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Introduce
Numerous topics related to Korean culture and art are mentioned in middle and high school national history textbooks, but most of them are briefly described by era, making it difficult to understand their concepts, transition processes, and characteristics.
<Culture & Art Stories from Korean History> produces and provides video materials based on expert commentary on the flow, change process, characteristics and characteristics of each major topic in the field of culture and art in Korean history.
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Scenario

Scorched rice: Rice scorched on the bottom of the pot when cooking rice
<Source: Encyclopedia of Korean Culture>
You can boil scorched rice for a simple breakfast.
Scorched rice can be easily eaten as a meal.
But it is also proof that the main staple of Korean ancestors was mixed grain and that they used clay earthenware.

Clay Earthenware*- A Repository of Human History
* hereafter referred to as simply Earthenware

In Korea, earthenware was first used in the Neolithic Era.
With the appearance of earthenware, people began to cook food with soup.

First production of earthenware

Humans realized clay hardened when baked in fire.
The production of earthenware began since then.
Mixed grains became a staple food since the Bronze Age.
A container still holding remnants of scorched multigrain rice found
Facilities in which food was stored in earthenware jars and buried underground found
Signs of ancient people actively taking advantage of fermentation that occur
from long-term storage of food found
From the Neolithic Age to the Joseon Dynasty, many earthenware and ceramics
were found in various tombs.
Hundreds of pieces of earthenware were found buried in large tombs from Silla and Gaya.
This shows that ancient people regarded earthenware as commodities
and had a tradition of burying earthenware with their dead.
Or did they bury the earthenware because they believed that the dead used them in the afterlife?
Some of the earthenware jars used in ancestral rites had been damaged on purpose
to differentiate between the potteries for the dead and the potteries for the living.
Clay figures and figurines used
Earthenware items such as clay figures and figurines were also used
in various ancestral rites and ceremonies that offered food to gods.
Earthenware was also used in daily life in various forms such as pillows and toilets.

Men used different toilets even in the ancient times.
As you can see, earthenware was used for various purposes.
Furthermore, ancient Koreans not only manufactured earthenware, but also distributed it.
Let’s take a look at earthenware from each era.

The appearance and discovery of earthenware in Korean history

Neolithic Era

- Made approx. 10000 B.C.
- Earthenware appeared amidst the social reform
that simultaneously occurred in the Amur River area,
Northeastern China, Japanese Islands and the Korean Peninsula
○ Plain pottery and earthenware with impressed dotted line pattern found in Gosan-ri, Jejudo Island
○ Comb-pattern pottery
Early period → Rounded base, bowl-type
Middle period → Amsa-dong earthenware from the mid-western area
Late period → Smaller pattern, pattern retrograded
End period → Simple patterns, Earthenware with simple/double-lipped mouth, short comb-pattern pottery
- Baked at a low temperature, no discovery of professional-grade kiln
- Production and distribution of earthenware not so widely spread
- Produced by village women

Bronze Age

- Made before 10thcenturyB.C.
- Generally called pattern-less earthenware, but not completely pattern-less
- Composed of coarse clay
○ Earthenware decorated with raised bands
○ Earthenware with ribbed mouth
- Mostly brown, yellow or red, speculated to have been baked in an open kiln in oxidizing flame.

Early Iron Age

-Made since 4th Century B.C.E
- Potteries that continued the tradition of plain pottery were in use
○ Earthenware with clay stripes
- Shows that oxygen barrier technology has improved
- Possibly, special earthenware such as burnished black earthenware had a wider distribution network.

Three Han States Period

- Used in Mahan, Jinhan and Byeonhan, southern region of Korean Peninsula,
from 1stcenturyB.C.toA.D.mid-3rdcentury
- Jars with hammered surface, short necks
and rounded bottoms used most commonly
- Grey pottery often buried in tombs in Yeongnam region
○ Mahan rice bowl-shaped earthenware, jar with rounded bottom
○ Jinhan and Byeonhan Grey pottery
- Created with an advanced technology using a potter’s wheel
- Leading examples are Samryong-ri and Sansu-ri earthenware kilns in Jincheon
- Distributed widely
* Double-lipped earthenware discovered in Dongnae Shell Mound in Busan shows that Mahan earthenware was even distributed in the Byeonhan region.

Goguryeo Dynasty

- From 1st Century B.C. to A.D. late 7th Century, when Goguryeo fell
- Many potteries found not just in Jilin Province of China
and Pyongyang, where the capital of Goguryeo used to be,
but also in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do Province
○ Long-necked jar with handles

Baekje Dynasty

- Earthenware further developed and new types of potteries
created based on earthenware from Mahan period
and influenced by Chinese ceramics
- Convention of burying earthenware in tombs became extinct. Earthenware was mostly used for everyday life.
○ Three-footed pottery, a unique characteristic
of Baekje Dynasty earthenware
○ Large earthenware coffin found near the basin
of Yeongsangang River in Naju and Yeongam

Gaya Dynasty

- From mid-3rdcenturytoAD562
- Gaya earthenware is a leading example of potteries
made during the Three Kingdoms period, and it has
contributed much in studying the history of Gaya,
of which reference materials do not exist.
- Along with the earthenware from Yeongsangang River
basin area, new earthenware culture was created in Japan called Sueki
○ Barrel-shaped Jar Stand

Silla Dynasty

Old Silla
- Prevalent grave goods custom, various hard potteries buried in tombs unique to Silla
(stone mound and stone lined tomb)
Unified Silla
- Appearance of glazed earthenware
- The styles of potteries from the Silla Dynasty can be seen
in earthenware and porcelain of the Goryeo Dynasty,
clearly showing continuity.
- Thanks to the popularity of cremation, bone jars developed.
○ Old Silla
Hard-type pottery footed dish, jar with a neck (long-necked, short-necked)
○ Three-colored pottery from Unified Silla period
- The clay components became hyaline and when hit, rings with a clear sound.
- Often used in central region of Silla, large-sized kiln sites found in Songok-dong, Gyeongju
- Negotiations became brisk and the travel range of earthenware became longer.

Balhae Dynasty

- Potteries used from 689 to 926, when Balhae existed
- Earthenware showed Balhae’s territories as well
as the succession by Goguryeo and the coexistence
with Mohe culture.
○ Pot, short-necked jar, tall jar, jar with four lug handles
○ Tall rice bowl
○ Three-colored pottery

Each earthenware item reflects the characteristics of the era it was created in.
You can also see the history of Korea through earthenware.

Korean history seen through earthenware

- Possible to determine in what era they were made
by observing the shape and the manufacturing method
- Plays an important role in determining the central
areas and territories of ancient kingdoms
- The political status of the person or the group
that used the pottery can be determined
by the decorations and the quality of the pottery.
- Evidence of cultural exchanges and diplomatic negotiations
- Lots of earthenware from Mahan and Baekje excavated in Japan
- Proves cases of immigration from Korea to Japan
- Earthenware marked with letters or symbols
are important historical materials in studying ancient history.
- Pattern that shows the ancient people’s belief in afterlife reflects the spiritual outlook of the people at the time

Evidence of various aspects of Korean history
that can’t be seen in historical records
Identifying eras, changes in ancient political bodies
Cultural exchanges among kingdoms
and the spiritual outlook of ancient people
Reflecting all of the above and more
Earthenware

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Script advisor: Kwon Oh-yeong
Scenario composition: Ahn Hyeon-jin, Kim Min-sang
Voice actor: Oh Soo-gyeong
MC: Ju Hye-bin, Hwang Ba-ul
Illustration: Lee Kwang-il
Research material support: National Museum of Korea, Gyeongju National Museum, Cultural Heritage Administration, Hanseong Baekje Museum, E-Museum
Director: Kim Hyeong-woo, Lee Hyeok-roh, Lee Yeon-sik
Planning and Production: Arirang TV Media

Clay Earthenware