The various tribes on the Korean Peninsula began to unify into a single nation around the time of China’s Song Dynasty, establishing the Goryeo Dynasty. After just one dynastic change to the Joseon Dynasty (also known as the Lee Dynasty), the region entered the modern era. Incidentally, the word "Korea" actually evolved from the translation of "Goryeo." Since the Korean Peninsula became known to the world from that period onward, regardless of how history unfolded later, the name Korea has endured.
The capital of the Goryeo Dynasty was located in Kaesong, North Korea, while the capital of the Joseon Dynasty was situated in present-day Seoul, South Korea. As a result, the Kaesong Historic Sites have become a more unique tourism highlight compared to those in South Korea, and were even inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013.
To be honest, I haven’t even familiarized myself well with the historical sites from different eras in China, and I don’t necessarily find ancient Korean architecture particularly attractive, so I didn’t have high expectations. But since this attraction was included in the tour package, I decided to experience it firsthand.
Sungkyunkwan was the highest educational institution of the dynasties on the Korean Peninsula, equivalent in status to China’s ancient Guozijian or Taixue.
At the entrance, an auntie gave a historical introduction first.
A ginkgo tree with over a thousand years of history.
These are the attire of the commoners and nobility during the Goryeo Dynasty.
There is also a model of King Gongmin’s Tomb, the joint burial site of King Gongmin, the 31st ruler of Goryeo, and Queen Indeok (the great-granddaughter of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan Dynasty). Legend has it that after his beloved Queen Indeok passed away, King Gongmin personally designed and supervised the construction of this double tomb so they could be buried together. The tomb took seven years to complete. Later generations praised his deep love, and there is even a Korean TV drama based on this historical tale.
King Gongmin’s Tomb is also a site within the Kaesong Historic Sites area, but I can’t remember why we couldn’t visit it on this trip. So, a mock version was built in a small corner of Sungkyunkwan, haha.
As the Goryeo Dynasty was replaced by the Joseon Dynasty, which established its capital in Hanyang (now Seoul), King Taejong of Joseon built a new Sungkyunkwan in the capital, which is now Seoul National University. Funded by Samsung Electronics, top students are directly assigned to work at Samsung. Meanwhile, North Korea constructed the Pyongyang University of Light Industry next to the historic Sungkyunkwan site, offering majors such as ginseng studies, ceramics, textiles, and embroidery.
North Korea implements compulsory free education, with a system consisting of one year of preschool, four years of elementary school, and six years of middle school. The tour guide said that after finishing middle school, boys can choose to join the military, find work, or go to university—most opt for the military, so girls generally have higher levels of education. The guide also mentioned that students must study either English or Russian in middle school, so many North Koreans know a bit of English. Our two female guides studied Chinese and English, respectively, in university. They said that choosing university subjects was optional, but job assignments after graduation were made by the state. I once asked what the university enrollment rate was, but they didn’t know; I later found out on Wikipedia that it’s about 20%.
As is widely known, North Korea is a developing country, and parents are reportedly fined if they don’t send their children to the 11 years of free education provided by the government. I found this quite puzzling. But if it only refers to the capital, Pyongyang, or relatively developed cities like Kaesong, then I can believe it. I’ll elaborate more when I write about the urban scenery of North Korea later :D
Since we couldn’t visit King Gongmin’s Tomb, we explored the even older Tomb of King Dongmyeong instead.The Tomb of King Dongmyeong was originally located in “Kuknae Fortress,” which is today’s Ji’an City in Jilin Province, China. After the establishment of the Goguryeo Kingdom (which predates the Goryeo Dynasty), the kingdom grew increasingly powerful and continuously expanded its territory southward. In 427 AD, when the capital was moved to Pyongyang, the original Tomb of King Dongmyeong in Kuknae Fortress was also relocated to Pyongyang.