People create roads and connect with their community and culture through the roads.

North Chungcheong Province ("Chungbuk") is no exception to that. People in this province are linked with the provincial community and culture by a myriad of roads including land routes or waterways. Chungbuk, a major traffic point accessible from all directions, is the only landlocked province in Korea not bordered by the sea, but on the other hand, it is a place where diverse cultures coexist as surrounded by other provinces. Therefore, Chungbuk has a very special meaning as a crossway of cultures on the Korean Peninsula.

This exhibition co-organized by the Chungbuk Provincial Government and the National Folk Museum of Korea as part of the "Year of Chungbuk Folk Culture 2012" project is designed to promote Chungbuk based on the results of the national museum's investigation which has been conducted of the provincial community from 2011

The exhibition shows the roads leading to Chungbuk to promote the province as a crossway of different cultures, which are the cultures people have created while traveling through land or water routes, or along roads. For land routes, they have formed cultures traveling between mountains, and docks or ferries have served to connect different cultures through waterways.

That is how Chungbuk has built its own unique folk culture. Many different folk elements have been formed in the reciprocal processes of influencing and being influenced by the surrounding cultures. Such a relationship is locally found through a variety of folkways in this province. The local folkways are associated with the Han River and Geum River areas along water routes, the areas of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla Kingdoms in a historical context, and the areas of the eastern, central and southern parts in a geographical context.

This exhibition shows those features and qualities of Chungbuk with materials and video images arranged in a temporal and spatial manner, so you can experience the community fully along land and water routes.

The exhibition will take you on a journey to Chungbuk along the following roads:

• Part I: Chungbuk as a Community of Roads: Nature and History
• Part II: The Ways Leading to Chungbuk along Land and Water Routes
• Part III: Meet Chungbuk's Folklore along the Roads.
• Part IV: The Way People have Lived in Chungbuk.
• Part V: The Way for Chungbuk to Travel

We wish that human communication could be facilitated via the roads of Chungbuk branching off into many directions, expecting our province to be your first destination of communication.

Part1. Chungbuk Province as a Road

Chungbuk as a major traffic hub plays an important role on the Korean Peninsula due to its geographical location and historical background. The Seoul-Busan line and other major national highways run through the province, which serves to pave the way for Korea to advance towards the Continents of Asia and Europe.
In view of the Sangyeongpyo (Geographical Classification Chare) which closely associates the scenic beauty of the Korean Peninsula with people's real lives through rivers and mountains, Chungbuk is like a safe shelter through which the Geum and South Han Rivers run, surrounded by two different mountain ranges. Like a region's natural characteristics make its language distinctive and the different language makes people's disposition distinctive, the local characteristics of Chungbuk formed from its own historical experience and scenery have a considerable influence on the provincial community's folklore, language and disposition.

Part2. Land and Water Routes to the Chungbuk Province

Two large rivers, the Geum River and South Han River, lazily run through Chungbuk to the sea. In the Joseon Dynasty era, many important roads and waterways passed through this province and people routinely traveled through them with goods and supplies.
In the process, people sometimes encountered dangers, ravages or threats and religious beliefs developed by means of preventing such things. Formed along the roads, inns and marketplaces served as the places of personal and cultural exchange. In addition, the natural scenery and landscapes helped open up trail routes which attracted visitors from all over the nation and contributed to creating a new culture.

Part3. Meeting along the Path, Folk Cultures in Chungbuk Province

While land and water routes have been made over a long period of time, Chungbuk's own unique folkways have been formed in combination of different cultures by people traveling through those routes. The folklore of Chungbuk formed along the routes take various forms in terms of literature, religion, society, art and material.
The provincial folklore formed via natural routes is characterized by the South Han River and Geum River systems, whereas the province's historical routes form a folk culture characterized by the areas of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla which are the three kingdoms of ancient Korea. The provincial community can be also divided into three geographical areas northern, central and southern formed in interaction with its neighboring districts.
In this sense, the folklore of Chungbuk can be characterized as the fusion and coexistence of different cultures. This is revealed through religious beliefs, language, folk tales, folk songs and material things.

Part4. The Path People in Chungbuk Province have followed

One of the Parts of the survey on Chungbuk Province on 2011 conducted by the National Folk Museum of Korea is about settlers named Park Nam-sik(Born in 1945) and Oh Jeong-gi(Born in 1950) to describe their life history and livelihood.
Since his settlement in Chungbuk Province, Park Nam-sik from Haeju, Hwanghae Province has lived working as a photographer, farming management and various social activities around Beopjusa and in Mt. Songisan from the mid 1960s. Oh Jeong-gi whose hometown is Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk Province has farmed in his present settlement. The exhibition presents a look at the face and progress of the provincial culture by showing the history and livelihood of them.

Part5. Chungbuk Province's Way to the Future

Like other rural communities in Korea, Chungbuk's farm villages remain inactive due to aging and depopulation. One such example would be Dunyul Village in Goesan of which the National Folk Museum of Korea carried out an investigation in 2011. Recently, however, the village is becoming more active as the villagers farm and promote marsh snails as a specialty. There are many young people who cultivate cash crops such as ginseng and corn without leaving the land and take leading part in village events and activities, so the village is always full of vitality. This village presents a blueprint for farming and farm village life which are the bedrocks of traditional society.