits displaying life from the caveman period, caves, huts, the making of bronze and relics from this time. You can then go to the Goguryeo and Baekje rooms, where you will see tomb relics, early buddhist exhibits, and tomb relics from the King Muryeong period. Heading into the Gaya room, you can early exhibits of Korean iron and pottery development, much of which would eventually be used in Goryeo pottery, a famed Korean pottery set. In the Silla room, you can see an exhibit for the Daewangnam Rock, which is said to be the underwater tomb for King Minmu. You can also see Sokkuram Cave Temple, and also meet up with an exhibit of Queen Sundeok. Heading from the Silla room to the Goryeo Room, where you can see exhibits of the pottery making and metal fabricating that took place in Goryeo era, said to be a proud era for Koreans. Another great thing to see here is the Goryeo Tripitaka, often referred to as the corner stone of the development of Korean buddhism.

Its from here that you can pretty leave the main hall and go into the Miniature Village room. The miniature village has over 2000 little characters set up over 43 different scenes. You can see the model scale depicting life in the joseon dynasty, showing such things as Royal Court proceedings, Harvesting, Kimchi making, Sacrifices, Funerals, weddings and even a 60th birthday !!!!! hehehe ... got to have a little celebration huh !!!!

So there you have it team. Lotte World Folk village really has gone to great lengths to give people a great insite into the history of Korea. You can also pick up lots of souvenirs when there. I saw some wonderful little things that really are great depictions of Korea. I even bought a museum T-Shirt hehehe ! Seriously team, if you want to see some wonderful Korean history, you really should check out the Lotte World Folk Museum. You will not be disappointed.

You can check it out here

http://www.lotteworld.com/

Come on team. Do it. You know you want to. ;)