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A Chinese woman has been vigorously acting in Koreas baduk (go) game sector. She has been living in Korea for 10 years, sweeping various baduk titles. Thanks to her, Koreas woman baduk sector made an eye-popping growth over the last decade.

This is part of an article carried on a newspaper. Curiosity rose on why she has decided to act in Korea? The reason why she left China was because she was sick of the authoritarian attitude of Chinese baduk sector. At first she stayed in Japan for six years but had to leave the nation due to widespread xenophobic atmosphere there. At that time, some leading baduk players called on her to come to Korea while claiming that ``baduk sector should be open to foreigners to be activated. As a result, Koreas woman baduk has managed to stand on an equal footing with Chinas.

I came to think of wall paintings of Koguryeo while reading the article. The paintings are vivid enough to impress even modern people beyond the difference of time and space. Excellent artistic works move people beyond passages of time of centuries.

Wall paintings have many contents. We can see calligraphy painting, kitchen appliances, scene around wells, treadmill for grain crushing, textiles with various kinds of designs and patterns, procession of people performing various sorts of musical instruments, many kinds of plays and even hair styles. Among these, what attracts most is the scene of foreigners.

The secret of vitality and self-confidence of Gakjeochong

There are wall paintings describing two men engaged in ssireum (Korean-style wrestling) in Gakjeo-chong (tomb) in Guknae-seong (castle), which was the second capital city of Koguryeo. A sense of tension is felt as if the two are involved in a war of nerve to take the lead. One of the two is certainly a Koguryeo man while the other looks like a Western man with an aquiline nose.

The painting also depicts two people on hand-clapping plays, one of whom is also estimated to be from the West. The painter vividly expressed the scenes so the descendents can understand clearly.

We feel freshness when seeing the wall paintings, which also provide fun as if to find hidden contents. This also indicates the need for us to specifically analyze the painting as significant history data. It is a wonder we can read the painters intention.

We can estimate that the Koguryeo people had an open attitude toward foreign culture through the wall paintings. While accepting the foreign culture, they succeeded in recreating it as their own culture, which is very significant beyond the difference of time.