One thing that Korea does which is interesting is identify and rank their cultural treasures.

That means that when you are looking at something ancient you also can know just how significant it is because it is ranked!

Actually, I am just being smarmy. I think it is quite admirable that the country has done something of an inventory of its treasures, though I shudder to consider the politics that must be involved.

I've seen a lot since I've been here and I have been keeping something of an informal list of which of the national treasures I have seen, an additional numbering system I suppose. Maybe I should submit my own enumeration of the treasures.

There really are too many to list at this point, Seoul has quite a number of the top treasures. Naedaemun gate is numero uno, right in the center of the city and very striking as surrounded by modern, glass and steel sleekness. The Main Buddha Hall (Daeungjeon) at Jogyesa is "Seoul City's Local tangible cultural propoerty No. 127". I visited there a few weeks ago (forgetting my camera of course) and it is spectacular. I am going to go back and will post pictures. That is, if you take pictures. It is an active Buddhist shrine, so I don't know what the picture rules are in fact. I wouldn't want to tread on someone's shrine.

There is a Lacebark Pine tree in front of the temple there that is 520 years old. That is National Treasure No. 9. Pretty high up, but I have to say that if I didn't know that it was #9 I probably would not have noticed it. There are more interesting trees around to the uninitated.

The Korean National Museum, which is a gargantuan and terrific museum and a striking building as well (and which I will come back to discuss at some point), is filled with all manner of national treasures that I enjoyed seeing.

For instance, there was a very large Buddhist bell from 1038 that was national treasure #1166 and a pagoda stele for Seon Master Wollang Seonsa from the astounding year of 890 that is national treasure no 360.

My favorite national treasure on display might be what is labeled "the world's oldest existing print from woodblock" which is from the 8th century. This is national treasure no 126. Under that, the label reads "replica".

I felt like that kind of defeats the purpose of labeling it "the world's oldest existing print from woodblock" since it actually isn't even close as a replica, but nobody asked me.

Then last night, while talking with the Fulbright ethnomusicologist I was really interested to learn that Korea also ranks its intangible cultural treasures, such as musicians, artists, even martial artists. She in fact studied with someone in line to be an intangible cultural treasure once the original one goes to his or her reward. There is a formal system of designation, renumeration, and tutelage. Fantastic!

We have something similar in the US, with an NEA led folk masters apprentice program, but this is quite a bit more formalized and institutionalized. I also think it is reflective of fierce national pride as well as an interest in preserving the traditional arts. It has been around since 1962. Built into the system are funds so living masters can pass on their skills to the next generation. You can read some about it here and read the Korean updated law (in English) here and finally here you can read an academic paper on the subject, with the great academic title "Inventory Making Methodology for the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding: Korea's Experiences and Challenges" from a conference with a similarly great name: "Sub-Regional Experts Meeting in Asia on Intangible Cultural Heritage: Safeguarding and Inventory-Making Methodologies" held in Bangkok in 2005.

And, yes, of course, it turns out this has been literally, global news since the UN has been involved in effort of safeguarding intangible cultural properties for a few years, (although as the author on this page, Michael F. Brown, argues "Nevertheless, living cultures cannot be reduced to diagrams on a printed page or data on a CD. They are unlikely to benefit greatly from the ministrations of technocrats who are redefining cultural survival as a vast exercise in information management.")

And, yes, of course, there is a whole scholarly literature on this of which I have hitherto been totally unaware.

There is a quite extensive Williams College website called "Who Owns Native Culture" with a huge number of resources here (one work is available free on google books which compares US and Japanese cultural policy can be viewed here). There is even an International Journal of Cultural Property.


It never ceases to amaze me exactly how little I actually know about...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

CHAOS WASHING MACHINES