An art of colour painting, a kind of decorative art used in the wooden buildings for a long time, is a national treasure which is distinctive in nature and deep in national emotion.

   From olden times, our ancestors built a number of peculiar and excellent edifices using wood as main material. But the wood has a limitation of ageing because of various external factors in the natural environment.

   From this, they have painted the wood to prevent from ageing and this, relating with people`s aesthetic demand, has led to the development of various colours, patterns, effective methods and techniques for decorating the buildings more decently and beautifully.

   The beautiful and elegant colour painting we can see today is accomplished by such process into a more splendid and beautiful decoration. The colour painting which has developed the architecture in a decorative way in conformity with the emotions and feelings of our nation uses various colours to create a variety of patterns and form a single architectural ornament by harmonizing these patterns.

   Traditionally, it includes Kum colour painting (superior one for palace and big temples), Moru colour painting (ordinary one for temples), Pom colour painting (ordinary one for general buildings) according to the constitutive features of the decorative patterns and colour paintings for temple, palace, school, public office and inn, and castle or pavilion according to the type of the building. Its decorating principle is Sangrokhadan (eaves, upper part of the building is painted blue and the lower columns painted red).

   The peculiar and beautiful colour compositions and patterns of colour painting make us feel proud of our ancestor’s outstanding artistic skill and brace ourselves to succeed and enrich our culture and tradition which are nowhere.

   Thanks to the immortal efforts of the Great Leaders who dedicated themselves to excavating and enriching all the treasures of the nation proud of the 5 000-year history and culture and the policy of our party of protecting national cultural heritage, the art of colour painting is constantly being handed down as a precious heritage of national value.