National Folk Museum

The National Folk Museum takes at least an hour to walk around. This major museum, built in 1939, has modern displays divided into three large sections and uses models, varied film techniques, photos of Korea now and a century ago, and apartment mock-ups to illustrate social life during the ages. Listen to yangban children rote learning (as children still do) and watch a shamanist ceremony called a gut. See an amazingly colourful funeral bier (it looks like a fantasy Noah’s Ark) – these were used to give the deceased a great send-off. Screened on the wall above is footage of these old-style funerals. The Confucian notion of filial piety was tough. Children had to mourn their parents for three years – making daily food offerings and wearing white mourning clothes. See the website for details of free music and dance performances on weekend afternoons.