Confucianland

Hall Boy Scholar Village

Experience Guide

As families are transforming into nuclear families, family education is being threatened regarding manners and etiquettes, and education for the so called “rude children” is in urgent need.
In order to induce such problematic perception to the viewers by displaying such aspect of the reality, a mother and a child are arguing in a living room in an apartment.
Dongyi, a boy scholar sees this scene and points out the parts that are inappropriate and guide the viewers to search for the solutions through the experience view.

Exhibition Guide

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Subject

Let's learn the Cheonjamun

“Sky and earth, yellow rice in the cauldron... Kol... Oops, I dozed off again. “The days go by just reading the first chapter every day.
Is there an easy and fun way to learn the thousand-character script?” Thousand Characters is an introduction to learning Chinese characters.
A person named Joo Hong-seo created this article overnight and is also called “Baek Soo-mun (白首文)” because he had three white hairs.
Physical and mental training

“Z~Z Z, Z~Z Z... “I’m an adult and flying in the sky?
“I am a true boy scholar who reflects on the spirit of Confucianism even in my dreams!” The five virtues are the five virtues that people should always observe.
It is a general term for benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust, which are the foundations of Confucian ethics.
Samgang-oryun

“I am a boy scholar, and I will go out into the world to realize what I have learned.
Gunwisingang! The king and his subjects~ um, um...~
“Before going out into the world, I must first master the Samgang-oryun.”
Sijo and Pungnyu

“On a starry night, I wander around, drawn by the sounds of insects and fireflies.
Even though I am a young boy, I will recite the poems of the ancestors and try to understand their meaning for a moment.
This body dies, dies, heals itself a hundred times, dies, the white bones become dust, and there is nothing.
“Toward you… Towards you… Towards you… Towards you… And what was it?”
Sijo is Korea's unique formal poetry refined from the late Goryeo period to the early Joseon period, and revealed the spirit and emotions of Confucian scholars.
The roand to Seodang

“Oops! Time has passed so quickly since I was with Suni. If I'm late this time, my teacher will really scold me.
But there is nothing to worry about. I have great agility, so with my agility I will overcome all obstacles and arrive at the Seodang in time.”
Seodang is a private educational institution for elementary and middle school levels established in each village from the Goryeo Dynasty to the Chosun Dynasty.
Shoeking Cramming

"oh? As I was playing, I realized that tomorrow is already a test.
The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Daesang, the Middle Ages, the Book of Changes, the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Book of Rites...
“I’m not Teacher Yulgok. When will I finish reading the Five Books and Five Classics?” Cramming is as physically demanding as running a 100m race.
I hope you study systematically. Please.

Birth of Scholar

Boy Scholar Dongyi is born.
As today, in the past there was a custom of celebrating the 100th day as well as 1 year anniversary of a baby’s birth.

Birth and 37 Days A baby’s birth is a very celebrative event but requires caution as well. The mother who has just delivered her baby as well as the baby who was just born are extremely weak and therefore are susceptible to getting diseases. Therefore, for 3 weeks after the delivery, a golden rope that has coal and paper is set in front of the front gates which are believed to drive back the negative energy and keeps others from entering the place. When the baby is born, if it is a boy they tie a pepper on the golden rope and in contrast if it is a girl they tie a pine needle to inform others of the baby’s gender.
100th day When a baby reaches 100th day since birth, the family is grateful for the baby to have grown healthily and therefore share rice cakes to other families and neighbors. There was a belief that sharing the 100th day rice cakes with 100 people brings the baby good luck. In return, the recipients of rice cakes give thread and rice which both have the meaning of hoping for the baby to live long. The rice cakes shared in the 100th day have a wide range of varieties. Steamed rice cake means long life and purity. Millet red bean rice cake means driving back disasters while glutinous rice cake means the wishes for baby to have perseverance and strong heart, and there is also the ‘5 Color Songpyeon’ which wishes for the baby to have a good balance of all 5 virtues.
1st Year Birthday When a baby reaches his/her first birthday, the family invites the relatives and neighbors to celebrate the 1st year birthday. If the baby holds the thread he/she will live long, if he/she holds a book or the brush he/she will be intelligent, if he/she holds money or rice he/she will be rich, and if he/she holds a jujube he/she will have many children. Moreover, if he/she holds the rice cake first, it means that he/she will be a great eater.

Learning the cheonjamun

Long time ago, scholars used to study at a school (seodang) like this. This is a corner where we become scholars and learn Cheonjamun ourselves.
Let’s have a seat and press the button at the front of the pen and write the character shown on the screen. This is a game where we learn Cheonjamun. If you sit on your seats the game will begin. (When the seats are all occupied) Are you ready? With the pen you have to press the character, not the numbers 1,2,3,4 shown in your answer choices. After you have answered correctly try writing it once more.

Cheonjamun which is composed of 1000 characters
[Cheonjamun] is the most elementary book to read when one accustoms him/herself to Chinese characters. Long time ago, in China, during the Yang Dynasty, Muje ordered a scholar named Juheungsa to write the textbook for young imperial princes. Based on legends, Juheungsa was originally a prisoner waiting to be executed. However, scholars who deemed his writing talents to be such a waste requested Muje to spare his life. Hearing this, Muje gave Juheungsa the Seocheop of Wanghuiji and told him to pick 1000 characters and make letters by grouping 4 characters so that they do not overlap with each other, and to write a poem with the letters. This had to be done in just one day. Juheungsa who had received the mission contemplated for a long time and finally completed a poem. Reading the poem, Muje was deeply impressed and therefore forgave Juheungsa and assigned him to a government official position. Since [Cheonjamun] is written as a poem, 4 characters must be read as 1 phrase and 8 characters must be read as 1 yeon. When looking at the first phrase "sky ‘cheon’, ground ‘ji’ …” the characters go like ‘天地玄黃宇宙洪荒’, and this means that ‘the sky is far away and that the ground is yellow, and that the space is wide and rough’. [Cheonjamun] starts like this from sky and ground (cheonji) which explains the nature’s principle, and explains various aspects such as the scholarship path, reason of wise men and men of virtue, politics and farming, and scholar’s mental attitude. Although it is extremely elementary on the surface, it is possesses the mysterious essence of study.

Book Ceremony

A book ceremony is held when one finishes learning a book and he treats his teacher as well as his peers with some food to celebrate. This is also called book cleansing, or book celebration. In general it is usually carried out when an elementary-level book such as Cheonjamun, Dongmongseonseub, Sohak etc are finished, and it is meaningful in that the hard-working student is encouraged and in that the student requites his teacher for all of the lessons. During this ceremony, foods such as noodles, gyeongdan, and songpyeon are prepared, and in particular songpyeons have red beans or sesame and since a songpyeon is a rice cake with stuffing, it means that the student’s wisdom shall open through, and therefore is a type of dish that is never missed. Then, shall we also receive the rewards to celebrate the book ceremony?

Long time ago, in seodangs, when a class finished learning a book, the students would prepare some food as a sign of gratitude for the schoolmaster. Although it was a small event, it was a meaningful event. The reason they ate songpyeons in a book ceremony was because as a songpyeon was a rice cake that was full of stuffing such as red beans or other beans, they wished to be full of scholarly knowledge.

These days we have similar events with simple cookies right? Well, in the past there used to be noodles, gyeongdans, songpyeons etc.

삼강오륜

As the picture shows, Sam(three)Gangohryun presents 3 mandates and 5 practical virtues that people must fulfill as their obligations in life.
These are the 3 standards and 5 disciplines in human relationships that , the Chinese scholar, has organized as the basics of morality.

三綱(Sam(three)Gang)
- 父爲子綱(Buwijagang) It is fundamental for the son to serve his father
- 君爲臣綱(Gunwisingang) It is fundamental for the servant to serve his king
- 夫爲婦綱(Buwibugang) It is fundamental for the wife to serve her husband.

五倫(O(five)hryun)
- 君臣有義(Gunsinyuui) There must be faithfulness between a king and a servant
- 父子有親(Bujayuchin) There must be closeness between a father and a son
- 夫婦有別(Bubuyubyeol) A husband and wife must have discretion
- 長幼有序(Jangyuyuseo) There must be order between adult and a child
- 朋友有信(Bongwuyusin) There must be trust between friends.