Power and ritual in Korea

By AD520 the Silla kings ruled the south east of the Korean peninsula

Silla society was powerful and hierarchical. Its royalty was buried in these mounds

The City of Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom

It brought royal, religious and administrative affairs together in one place

Later kingdoms continued this tradition of centralised power

King Sejong developed the Korean alphabet in the 1440s

Important information had to be recorded in writing

Court historians had great authority and wrote their own versions of events

Many of these records still exist today and tell us about Korean history

The writings of Chinese philosopher Confucius influenced court and society

Officials set an example of good behaviour by their correct observance of certain ceremonies

These rituals showed that the rulers were diligent and moral

Just as the people they ruled were meant to be

These ceremonies are still observed at the Royal Ancestral Shrine in Seoul

The dragon is a symbol of royal power

and is used across many art forms

from ceremonial furniture

to ceramics decorated with a dragon...

...chasing a flaming pearl across the clouds