Where are the value and significance of the past cultural heritage?

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"Whether it is art and literature of the genre of realism or not, the form takes a national character in one way or another."

Chairman Kim Jong Il saw through the importance of promoting national peculiarities in building up the Juche-oriented and revolutionary culture and illuminated precious guiding principles to inherit and develop the popular and national styles of our past cultural heritage, while conducting revolutionary activities at Kim Il Sung University.

On March the 19th, Juche53(1964), some students of Kim Il Sung University who were preparing for graduation theses had an argument on the matter of inheritance of the past cultural heritage in a recess time.

However, the problem here was what to inherit concretely in the cultural heritage and how to do it.

Chairman Kim Jong Il, who was carefully listening to their debate, said: the cultural heritage embodies national characteristics and also involves the limitation of the period and history, the cultural heritage enjoyed not only by the working masses but also by the propertied classes may possibly embody national peculiarities and even the culture created by the exploited and oppressed working masses inevitably involves the limitation of the period.

He continued to say that it is to promote national characteristics of culture properly that the working classes in power direct their attention to the national cultural heritage in building up the new socialist culture. And, we should promote national peculiarities properly in order to establish Juche principle in cultural construction and build up the culture that meets the sentiments and taste of the popular masses and the revolutionary one that actively serves the implementation of the socialist and communist cause, he said.

Then, where are the national characteristics of the past cultural heritage? Where are their value and significance?

As the Chairman taught, it is for promoting national characteristics of culture properly to direct our attention to the national cultural heritage in building up the new socialist culture and it means, in essence, by inheriting and developing the past cultural heritage and the legacies of literature and art to succeed to their national style, the value and significance lie in the national form other than in the ideological content.

On March the 27th, Juche50(1961), he said to the students of Kim Il Sung University that it is an important requirement of the socialist national cultural construction to inherit and develop the national cultural heritage critically and the socialist national culture is the one in national style with socialist content.

The great leader also said that we have to promote national forms that suit our people's sentiments to meet the demands of the times and modern aesthetic view and, also, we should study on a wide scale, inherit and develop critically our national cultural heritage in all sectors of literature and art including music, dance, architecture and the fine arts.

There are numerous superior national forms among the past cultural heritage of our country.

Korean painting, the traditional art of drawing that has developed together with the long history of our nation, is truly a national style of our fine arts and the beautiful melodies of our folk songs are also the national forms that meet the sentiments and aesthetic views of our people.

Korean dance has a unique feature of national style by which the dancer moves the entire body harmoniously while coordinating naturally the movements of legs with the movements of upper part of the body including the arms.

Sijo (collections of poems) which was created from the era of Koryo to the early 20th century, has many limitations in their contents, as they were written by literary men of noble birth in many cases, but has left precious experience for writing short verses due to its stylistic superiority of reflecting deep meanings in short lines.

Although it is a short poem, Sijo has all characteristics of lyric poems.

Due to its fixed rhythm structure, it some deficiencies in expressing content, but the superiority of its descriptive aspects may help create new short verses and lyric poems of our era.

Court art of past times should be evaluated and dealt with properly.

We should reveal and criticize the anti-popular characteristics of court art that used to serve feudal kings and the nobility on the class principles and should never tolerate the revival of court art style.

However, we should not make a hasty conclusion about music or tunes of dancing among the court art to be feudal and anti-popular without any consideration.

Court music or tunes of dancing were, in all respects, originated from the popular music styles and national dancing forms.

Popular and progressive legacies of national literature and art never lose their popular nature completely even though they are changed to meet the taste of feudal kings and the nobility.

Those invariable popular tunes and rhythms are precious styles for our literature and art to succeed to develop to meet the demands of the times.

Therefore, we should search for progressive and popular styles and elements from court music and dancing to enrich and develop our literature and art on the national basis.

Like this, among the past cultural heritage including the legacies of classic literature and art, the one we have to inherit and develop is not the ideological content but the national styles that meet the taste and sentiments of our people.

Thanks to the wise leadership of the Chairman who embodied an ardent love for national literature and art and brilliant intelligence in art, the world-startling Renaissance of the 20th century was brought about on this land and our country is shining brilliantly as the country of art and the one of flowering new culture of our people.

The enormous exploits achieved by Chairman Kim Jong Il in the sector of literature and art started towering up when he conducted revolutionary activities at Kim Il Sung University.

The dignified course, through which the legacies of national literature and art were inherited and developed to set up the grand flower garden of genuine socialist literature and art, has been a remarkable trace of the great man, who declared profound principles of inheritance and development of national cultural heritage including classic literature and art during his days at the University.