Thngs to do in Seoul, Part 4: The National Museum

The National Museum

***The Archaelogical Gallery

“There’s too much stuff there. After a while you just think, ‘It’s another broken cup. Great.’ "

My friend’s take is a rather popular way of seeing the National Museum. Six wings large, the permanent collection is quite imposing and not something that can be seen in full, even in a 10-hour day.

But you don't have to see all of it--the price is right. (See subsequent post.)

And besides, if you like broken cups, and rusted iron swords, the archaelogical wing can't be beat. When I went there I found myself learning about not only Korean history, but history of the world. The evolution of societies from stone to metal was reinforced in well-translated English; the examples were purely Korean, illustrating the change from period to period with "broken cups" and "rusted swords."

Most of my three trips (timeline detailed infra) were spent in this gallery, and I learned much of the Three Kingdoms, the Goreyo period (from which Korea gets its Western name), Unified Silla, and the ever-well-represented Joseong kingdom.

Of the five other hallowed halls of this museum, I have only explored two, due to the time constraints. (Three trips totalling roughly eight hours.)

***Historical Gallery

It has history. Lots of it. Sadly when I went the Hageul wing was closed, prohibiting me from learning about one of the world’s most recently invented languages. However there were numerous other exhibits, including a temporary exhibition about the “Tea-Horse Road,” a road traveled by Tibetans to central China to exchange their legendary horses for fine tea.

Most of what I saw was on my way out the door (it was nearly closing time), so now I’ll move on to something I saw in much greater detail:

*** Second Fine Arts Gallery

The buddhist art inside the Second Fine Arts Gallery is fantastic. Fantastic. Fantastic.

The collection is expansive but inclusive, from two-inch undetailed sculptures created during buddhism's prohibition to larger-than-life stone bodhisattvas, there is no better place (even my beloved Buddhist Art Museum) to explore Korean buddhist art.

The presentation of the works cannot be matched. I've strolled through museums too open to feel as though you were seeing anything; more commonly, I've felt overwhelmed by the amount of information surrounding me (as is easy to do in historical museums). Rarely, however, have I stepped through a narrow hall to revere a singular sculpture in meticulous lighting and feel my jaw drop.

That explanation of my sensation does little justice to the Pensive Bodhissatva that occupies his own room in the National Museum. The playful downcast look and detailed sculpting justifies its inclusion in the expansive National Treasure collection but it was the museum’s tasteful presentation that took its viewing up another step, to a truly emotional and memorable experience.

***Best part about the museum.

IT'S FREE MOST OF THE YEAR. I forget the exact dates, something like April to October, but most of the year, it is free. During the heat and torrential downpours of summer I don't really care to be outside anyway.

Things to do in Seoul, Part 3: The Chicken Art Museum (One of Five Small Museums)

Last post I mentioned that, to my knowledge, the only place you can see multiple full-size canvas depictions of kim chi is in the Kim Chi Museum.

Now I would like to introduce an entire floor of chickens.

Live chickens? No, silly. Chicken art.

You see, chickens are birds of honor. Chicken sculptures are affixed to coffins in funerary processions and are thought to help bring the soul to the afterlife, like crows in other mythologies.

Roosters (the Korean language does not distinguish between male and female) furthermore are seen as very noble, feeding and defending their hen and young.

And now I reiterate: An entire floor of chicken art, complete with (excellent) English-speaking personal guide awaits you. But where?

Where, you ask, can one find this beautiful display? An elusive corner of the imposingly large (but worthwhile as I will explain) National Museum? An art district?

No. (But the art district guess was close.)

In—wait for it—The Chicken Art Museum.

The Chicken Art Museum is one of five small private museums near Bukchon (hanok village near Insa-dong) which sell “one pass tickets.” The tickets are good for quite some time (weeks or was it a month?) and are quite cheap (10 or maybe 15 thousand won—under 15 bucks).

Besides the Chicken Art, there is the Embroidery Museum (amazing), the Folk Art Museum, and a few more. The Buddhist Art museum (which was what initially drew me in) has an impressive two-floor (admittedly small floors) collection of mostly Joesong Era paintings and sculptures, and a historical meditation wheel that you can actually crank (read: you are allowed to touch and operate a piece of history). In one day at a moderate pace you can see all five museums.

But why not spend a whole day with the foul? It seems only fair.

[Picture of Chicken Art Museum exterior forthcoming when I can figure out how to get it off my phone.]

The Most Important Thing in or near Seoul or in Korea for That Matter: Nanum

If you are in Korea on a Saturday when they are giving tours in your language, go to Nanum. Yes, I am telling you to go to Seoul despite my last post. Yes, it will take most of your Saturday. No, it will not educate you on architecture or history before 1950. Yes, it is well off the beaten path. And yes, if you buy postcards there you will have trouble deciding who to send them to.

It is, however, possibly the most important thing to do in Korea.

So what is Nanum? It's the "House of Sharing." House of sharing what? The war past. But not the usual numbers-and-brutality war past. Very specific pasts. Very disturbing pasts.

It is a house where a few surviving halmonis (elderly women, lit., "grandmothers") tell their tales of being abducted and forced into sexual slavery in World War II.

But they weren't abducted by just anyone. They were abducted under orders of the Japanese government. (For those who don't know, Korea was a Japanese colony in the years before WWII.)

The Japanese government does not admit that this happened.

Despite numerous scholars (mostly Japanese, employed by mostly Japanese universities) finding and following paper trails to show that the girls were accounted for, like property, within the Japanese army, despite further paperwork showing the minimal medical care (designed to keep them alive and little more) was provided by the army, despite the testimony of Japanese soldiers that the rapes were government-sanctioned, and despite the living testimony of these halmonis, the Japanese government will not admit that official responsibility exists for the systemized kidnapping and rape.

The Japanese government, much like an insurance company, has offered money without admission of liability.

That money was rejected.

Some Japanese officials have made their denials particularly stern, sticking to the story that the women were willing prostitutes who followed the camps of soldiers to sell themselves.

The women tell a slightly different story. One of being taken at gunpoint by Japanese soldiers (sometimes, sadly, both Japanese and Korean soldiers). One of having their arms burned for sport by the cigarettes of high-ranking officials. Of serving fifty (50) soldiers in a day at the rate of ten minutes a soldier and the next soldier waiting, pants disengaged, outside the door.

As stated, the paper trail corroborates the women's version and refutes the Japenese government's denial.

Though the living women who have cut through the shame to tell their story are few, the trails (of paper or soldier testimony) of abducted women are in the thousands--spanning several countries and no doubt hundreds of casualties.

The Nanum grounds (donated by a buddhist organization just a few years ago) also house a museum that stores documentation of the official nature of the abductions and rapes, as well as disturbing recreations of their quarters.

The museum ends with the artwork of the halmonis, which you can purchase in postcard or book form. But as said, the face of the person to whom you sent a painting postcard would not likely rise, if that person was capable of empathy.

Luck permitting, you will then meet a halmoni. Health failing, the days of live testimony are growing rarer and rarer; failing live testimony, you will watch a DVD with their testimonies contained therein.

When I went, I was lucky enough to be invited into the house afterwards. To meet women whose bodies had been through multiple transplants (due to untreated diseases years ago), whose wrinkles were many, yet who still were spry enough to demand money when the tour guide suggested a photograph, and who insisted I sit as they stand and offered me tea.

Every Wednesday they protest outside the Japanese embassy. Just this year, the State of California passed a resolution acknowledging their suffering and officially demanding an apology from Japan. George W. Bush had the audacity to accept an official apology from Japan, and the number of people--Korean, Japanese, or otherwise--who are demanding that apology be redirected to those who were offended is growing. After a few hours spent (and a donation of your choice), you can join their ranks.

www.nanum.org

Get Out of Seoul (an Intro to Things to do in Seoul)

Traveler's Tip # 1:

Get out of Seoul.

My previous travel posts have one thing in common: They both took place outside of Seoul. When I head to Gyeongju over break, that's not Seoul. Seoraksan (another popular mountain) isn't in Seoul, neither is Jeju (the most popular vacation isle), or beloved Chiaksan (the mountain my dear Wonju is closest to).

Staying in Seoul is easy, but if you came to Korea to see Korea, why are you still in Seoul? Nonetheless you’ll probably fly into and out of Seoul, and there are a few very good things to there, so the next several posts I have concern the worthwhile things to do in Seoul. Thus, while suffering from (or preparing for) jet lag and unwilling to explore and see most of Korea, a traveler can make the most of their time in the capital.