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Arirang
"Arirang" (; ) is a Korean folk song. There are about 3,600 variations of 60 different versions of the song, all of which include a refrain similar to "''Arirang, arirang, arariyo'' ()". It is estimated the song is more than 600 years old. "Arirang" is included twice on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. South Korea successfully submitted the song for inclusion on the UNESCO list in 2012. North Korea also successfully submitted the song for inclusion in 2014. In 2015, the South Korean Cultural Heritage Administration added the song to its list of important intangible cultural assets. The song is sung today in both North and South Korea, and represents the symbol of unity in the region that is divided by the Korean War. History Origin and etymology It is believed that "Arirang" originated from Jeongseon, Gangwon Province. "Arirang" as a term today is ambiguous in meaning, but some linguists have hypothesized that "Ari" (아리) meant "beautiful" and "rang" (� ...
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Arirang Festival
The Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang (), also known as the Arirang Mass Games, or the Arirang Festival is a mass games, mass gymnastics and artistic festival held in the Rungrado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. The games usually take place in August or September. The Arirang Mass Games were held annually between 2002 and 2013, with the exception of 2006. After a five-year hiatus, Mass Games returned for a performance entitled 'The Glorious Country' in 2018. According to the Russian News Agency "TASS", Russian state news agency "TASS", "Arirang is a gymnastics and artistic festival, known as mass games. The extravaganza unfolds an epic story of how the Arirang nation of Korea, a country of morning calm, in the Orient put an end to the history of distress and rose as a dignified nation with the song 'Arirang'. The Arirang performance has been included in the Guinness Book of Records." History The name refers to "Arirang", a Korean folk story about ...
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Jeongseon County
Jeongseon (''Jeongseon-gun'') is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea. It is famous as the hometown of "Jeongseon Arirang," a traditional Korean folksong. It is also the hometown of actor Won Bin and footballer Seol Ki-hyeon. History It was ruled by the Goguryeo Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, called Ingpyae-hyeon (잉패현). After the Silla Dynasty unified the Korean peninsula, it was renamed Jeongseon-hyeon in 757. After the Goryeo Dynasy was founded, it was promoted from a ''hyeon'' to a county (''gun'') in 1012 or 1018. After the Joseon Dynasty was founded and the territory was divided into 8 Provinces, the region was involved in the province of Gangwon. After the territory was divided into 23 districts in 1895 with the 8-provincial system abolished, it was included in the district of Chugju. When a 13-provincial system was enacted in 1896, it returned to Gangwon Province. Administrative divisions Towns (eup) * Gohan-eup * Jeongseon-eup * ...
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Jeongseon
Jeongseon (''Jeongseon-gun'') is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea. It is famous as the hometown of "Jeongseon Arirang," a traditional Korean folksong. It is also the hometown of actor Won Bin and footballer Seol Ki-hyeon. History It was ruled by the Goguryeo Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, called Ingpyae-hyeon (잉패현). After the Silla Dynasty unified the Korean peninsula, it was renamed Jeongseon-hyeon in 757. After the Goryeo Dynasy was founded, it was promoted from a ''hyeon'' to a county (''gun'') in 1012 or 1018. After the Joseon Dynasty was founded and the territory was divided into 8 Provinces, the region was involved in the province of Gangwon. After the territory was divided into 23 districts in 1895 with the 8-provincial system abolished, it was included in the district of Chugju. When a 13-provincial system was enacted in 1896, it returned to Gangwon Province. Administrative divisions Towns (eup) * Gohan-eup * Jeongseon-eup * S ...
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North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. North Korea's border with South Korea is a disputed border as both countries claim the entirety of the Korean Peninsula. The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city. In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan. In 1945, after the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Korea was divided into two zones along the 38th parallel, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union and the south occupied by the Unit ...
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Cultural Heritage Administration
The Cultural Heritage Administration () or CHA, formerly the Cultural Properties Administration, is the agency of the South Korean government charged with preserving and promoting Korean cultural heritage. It is headquartered in the city of Daejeon at the Daejeon Government Complex. Previously part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it was elevated to a sub-ministerial agency in 1999. History The Cultural Properties Administration was formally established in October 1961, but descends from the Former Royal Properties Administration to the Office created in November 1945 at the beginning of American military rule to replace the Office of the Yi Dynasty. The 1962 Cultural Property Protection Law was modelled on the Japanese 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. Administration In accordance with Article 2 of the 1962 Cultural Property Protection Law, cultural heritage is classified in four main categories: Tangible Cultural Heritage (including National Tre ...
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South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. South Korea claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and List of islands of South Korea, adjacent islands. It has a Demographics of South Korea, population of 51.75 million, of which roughly half live in the Seoul Capital Area, the List of metropolitan areas by population, fourth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Other major cities include Incheon, Busan, and Daegu. The Korean Peninsula was inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period. Its Gojoseon, first kingdom was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century BCE. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea into Unified Silla, Silla and Balhae in the ...
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Gyeongbok Palace
Gyeongbokgung (), also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace, was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. Built in 1395, it is located in northern Seoul, South Korea. The largest of the '' Five Grand Palaces'' built by the Joseon dynasty, Gyeongbokgung served as the home of Kings of the Joseon dynasty, the Kings' households, as well as the government of Joseon. Gyeongbokgung continued to serve as the main palace of the Joseon dynasty until the premises were destroyed by fire during the Imjin War (1592–1598) and abandoned for two centuries. However, in the 19th century, all of the palace's 7,700 rooms were later restored under the leadership of Prince Regent Heungseon during the reign of King Gojong. Some 500 buildings were restored on a site of over 40 hectares. The architectural principles of ancient Korea were incorporated into the tradition and appearance of the Joseon royal court. In the early 20th century, much of the palace was systematically destroye ...
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Intangible Cultural Property (South Korea)
The Intangible Cultural Heritage (, ''Muhyeong Munhwajae'') are aspects of intangible culture that the government of South Korea has officially designated for preservation in accordance with the 1962 Cultural Property Protection Law. They are proclaimed and maintained by South Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration. Practices of particular importance can be designated as Important Intangible Cultural Properties (, ''Jungyo Muhyeong Munhwajae''). The first practice so designated was '' Jongmyo jeryeak'', the ancient music and dance performed at the Jongmyo Royal Ancestral Shrine in Seoul; it was proclaimed on December 7, 1964. The most recent, announced on November 16, 2006, was Important Intangible Cultural Property 119, '' geumbakjang'' (gold leaf decoration), practiced in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do. A similarly named yet distinct designation, "Intangible Cultural Properties," also exists, with 33 items having been proclaimed. These are proclaimed by provinces or cities rather ...
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Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unification" by Korean historians as it not only unified the Later Three Kingdoms but also incorporated much of the ruling class of the northern kingdom of Balhae, who had origins in Goguryeo of the earlier Three Kingdoms of Korea. The name "Korea" is derived from the name of Goryeo, also spelled Koryŏ, which was first used in the early 5th century by Goguryeo. According to Korean historians, it was during the Goryeo period that the individual identities of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla were successfully merged into a single entity that became the basis of modern-day ' Korean' identity. Throughout its existence, Goryeo, alongside Unified Silla, was known to be the "Golden Age of Buddhism" in Korea. As the state religion, Buddhism achieved its hi ...
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Heungseon Daewongun
Heungseon Daewongun (흥선대원군, 興宣大院君, 21 December 1820 – 22 February 1898; ), also known as the Daewongun (대원군, 大院君), Guktaegong (국태공, 國太公, "The Great Archduke") or formally Internal King Heungseon Heonui (흥선헌의대원왕, 興宣獻懿大院王) and also known to contemporary western diplomats as Prince Gung, was the title of Yi Ha-eung, the regent of Joseon during the minority of Emperor Gojong in the 1860s and until his death a key political figure of late Joseon Korea. ''Daewongun'' literally translates as "prince of the great court", a title customarily granted to the father of the reigning monarch when that father did not reign himself (usually because his son had been adopted as heir of a relative who did reign). While there had been three other Daewonguns during the Joseon dynasty, there was no one as dominant as Yi Ha-eung in the history of the Joseon dynasty that the term Daewongun usually refers specifically to him. Gran ...
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Joseon Dynasty
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom was founded following the aftermath of the overthrow of Goryeo in what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul. The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the rivers of Amrok and Tumen River, Tuman through the subjugation of the Jurchen people, Jurchens. During its 500-year duration, Joseon encouraged the entrenchment of Korean Confucianism, Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society. Neo-Confucianism was installed as the new state's ideology. Korean Buddhism, Buddhism was accordingly discouraged, and occasionally the practitioners faced persecutions. Joseon consolidated ...
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Song So-Hee Performing Arirang
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition and variation of sections. Written words created specifically for music, or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs composed in a simple style that are learned informally "by ear" are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers who sell their recordings or live shows to the mass market are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers, and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers fo ...
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