Yanggu Porcelain Museum

Trace the clay used for the Joseon court's white porcelain back to its source and you end up in Bangsan-myeon, Yanggu. The Yanggu Porcelain Museum tells the story of 600 years of porcelain making in this corner of Gangwon and of Yanggu white clay, which was hauled to the royal kilns. It brings together finds from 40 old kiln sites, blue-and-white jars and a workshop where you can shape and fire your own piece.

History: the clay behind the royal tableware

Yanggu first appears as a ceramics centre in the geography section of the Annals of King Sejong (1432). Of 139 porcelain workshops in the country, two were in Yanggu: at Geoncheon, north of the county office, and at Jangpyeong, east of Bangsan. By 1530, when the Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam listed only 32 porcelain-producing places nationwide, Yanggu was the only one left in Gangwon.

Yanggu was just as famous for its white clay. The Bunwon, the official kiln in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, that made the court's porcelain, depended on it. In 1709, when officials tried to replace it with clay from elsewhere because digging was so arduous, the Saongwon, the office in charge of royal tableware, pleaded to go back: without Yanggu clay, it said, the vessels came out coarse and flawed. The late Joseon Yukjeon Jorye records that the Bunwon used 510 seok of Yanggu clay a year.

Kilns kept firing into the 20th century. In April 1913 a "Ceramics Improvement Association" was set up in Jangpyeong-ri to make modern stoneware, and production carried on until just before the Korean War. The museum opened on 27 June 2006 as the Bangsan Ceramics Museum and took its present name in 2012.

What to see

• Yanggu Porcelain Gallery: a hall of about 430 m² with white and blue-and-white porcelain from Yanggu and kiln furniture such as dochim (firing supports) and gapbal (saggars). Look out for blue-and-white jars painted with peonies, grasses and insects, and bowls bearing the characters for longevity and good fortune.
• The kiln sites: surveys identified 40 kiln sites in seven villages: Jangpyeong-ri, Chiljeon-ri, Hyeon-ri, Songhyeon-ri, Omi-ri and Geumak-ri in Bangsan-myeon, plus Sangmuryong-ri in Yanggu-eup. Sangmuryong-ri alone had nine; Jangpyeong-ri and Songhyeon-ri seven each.
• Special exhibition room (2nd floor): themed and contemporary ceramics shows change every year; some past exhibitions can be toured online in the museum's 3D web gallery.
• Workshop: a studio of about 230 m² with electric, gas and wood-fired kilns, where you can follow the whole process from preparing clay to firing.
• Museum shop: by the entrance, selling ceramics made from Yanggu clay.

A bowl from 1391 found on Geumgangsan

One find is central to Yanggu's porcelain story. In June 1932, workers building a firebreak on Wolchulbong in the Geumgangsan mountains uncovered a stone box holding four large white porcelain bowls, an incense burner and a silver reliquary. The bowls carry the date 1391 and a votive inscription by Yi Seong-gye, the future founder of Joseon. A phrase around one foot ring, naming "Sim Ryong, porcelain maker of Bangsan", suggests the bowls were made here. They are now designated Treasures and held by the National Museum of Korea.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: 10:00–18:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing. Closed Mondays (when Monday is a public holiday the museum opens and closes on the next weekday instead), on 1 January and on the mornings of Seollal and Chuseok.
• Admission: KRW 3,000 for adults, teenagers, soldiers and children aged 8 and over. Free for children 7 and under, visitors 65 and over, disabled visitors with one companion, and national merit recipients.
• Workshops: hand-building costs KRW 15,000 (KRW 14,000 per person for groups of 20 or more); a one-to-one wheel session costs KRW 20,000. Materials and firing are included. No bookings are taken at weekends and on public holidays, so simply turn up for the 10:00, 14:00 or 16:00 session. Your fired piece is sent on later by courier, cash on delivery.
• Photography: filming, photography and phone use are not allowed in the galleries.
• Time needed: 1 hour for the exhibitions, about 2 hours with a workshop.
• Getting there: take a bus from Dong Seoul Terminal to Yanggu Intercity Bus Terminal, then a rural bus towards Bangsan (Omi) and get off at the Bangsan-myeon office or Bangsan-myeon health centre (30–40 minutes). A taxi from the terminal takes about 20 minutes.
• Combine with: the Peace Dam, about 9 km away, for a full day in Bangsan-myeon.