National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea The term chiljang refers to the craftsman who creates lacquerware by applying lacquer -- or the refined sap of lacquer trees (Rhus verniciflua) -- to various objects. The first trace of lacquer use dates back to the third century BCE, but the earliest relics of lacquerware date back to the first century BCE. Lacquerware began to develop into an art form during the Nangnang (Lelang) Period and progressed further in the Silla Kingdom. In the Goryeo Dynasty, lacquered works were decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay, creating a new art form called najeon chilgi. In the Joseon Dynasty, lacquerware became more common, and many works were produced. The state compiled data on the distribution of lacquer trees nationwide and collected the sap from these trees. Lacquer craftsmen working in the capital and in the provinces were affiliated with their local government offices. The raw lacquer from the trees had to be refined before it could be used, and lacquer craftsmen would do the refining themselves. The refining process removes impurities and creates a fine particle liquid. Creating lacquer works is a long, laborious process. The item to be lacquered, called soji, had to be made of materials that are easy to work with and to paint, including wood, bamboo, cloth, paper, clay, and metal. First the object is smoothed down, and then the lacquer is built up in many coats, requiring lacquering, smoothing, and drying over and over again. Basically, the process is divided into three steps: chochil (first lacquering), jungchil (middle lacquering), and sangchil (final lacquering). After the final coat, the object is vigorously polished.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Geumsok Hwaljajang refers to the skill of making metal printing type and printing books with it, or to an artisan with such a skill. The world’s first metal printing type was made during the Goryeo Period (877 – 1394). A reprinted version of a book Nammyeong Cheon hwasangsong jeungdoga (Song of Enlightenment with Commentaries by Buddhist Monk Nammyeong) printed with metal type in Gaegyeong after the Goryeo Dynasty relocated the capital to Ganghwado in 1232 (the 19th year of the reign of King Gojong) is still extant. The printing of Sangjeong yemun (Detailed and Authentic Codes of Ritual and Etiquette) with metal type tells us that the skill had developed earlier. During the Joseon Period (1392 – 1910), metal printing type was improved, with the central government offices playing a leading role. In Korea, metal type was made with a forging technique. The production process is composed of four stages, cutting out letter patterns, making prototypes, forging and finishing. There are two kinds of metal type production, depending on forging techniques used. These are lost-wax casting, which was chiefly used at the beginning, and sand casting, which was commonly used after the introduction of Chojugabinja which was the first metal type, during the reign of King Sejong in 1434. Metal printing type is a work of comprehensive art made with a combination of many diverse skills and techniques that display the ingenuity of Koreans.

The national dress for men is Gho and Kira for women. Gho is a one-piece outfit pulled up to knee-length and fastened with a belt called kera at the waist, leading to formation of an enormous pouch across the belly. Men’s belt is a striped hand woven textile using plain cotton or wool on a card loom. It has fringes at both the ends. Kira is a rectangular ankle-length robe wrapped around the body, tied at the waist with a wide woven belt, and fastened at the shoulders by a pair of shoulder brooches called koma. A necklace-like chain called the jabtha holds together the pair of koma. Jabtha also makes an attractive ornament. Women’s kera is made of cotton woven on card looms with intricate silk designs of varying colours. Elderly women wear the broad kera in three folds. The female kera has also fringes at both the ends. The weft thread used is commonly thicker than the base fabric used. Women also wear a toego (short, loose jacket) over the kira. Toego can be made from any kind of material and be in any colour. Women also wear a garment called wonju under the kira. Commonly made from silk or polyester, the wonju is a loose, wrap-over long-sleeved blouse. The semi-nomadic herders of the high valleys of Merak, Sakten and Laya and some other ethnic communities do not traditionally wear the gho and kira. They have a unique dress, lifestyle and language, and their own weaving specialty. In an effort to preserve and promote cultural heritage, all Bhutanese are required to wear the national dress in government offices, schools and on formal occasions. Necklace: Traditionally, a necklace is also a part of the costume of a Bhutanese woman, and a woman who is not wearing a necklace is considered to be incompletely attired. Therefore, women make it a point to wear necklaces, especially during celebrative occasions. When a woman is dressing, she puts on her necklace at the very end, to complete the outfit. Necklaces of precious stones are passed down from mother to daughter. A traditional Bhutanese necklace consists of a string of beads of various stones such as coral, turquoise, onyx, pearl, agate, and many more. The necklace may reach almost to the waist. If the woman is very rich and possesses many precious stones, she will choose to wear more than one necklace at a time. Since public gatherings and celebrative occasions provide formal platforms for display of wealth and/or position in society, women make it a point to wear as much as they possess. Sword For hundreds of years Bhutan suffered from territorial invasion as well as internal strife and civil war, challenges which were countered by our pazaps (militia), and senior officials. In earlier times, those who performed well in battle were awarded a sword in recognition of their show of courage, valour and success. Once the monarchy was established those officials who served the king and the country with utmost dedication and patriotic zeal were awarded pata (sword) and red scarf (bura marp) in recognition of their selfless service. Awarding kabney along with pata is, therefore, the sole prerogative of the monarch. The awardee is then addressed as a ‘Drasho’, which literally means ‘the best’ as they are exemplary people. Therefore, this award symbolises secular responsibility — the preparedness to fight any enemy harming the interest of the Tsa-wa-sum (the king, the country, and the people) and to safeguard the country and its cultural traditions. Kabney When Gautama Buddha administered vinaya rules at the first sermon, the five chief disciples first wore kabney as a mark of respect to the Buddha. Later, when Guru Rinpoche (Guru Padsambhava) visited Bumthang in the 8th century and sowed the seeds of faith in the dharma, he instructed people not to take the lives of others, and gave ge-nyen vows (vow of lay devotee). He instructed his devotees to wear rezen or kabney as a sign of their having become followers of Buddhism or taking precepts. While dharma practitioners wore red coloured kabney as a mark of following the dharma teachings, ordinary people wore white coloured kabney as a mark of safeguarding the country — their secular duty. Today, we wear kabney as a part of our national dress in accordance with the code of driglam namzha. The smaller scarf worn by women is called rachu. Kabney is a large, fringed scarf (about 90 by 300 cm), which is worn with one half placed over the left shoulder and the other half drawn across the back, below the right arm and across the body, then caught in a loop made by folding the lower part of the left end over it and then throwing the left end over the left shoulder. When the kabney is correctly placed, the right side should loop down at equal level to the hem of the gho, and the two sides should come together at the left breast. There is considerable variation in how the kabney is actually worn, but what is written here describes how it should be worn. Bhutanese at all social levels wear kabney as a part of formal wear along with the national dress, gho. Wearing kabney marks respect for sacred objects and higher authorities, and symbolises the position or rank of officers serving in the government. Scarves worn by women in place of the male kabney are called rachu. These much smaller, colourful, decoratively woven scarves can be worn draped over both shoulders with the two fringed edges falling from the chest, or can be folded in half and placed over the left shoulder with the fringes falling from the chest. Women in general wear rachu by making a fold in the centre and placing the rachu over the left shoulder. Besides kabney and rachu, there are other variants used by religious practitioners. Those worn by lams and monks are called zen or rezen and the one worn over their rezen is called choe-gho. The rezen is worn all the time over the robe but the choe-gho is worn only during special religious occasions. Similarly, the one worn by ngagpas (tantric practitioners) is called ber or dagam; and the one used by togdenpas (adepts) is called rey or rekar and khamar. Kabney and rachu are worn to pay respect to sublime masters or leaders, and to sacred objects enshrined in the dzongs, monasteries and temples. They are also worn as a symbol of official position. The colour of the kabney determines the official rank of the bearer. Traditional Boot Bhutan’s traditional footwear is a kind of boot worn as high as the knee, the upper, cloth part of which is then held and tied by a narrow strap below the knee. Dra-lham, thru-lham karchung and tshoglham are three different types of traditional footwear and form an important part of Bhutanese national costume. Dra-lham are worn by the senior monks in the monasteries. They are similar to tshoglham but red in colour. Thru-lham karchung derives its name from the white colour of the ben (section just above the ankle) which is highly visible from a distance. The traditional boot worn by the general public is called tshoglham. The thil or sole of the boot used to be made from hard leather, but these days tshoglham usually have rubber soles. Above the sole, two layers of red and white leather (or rubber) make the drilden. Above the drilden is the ri karchu, on which comes the ben in different colours. The ben, is yellow, orange, red, blue or green according to the official position of the wearer. Yellow ben is reserved only for the king and the head abbot (the Je Khenpo); orange is for ministers, red is for senior officials, blue is for members of parliament (both houses) and green is for the general public. The cloth part above the ben is generally black or blue silk brocade. It is mandatory to wear thru-lham or tshoglham as a part of formal national dress during any formal occasions.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Jeongak (literally “elegant orthodox music”) refers to music played at the Royal Palace, government offices, and local places where people of refined tastes gathered together. As one of the three bamboo instruments developed during the Silla Period (57 BC - 935 AD), i.e., daegeum (large-sized bamboo flute), junggeum (medium-sized bamboo flute), and sogeum (small-sized bamboo flute), Daegeum is the longest among the traditional transverse flutes of the country. It has the emboucher hole at the right end, a buzzing membrane made of inner skin of reed that gives it a special timber, and six holes. Since it makes a wider range of sound than other instruments, it is used as a leading solo instrument. Daegeum-played jeongak covers all kinds of formal ceremonial music, which are all ensembles. It is not known when they started to be played solo. The titles of the pieces of music played by daegeum include Cheongseong Jajinhanip, Pyeongjo Hoesang, and Jajinhanip. Melodies made by Daegeum Jeongak sound delicate but not light, soft but not feeble, and fragile but not shallow.