Konglishman's Korean Story

Korea's representative golden treasures include the Silla gold crown and the gilt-bronze Mirok Bodhisattva and were considered the best. However, in June 2022, the National Palace Museum of Korea revealed to the media the treasures unearthed in Gyeongju city.  The name of the treasure is '선각단화쌍조문금박(seon-gag-dan-hwa-ssang-jo-mun-geum-pak)'. It measures 3.6cm in width and 1.17cm in length and is 0.04mm thick, and it is a relic from the Silla period in Korea.  What is surprising is the skill of the craftsman who handled gold. The thickness of the line drawn on the pattern is 0.05mm, which is similar to the thickness of hair. How did someone engrave the delicate patterns that are difficult draw even with a microscope?   Even more surprising is the purity of this gold. Only 200 years after the Industrial Revolution in Europe, 99.99% pure gold was produced through electrochemical decomposition. By the way, this treasure is a relic from 1300years ago. Pure gold with a purity of

Q. What is the difference between Korea's national treasures and treasures.  The only difference is whether it is the only treasure or not. Let's take diamonds and meteorites for example. There are several diamonds that have been processed, but only one meteorite that has fallen from space to Earth. It is the Korean way to designate one of the most representative diamonds as a treasure, and to designate the only one meteorite as a national treasure. And things that are not difficult to preserve are not designated as national treasures. For example, those kept in the National Museum are designated as Treasures. On the other hand, things outside, such as the Sungnyemun  Gate is Seoul, are included in special management and are protected as national treasures. Korea has designated 351 national treasures and 2293 treasures.