Korean National Museum

For Coming of Buddha Day (May 28 - paid holiday), I spent the afternoon at the Korean National Museum in Yongsan.  It is the sixth largest museum in the world and the only one that happened to be open on a Monday.

The inside of the museum is gorgeous and reminded me of the British Museum in London.

One of the rooms that left a deep impression was half of the second floor, with galleries dedicated to historical pieces donated by individual Korean donors.  Since 1945, a total of 22,091 items including archaeological artifacts, pottery, wool and metal craft pieces, stationery, paintings, and books have been donated.  These people answered a noble call to leave a legacy of the country's history.

One of the donated piece was this Roman headpiece from Sohn Kee Chung, the 1936 Berlin Olympic (aka Hitler Olympic) marathon gold medalist.  He didn't receive this headpiece until 1986 and that's because Korea was under Japanese rule in 1936.

My family friend from home, Arthur, asked me a while ago to send him pictures of Asian dragons. While I was fulfilling this mission at the museum, I fell in love with Asian dragons ("Yong"), especially the fish dragon.  Here are some of the unique pieces with Asian dragon designs.  You will also note that some are National Treasures.  Yes, Korea has designated things as National Treasures, and National Treasure Number 1 is actually Namdaemun, which partially burned down through arson a couple of years ago.

Brick with Dragon design from Baekjae Dynasty

White porcelain with openwork dragon and cloud design in underglaze cobalt blue - Joseon Dynasty 19th Century

Jar - white porcelain with dragon and cloud design in underglaze cobalt-blue - Joseon Dynasty 18-19th Century

Fish dragon shaped pitcher in celadon - Goryeo Dynasty 12th Century.  National Treasure Number 61!

Buddhist gong

Top of Buddhist bell - Goryeo period 1058.  National Treasure Number 1166.

The second thing I fell in love with at the museum are Korean Lions.  Why?  Because they look like this:

So cute and cuddly and no flowing Simba mane to speak of.  Methinks someone has never seen a lion before.

In case you're wondering, I celebrated the Coming of Buddha Day by seeing Buddha...lots and lots of them.  I always wondered why people sculpted Buddha with his eyes closed.  After seeing the difference between the Indian Buddha statues and the Korea Buddha statues, I understood.  It's not that Buddha had his eyes closed, he just was given slits for eyes.

This is the "Thinking Buddha."  Maybe it inspired Rodin to create The Thinker?

Hall of Buddha statues