history

The Rangnang Museum is located in the Rangnang area of the capital city of Pyongyang. It intensively shows the Rangnang culture that existed between the 3rd century BC and AD 4th century.

I recently visited the museum together with other visitors.

The museum consisting of the districts of education in history, folk games and rest reminded me of a piece of picture as Korean-style buildings and folk games grounds blended in well with the distinctive surrounding landscape. 

According to Curator Kim Myong Sik, the museum was inaugurated in September three years ago according to the intention of the Workers’ Party of Korea to hand down the excellence of the nation to all generations to come.

The Rangnang culture was created by the people of Ancient Joson in its closing period and its ruined people and its relics are distributed in the midwestern part of Korea ranging from the south of the Chongchon River to the Ryesong River basin centring on Pyongyang, a lecturer said. Guided by her, I, together with other visitors, headed for the display room.

The room was divided into different sections, including those of castles, graves, weapons and equipment, harnessry and carts and sci-tech development.

Via the castle and grave sections, the lecturer guided us to the weapons and equipment section while explaining the exhibits. As visitors attentively watched the models of wooden frames, percussion locks and firing devices, bows, arrows and catapults, she told them that the model of a catapult is so elaborate in structure that a foreign expert in weapons said in admiration that it was hard to believe that such a device was devised two thousand years ago. The bow of those days was widely used also in the surrounding regions for the handiness and great elasticity, being called “Rangnangdangung”, she said.

Pointing to the wax replicas of military officers and soldiers armed with weapons, she said such relics as armour, iron dagger and iron sword from the period of Rangnang culture clearly prove that the military equipment of the then standing army was formidable and that the weapons technology was on a very high level. 

We also looked round such exhibits as harnesses and cart parts, personal ornaments and make-up tools and vessels which were created and developed by people during their diligent working life in the period of the Rangnang culture.

We then headed for the sci-tech development section showing the process of development in different fields, including bronze metallurgy, iron-making technology and metal workmanship.

“The tables showing the analyses of chemical composition of the exhibited bronze tools and the ore of the present copper mine prove that the bronze tools from the period of the Rangnang culture were made from the copper ore in the Pyongyang area, not that from any other area,” said the lecturer. 

Her explanation enabled us to know that the Korean ancestors were wise and resourceful persons, who made a distinguished contribution to glorifying the history of human civilization by developing the techniques of all fields onto a high level.

Among the exhibits there were silver cups considered the acme of metal workmanship and many other relics affording viewers a glimpse of excellent pictorial and sculptural arts.

We could be aware once again that the Rangnang culture was an advanced and excellent one based on developed science and technology.

We then went to a hall of education in history intensively showing Pyongyang’s primitive and ancient times and the period of Rangnang culture. There were also eight tombs restored to show the process of development of tomb architecture in that period and the outdoor folk games ground consisting of sites for archery, ssirum (Korean wrestling), swinging and paduk (go) game.

Through the visit to the museum, visitors could have a good understanding of the history of creation by the resourceful Korean ancestors.