Calliope articles from March 2007

Calliope archives from March 2007

5 fun facts about present-day Korea.
March 1, 2007... ONE (pronounced i/) The Korean peninsula, including both North and South Korea, is approximately 600 miles long. TWO (pronounced ee) More than 3,000 islands dot the coastline of the country. THREE (pronounced sahm) S U m m e r, the...

A single mirror reflects many forms, and parted waters will intermingle perfectly once they are reunited.(MUSINGS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... --Wonhyo, renowned Silla Buddhist monk (A.D. 617-686) Check out the word "Silla" (pronounced SHILL a) in the index of a world history book, and you will find yourself directed to two or three paragraphs in the text. But dig a bit deeper and...

Time line.(Chronology)
March 1, 2007... B.C. 57 Tradition traces the origin of the Silla Kingdom to this date. A.D. 540 King Chinhung rules Silla, 540-576, and starts the hwarang. 632 King Chinp'yong dies. He is the last male member of the holy-bone rank. 632 Queen...

Glossary.(Glossary)
March 1, 2007... Buddhism: A religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563-483 B.C.), known as the Buddha, who did not preach of any Supreme Deity and rejected the idea of humans having an immortal soul. Rather, he taught that people should seek...

Pronounciation key.
March 1, 2007... In this issue on Korea's Silla Kingdom, we have followed McCune-Reischauer Romanization to spell Korean names. Romanization refers to the alphabetic or phonetic representation of Asian languages. With a few exceptions, the McCune-Reischauer...

Three become one.(Silla, Paekche, and Koguryo kingdoms)
March 1, 2007... For 300 years, the Silla, Paekche, and Koguryo kingdoms had faced off against one another, their relations alternating between alliance and warfare. The result had been a stalemate in which no kingdom could gain a significant advantage over...

Early Silla.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Tradition traces the origin of the Silla kingdom to 57 B.c. According to information that can be documented, the kingdom emerged from the tribal communities of Chinhan, located in the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula. At first, the...

Silla and the spread of Buddhism.
March 1, 2007... With the aid of the Chinese, Silla was able to unify the peninsula in the mid-seventh century and continued to maintain its close ties with China after unification. In the years that followed, scores of Silla diplomats, merchants, Confucian...

At the crossroads.
March 1, 2007... The phrase "Silk Road" usually refers to the overland roads of commerce that connected China with the Roman Empire from the third to the tenth centuries. However, the route may also be thought of as continuing eastward into the Korean peninsula...

Silla search.(ACTIVITY)
March 1, 2007... Enter the museum storeroom and collect 5 Silla artifacts in the following order: BLUE, RED, GREEN, YELLOW, and PURPLE. You may travel straight ahead, right, or left, but you may not land on the same rectangle twice. When you land on a rectangle...

Meet Ich'adon and Hwangnyongsa.
March 1, 2007... Among the most famous Buddhist tales of Silla are the legends of Ich'adon and of Hwangnyongsa. Both emphasize the special connections between Buddhism and Silla and clearly illustrate that Silla Korea was just as important as India or China,...

'Bones' make a Queen.
March 1, 2007... The year was A.D. 632, and the Chinese were in shock. Contrary to their belief that only men should rule, Silla had put a woman on the throne. That woman, Queen Sondok, would now oversee the joint Silla-Chinese military operations. While it is...

3 Queens: 2 good, 1 bad.
March 1, 2007... Queen Sondok was succeeded by her cousin Chindok (647-654), who also proved herself a good ruler. To reassure the Chinese that Silla was a worthy ally, Queen Chindok adopted the calendar, court dress, and writing system that the Chinese used....

Word changelings.(ACTIVITY)
March 1, 2007... When you take a spelling test or write an essay, you want to erase or change as little as possible. That's the point of this word puzzle. In each of the rows, you get from the top word to the bottom word by changing just one letter at each step...

Rank tells all.
March 1, 2007... The bone-rank system governed every aspect of life in Silla. Its development can be traced to six independent chiefdoms that existed from the 12th to the 2nd century B.C. in the area of Kyongju (see pages 40-41). Each chiefdom was just over six...

Flowers and knights.
March 1, 2007... What sort of military tradition links flowers and war? Answer: Silla, as it expected its elite military men not only to be strong and healthy and excel in military tactics, but also to have a sense of honor and respect for the beauty of nature....

1 Brave knight.(Kwanch'ang)
March 1, 2007... One of the many tales about daring hwarang tells of Kwanch'ang, the son of the Silla general P'umil. As Kwanch'ang was about to engage in his first battle, his father encouraged him, saying, "Now is the time to render brilliant service and...

'Lone Cloud'.(Ch'oe Ch'i-Won)(Biography)
March 1, 2007... Ch'oe Ch'iwon (857-915?) was the most acclaimed writer, calligrapher, scholar, and statesman of the Unified Silla period. Known also by his pen name Koun ("Lone Cloud"), he was sent to China to study at age 12. Six years later, he passed the...

Word origins--and stories.(FUN WITH WORDS)
March 1, 2007... KIMCHI Ever tasted kimchi? Next time you are in a restaurant that has it on the menu, you should try it. The national dish of Korea, kimchi is a delicious mix of fermented chili peppers and vegetables. Said to be one of the world's five...

A center of diplomacy.
March 1, 2007... In 674, Silla's King Munmu oversaw the construction of an impressive palace A and garden complex in Kyongju (see also pages 40-41). It featured a man-made pond known as Anapji ("Wild Geese and Duck Pond") that was so cleverly designed it could...

Keeping a Korean identity.
March 1, 2007... The Silla people were descended from the Bronze Age inhabitants of Korea (1000-300 B.C.), who are known historically as the great dolmen builders. Korean dolmens are gigantic stone structures that are thought to be connected with burials (see...

An architectural wonder.(Pulguksa temple)
March 1, 2007... A visit to the Buddhist temple known as Pulguksa is a truly unique experience. While not the oldest, the grandest, or the most unimaginable creation, it is definitely an architectural structure that incorporates a perfect balance of religious...

Sokkuram.
March 1, 2007... Even as work continued on the expansion of Pulguksa, construction began on a brilliant architectural gem about two and half miles away. Designed to be a private sanctuary, it was located near the top of Mr. T'oham and approached by a steep,...

Let's visit Kyongju.
March 1, 2007... Kyongju, the Silla capital for almost 1,000 years, was modeled on the Chinese Tang capital of Chang'an. After the unification of the Three Kingdoms under Silla rule, the city's population increased, and so, too, did its size. Many magnificent...

Tumuli Park.
March 1, 2007... Massive royal tomb mounds dot the area in and around the city of Kyongju. And, located in the city's historic center is Taenung-won ("Tumuli Park"), an area that has about 20 mounded tombs of Silla's kings, queens, princes, and other royal...

Ask Calliope.
March 1, 2007... ? Who said, "The cautious person seldom makes a mistake"? --Sean, 13, Web post ! The Chinese philosopher Confucius, whose traditional dates are 551-479 B.C. He also taught that "to learn without thinking is a waste of time; however,...

Books.(OFF THE SHELF)
March 1, 2007... Good Morning, Kimchi! Forty Different Kinds of Traditional & Fusion Kimchi Recipes by Sook-ja Yoon and illustrated by Young-hie Han (Hollym International Corp., 2005, www.hollym.com) is perfect for anyone wanting to learn more about kimchi. ...

Cobblestone resources.(OFF THE SHELF)
March 1, 2007... Materials that complement this theme's topic, "Korea's Silla Kingdom," and are available from Cobblestone Publishing include: The Tand Dynasty (CAL0311) Korea (FAC9704)

On the net.(Website list)
March 1, 2007... For sites that offer a wealth of information about Korea, past and present, with links that include lesson plans and a resource "book" for K-12 educators, hit: www.koreasociety.org and www.koreak12.org For a brief but descriptive...

Fast forward to the 21st century.(Korea)
March 1, 2007... Sillia gradually succumbed to internal divisions that led to the rise of major warlords in three different parts of the country. Finally, in 918, a man named Wang Kon successfully united much of the country under the name of Koryo, the root of...

Then and now.(kite flying)
March 1, 2007... Kite flying is an ancient tradition in Korea. Accounts tell of the Silla general Kim Yusin flying the first kite in A.D. 647. Aware that it was an intense time politically, Kim aimed to calm the people's fears by launching the kite at night,...