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Category: Korean symbols

Home Category: Korean symbols
Imjingak Korea Peace Park sotdae

Sending Wishes for Peace Skyward

February 28, 2018Debbi KentContemporary Korean lifestyles, Korean symbols, Traditional Korean lifestylesNo Comments

As someone who has had a love affair going on with South Korea for the past 32 years, when I recently heard President Moon Jae-in call this winter’s Olympic Games the “Peace Olympics,” one of my grandmother’s favorite expressions came to mind: “From your lips to God’s ears.” The image of his words floating skyward…

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Kwak Su-yeon basset hound in flowers

Happy Year of the Dog!

February 16, 2018Debbi KentContemporary Korean art & crafts, Korean symbols, Korean Zodiac, Traditional Korean paintingNo Comments

2018 is the Year of the Dog, one of my favorite zodiac animals. It’s certainly higher on my list than the snake or the rat (a small relative of which is currently having a grand old time behind my refrigerator in spite of my best attempts to convince him to move on.) According to the…

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Let the Games Begin! Auspicious Promises for Success in Pyeongchang

February 9, 2018Joan SuwalskyKorea Olympics, Korea travel, Korean symbolsNo Comments

Soohorang and Bandabi, the mascots for the Olympic Winter Games and the Paralympic Winter Games, both to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea starting this week and continuing through mid-March, are much more than loveable cartoon characters. With auspicious meaning and powers, the white tiger and the Asian black bear embody Korea’s long-standing reverence for…

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Three Korean Nathwi

Korean Monsters ~ Dokkaebi & Nathwi

February 3, 2018Joan SuwalskyKorean folklore, Korean symbolsNo Comments

  In Korean art and culture, two different types of “monsters” are often seen—Nathwi Masks and Dokkaebi.   Although the two types have very different meanings, they are both examples of an image that is unique to Korean folk art—the smiling beast. Probably going back to animist/Shaminist belief in a world of spirits that inhabit all…

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Korean tiger, dragon, haetae, dancheong monster

Smiling Faces in Lots of Places

May 21, 2015Debbi KentKorean symbols3 comments

Each time we visit Seoul, we are struck by the number of grinning faces we are met with.  Plenty of those are of the human variety, because Koreans are, after all, a very friendly people.  But take the people out of the equation, and there’s still lots of grinning going on — on sculptures, paintings, signs, door…

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Sewing tools & thimble golmu

Those Blessed Beautiful Thimbles

July 27, 2014Joan SuwalskyKorean handicrafts, Korean symbols2 comments

When I think of a thimble, I imagine a metal cap that fits on my finger with indentations to help stabilize the needle I might be using.  Not so the Korean thimble!  Traditionally and even today, they are made of natural materials (often layers of stiffened paper) and then covered lovingly with brightly colored silk…

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A Love Affair With a Tiger

July 3, 2014Debbi KentKorean symbols2 comments

I love animals.  Nearly all of them, with the exception of the annoying insects (mosquitos, flies, and gnats, I’m talking about you), rats and some snakes.  I even like what’s been voted the world’s ugliest animal – the unfortunate blobfish.  You can’t hate something that has to go through life looking like that.  It wouldn’t be…

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Korean traditional themes mural

Traditional Themes Abound in Modern Seoul

June 28, 2014Joan SuwalskyKorean symbolsNo Comments

Walking around Seoul on our recent trip in May, I was struck by the way in which one bumps up against traditional images all around this very, very modern city.  You don’t have to go into a museum or a handicraft shop to be reminded of the long cultural history of Korea.  And the biggest…

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100 Thimbles in a Box: The Spirit & Beauty of Korean Handicrafts

100 Thimbles in a Box
bojagi

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"I Bite the Bad Guys: A Tale of the Korean Cover" book cover

Announcing Our Next Book!

October 16, 2018Debbi Kent

We’re very excited to introduce our next book! What we learned about Korea’s symbolic animals while researching 100 Thimbles in a Box inspired us to feature them in a series of children’s stories we are calling the Ginkgo Tree Tales. Illustrated by the gifted Korean artist, Lee, Woong Ki, these are not retellings of traditional folktales,…

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Han-Sang-soo Cranes embroidery

A Robe of Many Colors: The Embroidery of Han, Sang-soo

March 25, 2018Joan Suwalsky

In December I had the great pleasure of visiting the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (http://www.asianart.org) for a special exhibit of Korean clothing. Couture Korea (http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions/couture-korea) was curated by Han, Hyonjeong Kim, Associate Curator of Korean Art at the Museum in collaboration with the Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation in Korea (http://www.arumjigi.org/eng/introduce/intro.php). Running from November…

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