SUMMERTIME OUTING #2

PILE OF STONES

I have always been fascinated by ancient stone structures. As a child, I first learned about Stonehenge. I was mesmerized and smitten! Who built these structures? How long ago were they built? Why did people build them? Perhaps the most perplexing question was how did they transport the huge and heavy stones from quarries at great distances?

Stonehenge

Wiltshire, England

When we were in Ireland, I researched out all the ancient rock structures: stone cairns, ancient stone carvings, and circles of standing stones. One day, we spent the whole day driving through a sparsely populated area in the center of Ireland so that we could see one dolmen.

Poulnabrone Dolmen - Ireland

The site was dated about 3,500 B.C. and this dolmen was definitely a grave site. In Ireland, there are about 180 dolmen. I was excited! It seemed like we would have to make more trips to England, Ireland, and Scotland to see more of these prehistoric burial sites.

Little did I know that Korea has 35,000 dolmens, which is 40% of the world's total! I have been anticipating seeing one since I arrived here almost two years ago, but unfortunately the areas containing the largest numbers of dolmens are nowhere near a subway, train, or bus route. 😞😞😞

Our friend, Connor, and his wife - (both love outings) - agreed to take us on a two day trip to Gochang and Jeonju. Among the places we would visit was the Gochang Dolmen Museum, and the surrounding environs - full of more dolmens!

What is a dolmen? It is a prehistoric (Bronze Age) grave site or tomb dating from around 4,000 - 3,000 B.C. Some dolmens have two huge flat stones vertically standing in the ground and a larger flat stone on top. Since human remains and artifacts have been found underneath these structures, it is clear that a chamber was dug for the person to be buried, along with some or many of their belongings. After covering the chamber with dirt and stones, the huge "table" structure was made, and then the whole thing was covered with more dirt and rocks, making a mound. Over the thousands of years, the plants and dirt have eroded, leaving only the heavy rock skeleton.

Bryan in front of a tabletop dolmen. The two vertical stones probably go down deep into the soil.

This "table" has five legs. Imagine getting the huge rock to stay on top of the legs, without the use of wheel or pulley.

More tabletop dolmens. It is obvious by the amount of effort required to move the rocks and place them accordingly, that the people buried under these dolmens are very important people. No peasants here!

Also, some of the objects buried with the person were valuable - a lot of pottery, but also jewelry and precious items.

This style is sometimes called the "Go-Board", because it looks just like the board of a game that is commonly played in South Korea.

Inside the museum, this facsimile showed how the megaliths were transported, using a large crew of strong men, and a series of logs which rolled underneath the crushing weight of the huge stone.

I ran down the trail so that I could see as many as possible!

One eerie fact is that if the dead person were important or rich, a live person, usually a servant or handmaid was buried alive with them. Their job was to make sure no one disturbed the dead body. The live person, of course, soon died.

Some dolmens look like a rock sitting on the ground, but there is actually a tomb dug deep under the ground with the person and his belongings. The capstone is laid on top of the tomb at ground level. It was probably covered with more dirt and rocks at one time.

The mountain was twenty colors of green -  lush and luxuriant. We were surrounded by fertile fields showing off crops of all kinds.

The prehistoric village below shows how Bronze Age people may have lived in this area.

Behind this street lamp is a perfect rice field - not one weed, and every rice plant the same height, like a soft green carpet.

More perfect fields, and not a person in sight! Definitely "out of the way"! Before we left, some men came out of a little house and offered us a slice of freshly picked watermelon. It was the best.

Jeonju

On to the city of Jeonju, and our first stop was Deokjin Park. On the map, this area is shown as a "pond", but I would say that it is an ocean of lotus blossoms and huge lotus leaves. It's hard to imagine that under all the lotus plants is water, and you can't see anything beyond the lotus...like it goes on forever.

The lotus leaves were about 2 - 3 feet across. Incidentally, they are used in cooking. One dining experience I had the waitress brought out a little "package" that looked like paper wrapped up. It was a folded over lotus leaf with rice inside. You pick it up and eat it with your hands. 

Lotus blossoms in various stages - buds, partially opened, and completely opened. The blossoms close up at night.

The lotus blossom is a Buddhist symbol and the lotus motif can be seen everywhere - on temples, on sculptures, carved out of the mountain, on doors and windows.

Gyeonggijeon

Gyeonggijeon is a series of buildings - a shrine to King Taejo of the Joseon Dynasty, and built to house his famous portrait. The entrance to shrines of important people often have the gate with arrows pointing up, signifying powerful warrior, and the yin/yang (taegukgi) symbol, signifying balance in the universe.

This memorial consists of a turtle with a tablet on its back, containing an inscription about King Taejo; and a stone container inside of the circular stone fence, which contains the umbilical cord (or placenta?) of King Taejo (or his mother). Apparently, all princes who may become kings had their mother's placenta and/or umbilical cord stored somewhere in case they became king. In this case, it was a good thing!

Another view:

 A beautiful bamboo forest and stone pathways that wind through the various buildings in the complex.

Over the wall - the dome topped building is the Catholic Church of Jeonju.

The entire complex is built to honor King Taejo, first king of the Joseon dynasty. The real "claim to fame" was that Gyeonggijeon Hall stored the famous portrait of King Taejo. The portrait was brought from Seoul by a procession of hundreds of servants, and at a time when there were no roads. It is difficult to imagine what a hike it would have been!

Here he is - King Taejo - life size!

This palanquin was carried by four people and could house one person inside.

I was voted to be the person inside

The background is a famous painting "Five Peaks, the Sun, and the Moon". Do you see a little Van Gogh?

Jeonju is famous for bibimbap, which is usually fine - no problem. Why did they have to put a raw egg on top? Each bite with the chopsticks was sort of slimy, covered with the raw egg white. The ladies in my English class try to convince me that a raw egg is "delicious" (?)

I did eat some of the Acorn jello!

Looks like some radish kimchi - perfect for summer!

When we first walked in, there was a map of South Korea, made out of the ingredients for bibimbap.

The last day, we visited a traditional Hanok Village (old fashioned, traditional), which was fabulous! You can stay in an old fashioned Hanok house, with floor heating and sleeping on mats, see traditional entertainment, and wander through the shops and houses to see all kinds of interesting things.

This woman is making paper. Recipe: First, take the bark off a mulberry tree trunk. Then shred up the inside of the trunk and let it dry. It will look like straw. 

Then wash it over and over in huge buckets of water, until it turns into the white "pulp" in the blue container.

Next, put the pulp on huge trays and weigh it down with heavy bricks, to make it thinner. After it dries for a while, take out one thin piece and bake it on a gigantic cookie sheet.

Now it can be dried into long strips, or

made into clothing. This white "paper" clothing is used to dress the dead for burial. 

Very interesting...

SUMMERTIME

SUMMERTIME 

DAY IN DAEGU - outing #1

Sunny wanted to take us to Daegu, the third largest city in South Korea. We hopped on the fast train from Busan Station (below).

Busan Station has interesting sculpture, which are lit up at night. The flower pots are gorgeous! The fast train to Daegu, usually a 1.5 to 2 hour drive, took about 35 minutes.

Sunny and I are standing in front of the Yangnyeongski Museum of Oriental Medicine! Welcome to the street that is devoted entirely to the world of oriental medicine. Farmers, sellers, and buyers roam the street, which has over 100 stores or markets selling medicinal herbs. There are over 85 doctors working in many clinics.  Over twenty stores specialize in selling ginseng alone. You can guess what it smells like...weird herbs and roots used to make all kinds of tea brewing in every store! The Oriental Medicine Museum was quite interesting - a whole exhibit was devoted to ginseng root, and  there was a room where you could put certain herbal remedies in water and soak your feet for whatever ails you.

Daegu Jeil Church was established in 1898, one of the earliest Christian Churches in the province. Its traditional and Western architectural designs were at the forefront of the nation's architectural modernization. The church contributed to the expansion of Christianity in the region. As Christianity blossomed, the church introduced modern medicine and education to the citizens of Daegu and stimulated social development in the region.

Next we walked up "Independence Street" with its 90 steps. Along one side there are historical photographs and mural paintings, and along the other side is a display of Korean flags.

We were lucky enough to run into this group of children on a field trip, who sang a song for us! The little boy in the long sleeved shirt is not happy.  

At the top of the hill is another Protestant Church - this one made from granite. It has some Gothic components, such as two spires, pointed arches, and eighteen stained glass windows.

A stone path led up the hill farther where there were missionary's houses from the late 1800s. Many Christian missionaries came to Korea in the 1800's. Many were martyred, killed because Joseon dynasty leaders saw Christianity as a threat. 

Many missionaries lived here over the years - some from France and Switzerland. Paintings inside show some of the martyrs. Today the inside is a museum.

When the government tore down the old city wall, the Church asked for this portion to remain, so the wall with the old church bell still stands today.

Bryan and Sunny in front of another missionary house. Notice that Sunny shades her face from the sun whenever she is outside.

Walking past an old rock wall, we could see the missionary's garden, and the clay pots used for storing food outside for long periods of time.

Walking further, we came to some old traditional Korean houses. While visiting, it's possible to dress up in hanbok for that authentic look. I was the only one who wanted to.

The houses belonged to these two famous men from Daegu: Left: Lee Sang-Hwa, and Right: Seo Sang-Don.

Lee Sang Hwa was a nationalist poet active in the resistance. He participated in the 'Samil Independence Movement' of March 1, 1919 in Daegu to seek the restoration of Korean sovereignty against colonial rule. Any Korean knows the poem that begins, "Does spring come to this land no more our own, to these stripped fields? " One of the most famous Korean poems, it captures the misery of an oppressed nation by illustrating the sorrow of Korea's gloomy colonial situation.

Seo Sang-Don was a nationalist activist in 1898, working with the Independence Association against Russia's political interference and promoting political rights. He proposed and began the Foreign Debt Repayment Movement, and in the year 1907, started a movement to get people to stop smoking.

Both traditional houses, in the center of Daegu, were saved from destruction and are now open for tourists and school groups.

This mural is painted along one street. It reads from right to left, top to bottom, and is one of Lee Sang Hwa's poems.

Sunny and I stand by another mural showing Lee Sang Hwa in the center of Daegu.

Fortunately, an important event was taking place in a nearby park. We stopped to take a picture and wondered what the celebration could be. We found out it was a celebration for the poet Lee Sang Hwa's birthday! These women all belonged to a special "Lee Sang Hwa Society".

The women, dressed in their finest hanbok, asked us to join them and motioned for us to sit on the elegant mats, embellished with tiny wooden "tables", tea sets of all varieties, centerpieces, flowers, punch bowls, and the fanciest little (unknown) foods!

The woman sitting by me was an expert wood worker, and she made the trivets by cutting through a tree trunk, sanding it smooth, and putting one small vase on top with a simple sprig of a summer wildflower.

On each wooden tray was a small bowl of punch made from some kind of fruit juice and vinegar. You lift the bowl and drink it. The little stars in the punch are made by cutting an Asian pear with a special cutting tool. The bowl to the right has a "treat" made from cutting lotus stalks in thin slices and then dipping them in ??? The lotus can also be cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

The covered bowl had three little balls (Chinese date, and some kind of doek rice cake) eaten with toothpicks, which the woman had made from a certain tree. She sanded the sticks and painted them with a special paint. The "toothpick" is sitting on a little wooden duck. I loved it so much that she gave me the duck and two sticks!

We became good buddies, and she gave me a book of

poetry with some parts in English. 

Generosity...

and Kindness

The last stop was the Gyesan Catholic Church, also an important building for historical and architectural reasons. It was built by Priest Robert (1853 - 1922) who came to Daegu as a missionary. This church played an important role in the dissemination of Catholicism throughout the region. A memorial hall has the remains of 65 Catholic martyrs.

The brick, the pinnacles, and the stained glass outside, and the pointed arches inside are like the Gothic churches in Europe, and were very unusual for the time.

Another street mosaic showing the Gyesan Catholic Church - and we head back to the train station! Great day in Daegu.