#chosŏn

[newsfromthelaundryroom]

Understanding Hojŏk (census register) entries

Since I am working on my MA thesis again and finally got back to one of my favorite sources, I got inspired to actually blog about it for once!

So here is a little introduction into how to read census entries from Chosŏn.

Hojŏk (census registers) were recorded every 3 years, aiming to register every household (in theory) in one county for taxation purposes. Household were registered using the "five household system" (oga-t'ong, 五家統), which registers the population according to their location within one village, with every five households (ho, 戶) composing a unit (t'ong, 統). In the register the households in one unit are given a number, with the head of the unit (t'ongjang, 統長 or t'ongsu, 統首) being recorded first and the rest appearing in sequence of their numbering. The register goes through every unit like this until the village is complete, then moving onto the next village.

Now for the individual entries, each consists of the name of the head of the household, occupation or title, age, clan seat (pon, 本), and four ancestors (sajo, 四祖) of the household head and his wife. Then follow the names of the children, ages, occupations or titles, wives etc. If a household owns any nobi, names and ages are recorded, names and status of their parents and children, as well as name, status and residence of the owner. In the case of woegŏnobi (nobi who live outside their owner's estate), they usually have their own entry.

Let's look at one of these entries together because there are some peculiarities to still understand.

This is the 1717 census entry of Kim Hŭng-bal, a commoner from the village of Koŭptae in Tansŏng-hyŏn, Kyŏngsang-do. The book I am pulling this entry from kindly provides a transcription into Han'gŭl for us non-Hanmun-reading plebs:

고읍대촌 제1통 통수 어영청 보인 김흥발

제1호 어영청 보인 김흥발 나이 49세 기유생 본관 김해

아버지 납속통정대부 수봉 조부 어련 증조부 이동 외조부 이금금 본관 영동

부인 변소사 나이 43세 을묘생 본관 초계

아버지 통정대부 해금 조부 해룡 증조부 덕수 외조부 사노 정립

아들 벽계역 김귀봉의 보인 김이달 나이 17세 신사생

며느리 주소사 나이 17세 신사생

아들 금철 나이 5세 계사생

Now going from what we said above, this entry starts out with the village (Koŭpdae-ch'on), the unit (unit nr.1) and the name of the head of the unit (Kim Hŭng-bal). It then proceeds with the details for this specific household, the household of the t'ongsu Kim Hŭng-bal of household nr.1. It gives us the occupation or title (Ŏyŏngch'ŏng poin, a type of military official) and the name of the head of the household (Kim Hŭng-bal), his age (49) and clan seat (Kimhae).

The age is not recorded with the usual number Hanja (which would be 四十九), but with a separate set of Hanja (肆拾玖), which also have secondary meanings of numbers but primarily mean something else. I do not know why this is but this seems to be the case for all recornings of ages in Hojŏk at least. After the age they also record the specific year in which someone is born. For Kim Hŭng-bal he is born in the kiyu year, which is the 46th year in the sexagenary cycle, the year of the earth rooster, which would be 1669. (Now do keep in mind though that the recorded birth year and ages can vary between different census years, as this is self reported and falsification of ages was a very popular tactic to shave off some years from the military service one still had to serve.)

Another thing to know is that wives were recorded with their last name only. In the above entry we have two examples, one is Kim Hŭng-bal's wife recorded as Pyŏn-sosa and the other one is his son's wife Chu-sosa. As Chosŏn society considered the public to be the male domain and the private the female domain, it was usually not seen as proper for the names of women to be recorded in official documents, as those were a part of the public domain. Because of this, every woman of the yangin (良人), the "good" people as opposed to the ch'ŏnin (賤人, low/vulgar people), would be recorded as "last name + class signifier". There were three different class signifiers to differentiate between the three main classes which comprised the yangin: ssi, 氏 for yangban women (of the upper class), sŏng, 性 for chungin women (of the "middle" class comprised of physicians, interpretors etc.), and sosa, 召史 for p'yŏngmin/sangmin/yangmin women (of the peasant and artisan class) ((there is too many goddamn words for this class)). Kim Hŭng-bal's wife is recorded asPyŏn-sosa, denoting her as his wife of p'yŏngmin status, same as his daughter-in-law.

The last interesting thing from this entry is the title of Kim Hŭng-bal's father Su-bong being Napsokt'ongjŏngdaebu. T'ongjŏngdaebu is a civil official title of the senior 3rd grade (정3품), but the napsok at the beginning indicates, that this title was acquired through a substantial donation of grains (napsok) in famine times. The prefix "napsok" was added to differentiate those with "real" titles from the ones with honorary titles. From this we can learn that although Kim Hŭng-bal was a p'yŏngmin, he came from a family wealthy enough to donate significant amounts of grain to the government.

Let's look at one more entry, this time from the 1678 census of Su-bong, Kim Hŭng-bal's father, where we will find something interesting.

The entry reads:

사노 수봉 나이 32세 정해생 본관 김해 주인 단성현 거주 심정량

아버지 사노 갓봉 조부 증조부 모름 어머니 사비 숙향 외조부 사노 단문 본관 안동

부인 사비 자목 나이 27새 임진생 주인 성주 거주 군관 도시담

아버지 사노 금금이 어머니 사비 애춘 조부 이생 외조부 금복

아들 반노 금학 나이 4세 을묘생

From this entry we learn, that Su-bong was actually a nobi, making this family a case of recorded upward mobility in society with hereditary status. We know this because in place of a title or occupation in front of Su-bong's name it says sano for "private nobi" (no being a male nobi and bi being a female nobi). His wife was also a private nobi, as indicated by the sabi in front of her name. Their son Kŭm-hak is indicated as banno, which to my knowledge means a yangban's nobi and should be referring to his mother's military official owner. Though I am quite unsure about this and the author of the book doesn't explain it to my knowledge.

As you can see, in the case of nobi, who made up the bulk of the ch'ŏnmin class (the rest comprising of butchers, shamans, entertainers and such), the names of women were recorded. This had on one hand to do with confucian principle surrounding "vulgar" people not falling under the same societal notions of propriety and thus women's names being "fair game", but on the other hand was also important because of ownership law and the general lack of surnames in nobi. For nobi, the mother was actively recorded (which is not done for yangin in the most part), which we can see above in the case of Su-bong's mother Suk-hyang. for yangin, the name of the father-in-law would suffice. But in the case of nobi, the mother's name being recorded is important, as her children go to her owner and not to the owner of her husband (in the case that they are from different households). It is also important to record the names of female nobi for the case of runaways and the subsequent search for and collecting of these runaways.

Another common thing in nobi household census registers is the absence of names for grandparents, as those were often forgotten quickly over the generations. They then get recorded as puji, 不知 (unknown), which you can see in the case of Su-bong's grandfather and great-grandfather (transcribed as 모름 in the Han'gŭl version). In the case of paternal lines with surnames, the surname is frequently added like this "Chŏn puji".

Now getting back to why Kim Hŭng-bal is not registered as a nobi, considering the whole ilch'ŏnjŭkch'ŏn thing and both his parents being nobi. Kwŏn Nae-hyun (the author of this book I am pulling these entries from) explains it like this:

Su-bong must have had a substantial amount of land to cultivate for himself, as nobi were also allowed to purchase and own land (which makes them different from the western concept of slaves and is also the reason why I and many other scholars refrain from using the word slave when we mean nobi) and could procure wealth in this way. His title of Napsokt'ongjŏngdaebu shows that he had enough wealth to contribute a lot of grains to the government and thus also enough to buy his way out of servitude. Kwŏn Nae-hyun also talks about the reality of Su-bong having to pay his owner in labor and surpluss grain, since he married a nobi woman from a different household and thus lost his owner a few more nobi children. I assume that the escape from nobi status through substantial compensation for his owner was a better alternative than this, and the official title bestowed on him by the government only helped to cement the new commoner status for his family. Kim Hŭng-bal and his brothers then went and changed some information in their family tree (like adding last names to their father, making up new names for their grandfather etc.) over a few iterations of census registers and thus could more easily sustain their new status as commoners.

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Ok so this post kind of got out of hand and is now way more than just a simple "how to read census registers", but I still hope this conveyed some usefull and interesting information! I also managed to procrastinate reading further sources for two hours so I count that as a win as well.

(Admin S)

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Sources:

Karlsson, Anders. „Famine Relief, Social Order, and State Performance in Late Chosŏn Korea“. The Journal of Korean Studies 12, Nr. 1 (fall 2007): 113–41.

Kwŏn, Nae-hyŏn. Nobi-esŏ yangban-ŭro, kŭ mŏnamŏn yŏjŏng: ŏnŭ nobi kagye 2-paek nyŏn-ŭi kirok. Sŏul-si: Yŏksa Pip’yŏngsa, 2014.

Somerville, John N. „Stability in Eighteenth Century Ulsan“. Korean Studies Forum, Nr. 1 (Autumn-Winter 1976-77): 1–18.

[yama-bato]

AnonymousEight-panel Lotus and Birds Screen

Korean, Chosŏn dynasty, 19th century

[brielledoesastrology]

❦︎♕︎ Royalty asteroids that are prominent in my astrology natal chart ♕︎❦︎

By : Brielledoesastrology (tumblr)

༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄

༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄༄

asteroid Sejong (7365) conjunct my sun (1 orb)

this asteroid is named after King Sejong the great,

His greatest achievement was creating Hangul, the Korean alphabet, but his patronage of science, technology, literature, and medicine all had a large impact on Korea and Koreans. King Sejong is known as one of the greatest rulers of Korea of all time, as he created Hangul (Korean alphabet), encouraged significant scientific advancements, reinforced Confucianism in Korea, and caused many political and social advancements. Sejong, (born 1397—died 1450), monarch of the Chosŏn (Yi) dynasty during his reign (1419–50) cultural achievements in Korea reached their highest point.

asteroid hatshepsut (2436) conjunct my sun (1 orb)

This asteroid is named after the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Considered one of Egypt's greatest female pharaoh brought great wealth and artistry to her land. She sponsored one of Egypt's most successful trading expeditions, bringing back gold, ebony, and incense from a place called Punt (probably modern-day Eritrea, a country in Africa).

asteroid Carolus Quartus (16951) conjunct my sun (1 orb)

This asteroid is named after Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. He is considered the greatest czech of all time. The 14th century – particularly the reign of Charles IV (1342–78) is considered the Golden Age of Czech history. He gained more through diplomacy than others did by war, and through purchases, marriages, and inheritance as he enlarged his dynastic power.

asteroid Vaclav (8740) conjunct my sun (2 orb)

This asteroid is named after Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. It's hard to find stories about him but all i know is that he is known for being "Good" and people make famous songs about him. Oh yeah uh also his evil brother killed him too..

asteroid Reyes (14684) conjunct my sun (1 orb)

"Reyes" or "Rey" means "Kings" or "King" in Spanish.

asteroid Koniq (3815) conjunct my mercury (1 orb)

"Koniq" means "King" in German.

Update:

asteroid Zoser (4907) conjunct my sun (2 orb)

This asteroid is named after the pharaoh Djoser. Djoser, also spelled Zoser, second king of the 3rd dynasty (c. 2650–c. 2575 bce) of ancient Egypt, who undertook the construction of the earliest important stone building in Egypt. His reign, which probably lasted 19 years, was marked by great technological innovation in the use of stone architecture. King Djoser's architect, Imhotep, built the first pyramid by placing six mastabas, each smaller than the one beneath, in a stack to form a pyramid rising in steps.

[arthistoryanimalia]

#SnowLeopardDay:

Insignia Badge with Snow-Leopard Decoration Korean, Chosŏn dynasty, 19th century H. 21.5 x W. 18.8 cm (8 7/16 x 7 3/8 in.) Harvard Art Museums 2002.254

[charring58]

Korea (Korean: 한국, romanized: Hanguk in South Korea, or 조선, Chosŏn in North Korea) is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula (한반도, Hanbando in South Korea, or 조선반도, Chosŏnbando in North Korea),

[odaclan]

Rotating volley technique possibly exist in Sengoku Japan

Previously in my Nagashino post, I mentioned that the popular story of the rotating volley tactic is considered dubious. The main reason for it is that the source of it is completely unknown. At some point it became a just-so story in the Edo era, and was affirmed as fact by the Meiji government, clearly without properly checking its veracity. 

Even Oze Hoan’s Shinchouki text (this is not Ota Gyuuichi’s Shinchoukouki), which is already considered dubious in the first place, only recorded that the Oda forces had 3000 guns. It also did not describe a rotating volley tactic. 

However, even if this artillery tactic is not explicitly used in the Nagashino battle, there is proof that the Japanese troops are aware of and seemingly well-trained trained in this tactic at least as of the late Sengoku. It was known to have been used in Hideyoshi’s Korean war, as recounted by the people of Ming and Joseon:

In 1593, for example, Ming General Song Yingchang (宋應唱, 1536－1606) noted that the Japanese employed the musketry volley technique, writing that he feared the Japanese would “break into squads and shoot alternately against us (分番休迭之法).” In 1595, Korean King Sŏnjo shared the same apprehension that “the Japanese [would] divide themselves into three groups and shoot alternately by moving forward and backward (若分三運, 次次放砲)?”

From "Big Heads, Bird Guns and Gunpowder Bellicosity: Revolutionizing the Chosŏn Military in Seventeenth Century Korea", a thesis by Kang Hyeok Hweon.

Maybe there were records of this method employed in domestic battle that the researchers just haven’t discovered yet. For now it’s still unclear where and when the Japanese troops learned of this. Just that they seem well trained enough in it during the battles mentioned above. 

It’s noteworthy, however, that this rotating volley tactic was already a very well-known method of warfare in China as early as 750s AD in the Tang dynasty. First, it was used by archery and crossbow units. Then, they evolved the technique to be used with guns. Below is a description of a battle in the year 1414:

“The commander-in-chief (都督) Zhu Chong led Lü Guang and others directly to the fore, where they assaulted the enemy by firing firearms and guns continuously and in succession. Countless enemies were killed.”

From “The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World” by Tonio Andrade. 

Especially noteworthy is that the enemy’s army described in this passage are also mounted troops. It’s not impossible that the Japanese somehow learned of the above literature from Ming, and then put it in practice, though without proof we cannot assume too much.

King Seonjo’s description, specifically, sounds like the kind of rotating volley usually described in the Nagashino stories. This brings to mind how many times I’ve seen cases of Edo period stories inserting anachronistic objects or settings into narratives of the past, so it could be how this legend was born. Perhaps the Edo storytellers took the volley technique that wasn’t known or used until later, and just assigned it to Nagashino for dramatic flair. 

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Writing: Plot Spackle

We’ve all used it. Don’t let any writer tell you otherwise. Every good writer, going through what they’ve written, is going to find plotholes. It’s the nature of the beast. You’re trying to sketch a whole fictional world in the confines of your pages. Sooner or later, you’re going to miss something.

If you’re good, and lucky (and working hard at it makes luck more likely!) you find the plotholes before your final draft.

Aaaaaand then you have to figure out what to do with them.

There are a lot of ways to spackle a plothole, but I favor three major ones. The Lampshade, the Retcon, and the Worldbuilding.

For example, let’s say part of your plot hinges on Character A not knowing something that you’ve already established they know. Oops.

Lampshade: Combat is stress, dealing with in-laws is stress, a zombie apocalypse is stress... in the heat of the moment it just slipped their mind. After things have gone boom, have them suddenly remember it and go, “Aaaauuugh!”

Retcon: Okay, Character A knows this because... Character B told them? Go edit that.

Worldbuilding: So what’s a good reason Character B didn’t tell them that? Political rivalry? Couldn’t resist the opportunity to snark? Has a previously undisclosed illegitimate relation who’ll be harmed if The Truth Comes Out? Think!

Here’s an example from Colors of Another Sky. I had a character saved from the jaws of a nasty curse. The kicker is that he was meant to carry the curse into a specific group of nobles and make things very messy indeed.

Which makes this political. High-level politics at that. Very out of character for a bunch of murderous monster pirates.

Me: “Oh shoot. I need to figure out a possible Distant Nemesis with motives for wanting this particular set of guys thoroughly and horribly dead.”

This, my friends, is why I’ve been trying to lay hands on specific reference books, because even when you’re dealing with alternate history you have to have real stuff to base it off of. And too often Wikipedia (though useful!) only scratches the surface.

For example, check out Xu Guangqi. Seems like an excellent guy, right? Christian convert, polymath trying to improve everything from agriculture to the military to philosophy, and spent a large chunk of his life desperately trying to defend the Ming Dynasty from the forces arrayed against it.

All of this, so far as I can check, is true. But... here’s a bit from a history book I just got, Remaking the Chinese Empire: Manchu-Korean Relations, 1616-1911.

“Ming officials such as Xu Guangqi (1562-1633), a close friend of the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), suspected that Chosŏn would join the Jurchen rebellion against the Ming and considered it advisable to rein Chosŏn in. In August 1619 he proposed a new policy toward Chosŏn in a memorial to Emperor Wanli. Xu argued that Beijing should follow historical precedents set by the Zhou and Han Dynasties by sending a commissioner to Chosŏn to “supervise and protect” the country.”

...If you’re having a Bad Feeling about what that would mean for Joseon Korea in general, and the king and yangban ministers in particular, congratulations! You’re paying attention.

Worldbuilding spackle go!

[afranciscomiradiezblr-blog]

Buncheong-gres (O no) (D. Joseon)

Botella con diseño de flores, pájaros y peces coreano, Corea, dinastía Joseon (1392-1910), siglo XV-principios del XVI

La dinastía Joseon (también transcrita como Chosŏn o Chosun) fue un reino dinástico coreano que duró aproximadamente cinco siglos. Fue fundado por Taejo de Joseon en julio de 1392 y fue reemplazado por el Imperio Coreano en octubre de 1897. 1​ Se fundó después de la disolución de la dinastía Koryo en lo que hoy es la ciudad de Kaesong. Al principio, Corea se retituló, y la capital se reubicó en lo que hoy es Seúl. Las fronteras más septentrionales del reino se ampliaron a ...

[worldsandemanations]

Anonymous, Eight-panel Lotus and Birds Screen Korean, Chosŏn dynasty, 19th century

[riverofmolecules]

historical fiction tv show about gay people in 15th century korea surviving together under neo-confucianist regime, call it "chosŏn family"

[beguines]

More than half of the 1,860,000 chŏngbo of arable land in North Korea was confiscated by the reform. Over 60 percent of the confiscated land came from households with medium-sized holdings that had owned no more than five chŏngbo but had rented out part or all of their land. Nearly all of the confiscated land was redistributed, with less than 2 percent kept under state ownership. By the end, a total of 1,050,000 chŏngbo of land had been confiscated and 980,000 chŏngbo of it was distributed to 710,000 peasant households for free—all within twenty-five days. In short, 99 percent of rented land was confiscated without compensation, benefiting over 70 percent of all peasant households in North Korea. The land reform broke the power of the landowners, many of whom were tainted as Japanese collaborators, while gaining popular support for the new regime from the large stratum of landless and poor peasants. For landlords, it was a difficult pill to swallow, as one former landlord remembered years later:

"The new Communist government took away all our land overnight and gave it to the tenant farmers. They called it Land Reform Number One, saying the land should belong to the people . . . Overnight we lost all our ancestral land. They did let us keep the Big House and three rice paddies that lay between our house and the church. For the first time in my life, we had to do some work . . . That is the first time I ever put my foot right into the rice beds—leech beds, I called them."

In effect, the land reform had legitimized what already had been under way at the initiative of local people’s committees and peasant unions shortly after liberation. It reinforced the revolutionary nature of the reform, which not only satisfied peasant demand for land but more important brought down landlord power that had held sway for centuries. A relatively fixed elite status, which combined landed wealth with official government positions going back for generations, had been sustained under colonial rule. Landlords collaborated with the Japanese to maintain their power and wealth while colonial authorities found landlords useful in administering the countryside. The basis for an elite status that had lasted the five hundred years under the Chosŏn Dynasty into the colonial period had thereby finally come to an end.

Suzy Kim, Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950

[bubblesthemonsterartist]

I would love to know what non-major WWII player you were interested in.

https://www.tumblr.com/bubblesthemonsterartist/724666074621198336/stereotypes-about-people-really-interested-in

Chosŏn! Or: what is now known as North & South Korea. My research area was on the impact of modernization (also read: destabilization and colonization efforts by outside entities in the lead up to the Japanese occupation)* on social power structures.

I also have a passing interest in Mongolia! :)

* That's what "modernization" is shorthand for in historian, just in case you were ever curious. Just switch out the colonizing power name as appropriate.

[virtuangel]

on a more superficial level i just think joseon looks much better than chosŏn i dont like the idea of having to read and write chosŏn for a whole semester

[theworldinside1966]

Hahoe, Corea del Sur

Es una aldea tradicional coreana de la dinastía Chosŏn.

La Unesco la declaró, junto con Yangdong Patrimonio de la Humanidad, en 2010.

[telodogratis]

Kim Jong-un bacchetta la tv nazionale coreana: “Prendete esempio dalla RAI”

[[{“value”:” Pyongyang (North Korea) – Il supremo leader Kim Jong-un ha richiamato i vertici del suo organo di comunicazione principale e dell’intera Nord Corea, la Televisione centrale coreana (TCC ovvero  Chosŏn Chungang T’ellebijyon), nota nel mondo come come Korean Central Television (KCTV). Non è stato un semplice richiamo, in realtà, ma un vero e proprio ordine di cambio di rotta…

[johnsonbcasile]

Isang Paglalakbay sa South Korea

Sa paglipas ng mga taon, marami sa atin ang nagnanais na makarating sa magandang bansang Korea. Hindi lang ito kilala sa kanilang sikat na K-pop at K-drama, kundi pati na rin sa kanilang makulay na kasaysayan, masasarap na pagkain, at kakaibang kultura. Sa paglalahad na ito, tuklasin natin ang mga aspeto ng isang lakbay sa Korea, kasama na ang kanilang kasaysayan, gastusin, tirahan, kainan, souvenir, kultura, tradisyon, selebrasyon, at klima.

Ang South Korea ay isang bansa na matatagpuan sa silagang bahagi ng Asya. Seoul ang kapital ng bansang ito. Noong wala pa nahati sa dalawa ang korea, ang bansang ito ay tinatawag na "Korea", na nagmula sa Dinastiyang Goryeo (minsan ay nakabaybay na Koryo), na nanggaling naman sa pangalan ng sinaunang Kaharian ng Goguryeo.Ang Korea ay dating binansagang “Hermit Kingdom”. Ayon sa kasaysayan, ito ay nasakop ng dayuhang bansa at nasupil pa ng iilang mga bansa. Dahil sa kapaguran, napag-isipan nilang mga Koreano na iwasan munag makipagsalamuha sa ibang bansa upang mapagtuunang pansin ang pagpapatibay at lakas ng kanilang kultura.

Kasaysayan

Ang Korea ay mayaman sa makulay na kasaysayan. Ito ang lugar kung saan unang isinilang ang mga hanggong at kabihasnan sa Asya. Ang bansa ay nasakop ng mga Tsino, Hapones, at Ruso sa iba't ibang panahon. Sa kasalukuyan, nahati ito sa dalawang bahagi: Hilagang Korea at Timog Korea. Ang hangganan ay nasa Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) kung saan nagaganap ang tensyon sa pagitan ng dalawang bahagi ng bansa.

Gastusin

Ang halaga ng iyong gastos ay maaaring mag-iba depende sa panahon ng paglalakbay, subalit para sa pangkalahatang pagtuturing, ang mga halaga ay sumusunod:

Airfare: Ang presyo ng plane ticket mula Pilipinas patungong Korea ay nag-iiba depende sa oras at airline. Karaniwang nag-uumpisa ito mula ₱15,000 pataas.

Accommodations

Ang mga hotel sa Korea ay mayroong iba't ibang mga klase, mula sa budget-friendly hanggang sa luxury. Ang presyo ng mga hotel room ay maaaring magsimula mula ₩50,000 (₱2,200) kada gabi para sa mas murang mga pagpipilian.

Transportation

Ang mga public transportation sa Korea ay madali at mura. Ang presyo ng subway o bus ticket ay nag-uumpisa sa ₩1,350 (₱60).

Tirahan

Sa Korea, marami kang pagpipilian para sa accommodation. Maaari kang mag-stay sa mga hotel, guesthouses, o Airbnb units. Kung nais mo ng mas mura, maaari ka ring mag-camp sa mga designated campgrounds.

Pagkain

Ang Korean cuisine ay kilala sa kanyang kasarapang kaldereta, barbecue, kimchi, at iba't ibang mga gulay. Hindi mo dapat palampasin ang pagkakataon na tikman ang bulgogi, bibimbap, at samgyeopsal. Huwag kalimutan ang sikat na street food tulad ng tteokbokki at odeng.

Budget Meals

Kung nais mong makatipid sa pagkain, maaari kang maghanap ng mga local eateries o "bunsik" (fast food) restaurants. Ang mga halaga ay nagsisimula mula ₩3,000 (₱130) pataas.

Souvenir

Ang mga popular na souvenir sa Korea ay ang mga hanbok (traditional Korean clothing), K-pop merchandise, Korean cosmetics, at mga traditional crafts tulad ng celadon pottery.

Kultura at Tradisyon

Kasuotan

Ang Hanbok (sa Timog Korea) o Joseon-ot (sa Hilagang Korea, binabaybay ding Chosŏn-ot) ay ang tradisyunal na damit ng Korea. Binubuo ang pambabaeng hanbok ng naibabalot na chima o palda at ng isang tila bolerong jeogori o tsaketa. Binubuo naman ang para sa kalalakihan ng maiksingjeogori at ng baji o pantalon. Kapwa maaaring patungan ang pambabae at panlalaking hanbok ng isang mahabangabrigo, ang durumagi, na may katulad na gupit o yari. Sa kasalukuyan, isinusuot ng mga Koreano ang hanbok para sa mga araw ng pagdiriwang o kasiyahan at para sa mga seremonyang katulad ng kasalan o paglilibing.

Selebrasyon

Sa Korea, mayroong mga makulay na selebrasyon tulad ng Seollal (Lunar New Year) at Chuseok (harvest festival). Sa mga panahong ito, inaayos ang mga pista at mga parada sa mga kalsada, kung saan makakakita ka ng mga tradisyonal na pagsayaw at musika.

Klima

Ang klima sa Korea ay nag-iiba depende sa panahon. Ang tag-init ay mula Hunyo hanggang Agosto, kung saan mainit at maalinsangan. Ang tag-lamig ay mula Disyembre hanggang Pebrero, kung saan maaaring magkaruon ng snow. Ang tag-ulan ay mula Hunyo hanggang Setyembre.

Sa paglalakbay mo sa Korea, makakaranas ka ng maraming karanasan na hindi malilimutan. Mula sa makulay na kasaysayan, masasarap na pagkain, magandang tirahan, kultura, at tradisyon, hanggang sa mga espesyal na selebrasyon at magandang klima, tiyak na ang Korea ay magiging isang memorable destination para sa iyo. Huwag kalimutan ang mga souvenir para sa mga alaala ng iyong paglalakbay sa bansang ito.

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