Onggi Pottery & More Tea Culture



the long traditional onggi kiln capable of holding up to 50 vessels

Earthenware Kiln in Bugeo-ri, Gimje

Registered Cultural Heritage No. 403

The RAS (Royal Asiatic Society) Tour continued onwards to an onggi kiln site. Onggi is the traditional fired pottery used for holding kimchis, fermenting soy sauces and bean pastes and is now creatively made into dishes, pots, vases, tea sets, and in other non-traditional ways.

Making the onggi is a labor-intensive process. First the clay has to be harvested from nearby clay pits. Then it is washed and soaked and allowed to suspend in water where the clay-water is floated out leaving behind the sand, grit and other heavier debris. Then with an electrical devise (hurray for that because this is a one-made operation!), the clay-water is processed and pulled and through working the water the water is wrung from the clay. At some point, the onggi-maker treads on and pounds the softening clay to squeeze all the trapped air bubbles out. Once the clay is more workable, it is heaped in a mound in a work building where it is scraped and kneeded by hand, scraped and kneeded by hand, then formed into bricks for further work in the next process.

chamber kilns - also for firing pottery, but of much smaller size than the huge onggi pots

After the moist bricks are all stacked, the clay is ready for forming into long slabs. The style employed at this onggi kiln is not to make pottery using coils but to make the pottery by working the clay into long thin slabs, and stacking the slabs as needed and pinching them together to make the vast pots demanded for Korean food preservation. The glaze is the secret that strengthens the onggi and gives it a weather-resistant sheen. It is principally a combination of suspended clay and pine ash - I'm sure other secrets are employed and not told, even though the formerly competing five other onggi kilns in the area are no longer in operation and even no longer in existence.

a peek inside the long onggi kiln - already a few large onggi are sitting,
ready to be fired when the kiln is full

Eventually the clay pots, the principle production at this kiln, are formed and are ready to be fired. The long kiln can hold up to 50 vessels, of course that depends on size. The smaller chamber kilns (time 5 or 6 at this site) are used for smaller pieces.



inside the cool earthy-smelling workshop

When firing a kiln, it reaches temperatures of 1200C and the temperature must be maintained. The chamber kilns usually need one day to fire and one day to cool. The long kiln needs five days of constant tending and constant maintaining of temperature before the pieces are adequately fired, and I'm not sure how long to cool before breaking the seal to see how successful the firing process was.

An interesting historical point about this onggi kiln site is that Buchang village, where this kiln and five others were located about 200 years ago, was formed by Catholics escaping from religious persecution. Not much is known about the events themselves but the village and the art of onggi did continue and was passed down until today. The present owner is a rather young man who, after finishing his studies of pottery at university, came and was taught by the former owner (and I think descendant of the original villagers). The former owner was not only firing onggi-ware but also being a farmer - very unusual, and demanding. He taught the university graduate, who by graduating, is also certified to make tableware of plates, bowls, vases and other culinary pieces that I understood would not be acceptable without having his university degree in pottery.

The onggi guest shop and greeting room

Modern-day use of the onggi pottery clay production and glazing

beautiful, rustic, graceful teapots available

Preparing tea for the guests - this was a warming fermented tea served with cool watermelon,
a barley baked bread and rice cakes with honey and sesame filling

a light refreshment to say 'thank you for coming' to the guests

Geumsansa Temple & Tea Culture

Intro to the Tour

A small busload of people gathered for the 'Geumsan-sa (temple) and its surroundings' excursion. Because our group size was relatively small and probably because we all had some long-term and/or professional experience with Korea, our group really bonded.

One couple who really caught my attention first were not here as English professionals but rather we here working with molecular studies related to pharmaceutics, distribution. What was particularly interesting is that the husband was originally here back in 1978-1981 (?) with the Peace Corps working out of Jeollanamdo area where are tour was going. He did a lot of work in the health field, particularly with leprosy patients. Even more interesting, he was one of the three Peace Corps workers who actually was a witness to acts in the Kwangju 1980 Uprising, and there is a recorded picture of him on brochures of the time - he was carrying a badly injured student to safety. Another couple - an American and his Japanese wife who avidly studies Korean and blogs - have been in Korea for two years because of job relocation from Japan where they had met and the husband had lived for the past 20 years. He works at Standard Charter Bank and through the bank there is a lot of volunteering with the blind. His business card even had Braille on it, thus, the information about the company's volunteer program. I'm interested! And then there was a PhD student of art history studying pottery. Although her family is Korea, they currently live in Japan, and not surprising, the student is studying the variations of onggi and other pottery types between the two countries. A young man rather new but very keen on Korea and an older gentleman who is intensely interested in Korean bird calls and nature itself also joined our tour ... which was given by Brother Anthony himself, a 32-year resident of Korea!

Our first stop after traveling to the deep south was to fuel our tanks with a wonderful spread of side dishes, the famous 정식 meal, and with toasts of warm makkoli, a fermented rice wine that's low in alcoholic content and vaguely tangy.

Geumsan-sa (temple) and the Temple Grounds

Geumsan-sa literally means "Golden Mountain Temple" and it stands on the slopes of Moaksan in Gimje City, Jeollabuk-do. As one of the largest temples in the regions, many national treasures have been relocated to its 'protective' pastoral grounds for public viewing. Like most Korean temples, its buildings were completely destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1590s, then rebuilt in following decades. Also, as in the quick invasion, the stone monuments survived unscathed. In the surrounding mountains, there were approximately 80 temples, and during times of invasion, the monks would go into training to fight the outside forces. In Korean history, there is no record of major dissent between the varying types of Buddhism, so there was not regional or belief competition between the religious forms. All energy was directed at outside forces. In any case, Geumsan-sa, being a very large temple grounds at one time, was where the training of Buddhist monks took place to fight the Japanese invaders. 10,000 monks were said to be in training here at one time! With Buddhism headquarters being places of military training and dissent, the Japanese came in and destroyed all known temples.

Mireukjeon (Maitreya Hall)

National Treasure No. 62

Mireuk Hall is one of the greatest treasures in Geumsan-sa. It is of unusual construction, having three tiers - the first is called Daejabojeon (Hall of Great Mercy and Healing), the second is Yonghwajihoe (Gathering of Dragon and Beauty), and the third is Mirekjeon (Hall of Maitreya). The hall though tiered is just a spacious room inside housing the world's largest indoor standing Buddha, 11.82 meters in height, the gigantic gilded statue of Mireuk who is the Maitreya or the Buddha of the future. Two other statues stand to left and right, 8.8 meters. I'm unclear who they are but they are very old. The central figure of Maitreya is a modern creation said to have been modeled on a Silla statue, as the original burned in a fire in the hall in 1934. This statue was replaced the Joseon statue in 1938. As can easily be seen, it is considerably taller than the preceding one, shown in a photo from Frederick Starr's Korean Buddhism of 1918.

As legend has it, Mireukjeon was built on the former sight of a pond where a dragon resided. According to the teachings of an old monk, the people filled in the pond with ashes, which chased the dragon away, and on that site, Mireuk hall was built.

Yukgak Taechung Soktap (Hexagonal multi-storied stupa)
Treasure No. 27
The 11-tiered hexagonal eaves of the stupa differs from typical granite pagodas of the time in that the tiers are made of black-and-white clay slate (the main ingredient of ink-stones). The decorative granite addition to the top was added later to give a feeling of completion to the believed-to-be Goryeo period stupa. This is considered one of the other "prizes" of the temple grounds and is located centrally in the wide courtyard.

Seokdeung (stone lamp)
Treasure No. 828
The lamp of enlightenment was used to light the front of the Buddha hall. It was also called changmyeong teung (overnight lamp). Its base is covered with carvings of the double lotus, and the octagonal pillar is lined with streaks resembling the cosmos. The upper portion is the lamp is carved with the fully bloomed lotus, the symbol of complete enlightenment. This lamp stands 4 meters tall and dates back to the Goryeo period.

Ocheung Seoktap (front) and Bangdeung Gyedan (back right)
Treasures No. 25 and No. 26
Ocheong pagoda is five-storied (7.2 meters) and stands atop a two-storied stylobate (a large platform). Generally, a stupa is erected in front of the main Buddhist hall which preserves the sari (Buddha's relics) but in this case, this stupa dates to the Goryeo period and stands in front of the Bangdeung gyedan, which holds the Buddha's relics. [The Bangdeun gyedan is supposed to have been erected in the Silla Dynasty, hmmm on time logistics.] In 1971, when the stupa was dismantled and restored, the two relics of the Cheongkangrae and five relics of Sakyamuni Buddha were found within the stupa. The information posting on this suggests but does not directly say that the relics are presently located in the Geumsan-sa museum. Keeping in mind that the Buddha's relics were thought to be contained within the Bangdeung gyedan, the small worship hall next to the stylobate, raised platform, has no Buddha image or boddhivisattvas within but instead has an open window out of which worshippers can view the Bandeung gyedan containing the relics of Buddha himself.

Inside the Taejeok Kwangjeon
Five Buddhas and six boddhivisattvas are enshrined in the Taejeok Kwangjeon (Hall). The hall has been recently built but since its destruction in a 1986 fire, the Taejeok Kwangjeon has lost its status as National Treasure No. 476.

Oops, I seem to have misplaced my notes on this, but it is very usual in design, height and artistic presentation that I think it needs posting. This reminds me much more of Indian art than Korean art. I do realize that Korea borrowed Buddhism via India and Tibet and China, but the way Korean art depicts Buddhism is much more simplistic and in much more squat presentation than this. The color backgrounds, though very recently painted, are modern-artistic using Confucian cultural motifs and Buddhist temple colors (a bit greener than usual). In fact, the majority of the buildings in this temple compound are modern-artistic. I think the painting designer is very good ... but unrealistic to the time, just my opinion.

Tea Ceremony with a Monk

Our tour was invited for tea after we wandered around the temple grounds, took our pictures and learned about the Buddhism iconography. Then we met in a central great learning hall for tea with the monk, who is in charge of Templestays and welcoming guests.

A tea ceremony is very ritualized. Our serving monk served us with toned-down ritual gestures - (even our rural monks use electric water pots, and to expedite serving several people, we passed in ceremony our own drinks). Anyway, first of all he rinsed each of the glasses in a bowl of hot water, and set each tiny washed cup on a bamboo saucer.

The washing of the cups also warmed our cups so that the tea would not be cooled by their coolness. The weather was rather hot, but aw well, 이열치열, use heat to burn the heat out of one's self is the belief.

Then in the warmed teapot with green tea leaves he poured boiling hot water and immediately poured it into the pouring bowl and from that passed the pouring bowl to the guests to serve themselves with. The pouring bowl is used so that tea is never over steeped. Good tea leaves can be used up to five times, and over steeped tea becomes acidic and bitter. The traditionalists had a knowledge about tea that deserves contemplation ... but then that's the whole purpose of the ceremony - to contemplate on being a "good" person.

Dobong Mountain & Mangwol Temple Loop

Dobong Mountain (739.5m) is one of the three most impressive and frequented mountains for climbing within the Seoul region - the other two mountains are Gwanaksan (632m) and Bukhansan (836.5m), and then there is the lesser known Suraksan (637.7). As can be seen on the rabbit-shaped map of the Koreas, though Dobongsan in centrally located on the peninsula, it is located by subway about 30 minutes north of the heart of Seoul in Kyunggi Province.

Korea has 20 national parks, but unfortunately Dobongsan is not included among them. Only Bukhansan in Seoul qualifies as a national park. Looking at this map though, I got excited and remembered my old burning passion to climb every major mountain peak of the national parks before I left Korea. Unbeknownst to me, I've whittled the number to three, possibly two - Juwangsan, Jirisan (although I've been on that mountain soooo many times), and Gyeongju (actually I may have climbed this one but just can't remember). Hmmm, maybe I should pursue my old goal again :) 

Source

Going at a pretty steady pace, a person can actually leave Dobongsan station (dark blue line), steadily climb up to the highest peak and then descend and be back at Dobongsan station in 3 hours flat. But why just go and conquer? There's tons of cool food stalls and home-style restaurants lining the trail, and fresh places to take a break, dip feet in the streams, and just relax. Ah, the mountains with a book ... yes, I had one! And yes, I read a few chapters after getting to the temple.



I don't know the meaning of Dobong but it is a very steep rock mountain just piled up and piled up and piled up. This is just one angle of a lower peak from the top. It's hard to get the real perspective of how rough it is though. Notice the spreading of Seoul in the smoggy background. This is a southeast angle shot, so it's obvious Seoul is spreading like a fungus across the lower lands and encroaching up in the foothills.

At the peak. Yep, it's quite narrow and unlike other peaks actually has low hand-rails because of the sheerness of the drop on all sides, and because it's absolutely THICK WITH PEOPLE up here on weekends and holidays! I've noticed some new hand-rails since my last assault on the mountain two years ago.

Mangwol Temple. By descending via the Mangwol Temple route, maybe another hour is added to the loop. For those particularly gung-ho, they can ridge walk. I've done that a few times in the past, and love it. It's a total body workout with an extremely steep rocky trail that snakes around the mountain and has a metal bar for people to cling to. I've heard also that every year someone slips and dies there. Not too surprised, because that stretch of treachery is (my guess) 0.2km long - and that's where the total body workout comes in! That area really should be for one-way traffic as using the bar and snaking up through some of the narrow areas is madness with two-way traffic ... but then not many people go up that route; it's pretty demanding. By the time I got to the highest peak, I was completely soaked, a bit tired and just wanted to sit down and read my book. I took the smaller loop down, past Mangwol Temple.

Mangwol Temple was first constructed in 639 when Queen Seondeok ruled Silla in the Three Kingdoms Period. The name is a reflection of the time period, literally! Mang means to look and wol is a shortened reference for Wolsung, which was the name of Kyungju at the time, that is, a reference to the capital of the Silla. So the temple was a look or reflection of Wolsung and was thought to be built with the prayers that the Three Kingdoms would one day be united.

The temples over the centuries has been destroyed many times, and the Korean War saw it totally demolished - not surprising since it stands on a pivotal peak between the two sides and controls the surrounding valleys. It also has a fresh water spring providing one of the essentials for survival. Since the Korean War it has been reconstructed and over the years added to many times. Mangwol temple was once one of the most famous temples of the Jogye Order, but some fame and recognition has been returning to it since building a Zen meditation center in 1983. My clothes were totally soaked from climbing in the humidity so I didn't go inside any of the buildings, even though the one piece of art I wanted to see was the three-headed Buddha (Gobuwon) painted about 1600.

Down the back trails of Mangwol-sa was a huge placard announcing the home of Um Hong Gil. He had lived at his house (there was a tiny foundation shell of concrete left) for 37 years (1963-2000) with Dobong mountain at his back door and where he trained as a mountain climber. In 2004 Um Hong Gil was "nominated as a city ambassador for his astonishing achievement in mountain climbing."

He was the first man in the world to reach the 16 peaks of the Himalayan mountains and made a new world record. That's very impressive by itself, but with Koreans loving the "biggest, most, best", that accomplishment makes Um Hong Gil a NATIONAL HERO!

Beomeosa Temple (Pusan)

Rather than focusing on the buildings and stone lanterns and other national treasures located in various points around this large temple with 1,330 years of history, this temple has a lot of rich cultural points that I find much more fascinating than the temple, so I'll share these :)

The Legend of Geumsaem Spring and Beomeosa Temple

The Geumsaem, literally "gold spring", legend reveals how Geumjeongsan Mountain in Busan has been a great spiritual site since ancient times and how the mountain got its name. This legend is documented in Dongguk Ueoji Seungnam (Augmented Survey of the Geography of Korea).

"On the summit of Geumjeongsan Mountain, there is a rock which is as tall as three people standing one on top of the other, and at the top of the rock, there is a fountain. The fountain is always full of water of a golden hue, and never runs dry even during periods of drought. A certain legend says that a golden fish once rode on a five-cardinal-colored cloud and descended to this fountain from the Brahma heaven to play there. Thus, the mountain on which the fountain was placed was named Beomeo (Nirvana Fish)."

A similar yet more specific tale relating to Buddhist Supreme Master Uisang, who founded this temple during the reign of King Mu of Silla dynasty, is recorded in Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms).

"The Japanese military was preparing to invade Silla via the East Sea with 100,000 warships. Then, a  troubled King Munmu had a dream in which a deity appeared and told him that if he went to Geumsaem together with Buddhist Supreme Master Uisang to pray for seven days, he would be able to defeat the Japanese. He followed the deity's advice, whereupon the earth shook, and Buddha, the heavenly king, and the Child Buddha appeared. They went to the East Sea together to defeat the Japanese troops. Greatly delighted, King Munmu promoted Uisang, and erected Beomeosa Temple below Geumsaem."



Gomodang Shrine? unclear


 The Legend of Gomodang Shrine

Another legend, and one surrounding a woman who gets venerated - imagine that!!!

"Some 400 years ago, a woman from the Miryang Park clan turned to Buddhism after her marriage failed. She became a hwaju bosal (a Buddhist nun who collected money for charity) at Beomeosa Temple and dedicated herself wholly to Buddhism, earning the praise of many Buddhists. Shortly before her death she said to the senior monk, "When I die, please cremate my body. If you build a shrine for the Gomoyeongsin goddess at Godangbong Peak and hold rites for her, I will become a guardian goddess and help Beomeosa Temple.

The shrine was built in fulfillment of her dying wish, and since then two annual rituals have been held, on the 15th of January by the lunar calendar, and during the Dano Festival, in remembrance of her. Although Beomeosa Temple prospered, a group of young monks once damaged the shrine in protest against the holding of memorial services in her honor. However, when a number of ominous incidences occurred, they repaired the shrine."

For symbolism or a ceremony?

I'm not quite sure what was happening here but one young monk was explaining to the younger monk the position for the broomsticks and the very correct way of positioning them, one on each side of an ascending staircase. The monk went into great detail explaining, and younger brother monk kept nodding his head sagely. My friend and I passed by 30-40 minutes later and the broomsticks were gone. Just found this very curious.

Cheongryong Am (turtle-shaped rock)

A turtle is one of the 10 eternal creatures, the 싶장생, and in some Asian cultures an ancient turtle has been said to support the universe. I'm sure there are multiple meanings of the turtle - here are just a few in Korea - 싶장생, a symbol of power and strength, General Lee Soon Shin's famous turtle ship - and now a turtle rock nestled between temple buildings. On the side of the so-named turtle rock is a poem carved by Dongak Leeanul (1571-1637), one of the most popular poets during the Joseon Dynasty.

Buddhist devotee Lee from Deoksu
lives in Dongrae
there are two people
enjoying the beauty of nature
in an old temple covered with fog
stepping stones welcome us and
fine green trees give us pleasure
on the blue-colored rock that has been here for thousands of years
I engrave a poem now.

I'll let the reader figure out the capitalization and punctuation. Korean writing until recently did not have punctuation so if I add commas or periods where I feel they are necessary, my interpretation and the readers may differ.

Palsang Dokseong Nahan Jeon (Hall of Palsang Dokseong Nahan)
Tangible Cultural Asset No. 63, Busan City

Very unusual architecture as Korean architecture is based on 90-degree angles, so where did this very unusual and elegant arching door come from? The building itself is a treasure and more treasures are contained inside - also they are not the typical treasures so will interesting to relate. This hall has three doors, only the center one is arched, and through each door is another phase of Buddhism - the birth of Buddha in 8 drawings (Palsang Hall), the self-enlightenment of Nabanjeonja (Dokseong Hall), and then 16 enshrined saints who were nachal, meaning harmful to people, but were taught Buddhist teachings and became enlightened so that they changed to nahan, or good people. Two elderly people were bowing and venerating Nabonjeonja in the center hall - notice their correct positioning of the feet and toes; hands also have correct positioning.

Budo Garden

At the entrance to Beomeosa, visitors are given an English brochure with some small information about the archeology of the buildings, artifacts and etc. Most of the content is descriptive rather than culturally informative (I'm usually disappointed in that department - sigh). But the pictures showed some interesting angles or clarified what the viewer was looking at - temple building, stone lantern, pillar, stone staircase, wisteria garden (nice, but not in bloom - Natural Monument No. 176 because the grove contains 500 wisteria in a huge grove), and then "Budo Garden". Having no idea what a budo was, we could get an inkling from the stone upside-down urn-like constructions, so we figured another type of burial container ... and we were right. But we also wanted to go there since it looked cooly green and inviting. The brochure was devoid of maps, layout or direction ... so we politely bowed to a monk and asked directions. Wow, the female monk was delighted and directed us in a small feathery voice. The directions were quite complicated, but I figured I could get there, but she worried ... and directed another passing female monk to show us. Turns out, it was a good thing she guided us. We got on a hidden trail, wove through trees and skipped along a heavily bouldered riverbed for about 10-15 minutes before coming to a refreshing tiny clearing shrouded in green branches and speckled with light ... the budo garden. How lovely!

The garden contains 30 pagodas with 11 in one row, 10 behind and 9 behind that. 654 names of master priests including the Uisang, the founder of Beomeosa, have their relics retained here. My friend and I were more interested in sitting in the pastoral setting, chatting and then taking a few picts before I headed back to the bus station for the long return ride to Seoul.

Entering Three Gates of a Buddhist Temple

Over the years I have entered many Buddhist temples, and one thing the large temples have in common, whether the originals had been destroyed by fires, Japanese or through other circumstances is that in the rebuilding, the larger temples have their three gates leading to their temples rebuilt. It's often possible to walk around the first two, and perhaps the third, and in our modern busy world, temple parking lots have been constructed and often they lie as close to the temple as possible - for people's convenience - so that one or two of the temple gates can and are by-passed. However, when I have approached temples with friends, students or Korean colleagues I've had a few call me back and tell me not to walk around but to experience "walking through". I didn't know what they meant, but gradually over the years I've come to understand the importance in belief for each gate, and with the help of the Beomeosa brochure, I can even get the meaning of the iconography no one has been able to explain.

THE FIRST GATE

These pictures and names of gates are for Beomeosa (temple) in Pusan. I'm not clear whether all gates are termed the same in the Buddhist world - something to check out.

Jogyemin or Ilju gate (One-Pillar Gate)

"It is the first door that leads to the sacred world of Buddha. As the world of truth has no discrimination, it is said that people coming into the door have to leave their discrimination ideas behind. Our original nature is as clear as blue sky, but it gets tainted in the mundane world." (brochure)

A young Buddhist monk educating people (probably people on Templestay) on the great history and Buddhist beliefs surrounding this gate. He lectured them for well over half an hour, bu then this particular gate is also designated as a treasure.

THE SECOND GATE

Changwanmung (Four Guardians Gate)

The second gate enshrines the four Buddhist guardians. "It is believed on Mt Sumi, the universe has four guardians protecting the east, west, north, and south. On the four pillars of the gate are the words engraved:

Hwaeumseongjunghyegammyoung - wise man of Hwaeumseongjung

Sajiinsalinyeonmji - he knows every world affair in one thought

Aeminjungsaengyeojeokja - he cares for all people like his children

Sigoageumgonggyeongrye - now I pay respect to him" (brochure)

By passing through this gate and between the guardian divas, in Buddhist theory, people are made to think about their behavior and thoughts and to repent.

Guardian Ji Guk (the east diva)

Guardian Ji Guk of the east clenches his left fist and in his right hand holds a sword to ward off evil spirits.

Guardian Jeung Jang (the south diva)

Guardian Jeung Jang holds a magic pearl in his left, symbolizing the wish for dreams to come true, and grasps a dragon in his right for keeping Buddhist 'truth'. Supposedly with the dragon and the pearl, the guardian can bring life to everything.

Guardian Gwang Mok (the west diva)

Guardian Gwang Mok holds a pagoda, representing Buddhist enlightenment and rescuing people from darkness, in his left hand and a spear in his right for fighting off evil spirits. This guardian symbolizes bringing benefits to people and protecting people (or punishing people) from evilness.

Guardian Damun (the north diva)

Guardian Damun plays the mandolin (hmmm, not a Korean instrument) to make evil-spirited people have a beautiful and warm heart. The guardian symbolizes correcting bad behavior and ideas through beautiful music, and the meaning of 'damun' is to protect the Buddha's world and spread teachings to all the people.

Damun (the north guardian)



Gwang Mok (the west guardian)



Ji Guk (the east guardian)









Jeung Jang (the south guardian)

THE THIRD GATE

Bulemun (non-duality gate) or Haetal gate (gate of enlightenment)

The meaning of the third gate is 'non-duality' meaning something like "Buddha and mankind is the same, life and death, meeting and separation are not different, both [though termed differently] come from the same root. People tend to separate good and bad, mine and other. They compete against each other and often end up in fierce war and fight. However, in the world of "truth" there is no separation and discrimination. People co-exist there, meaning I can exist because you exist. This is the point of non-duality. People cannot live alone." When people pass through this gate of enlightenment, "people realize the true meaning of non-duality is able to reach enlightenment [sic]." (brochure)

Supposedly by the time someone has passed through the three gates, wihch together symbolizes passing from the earthly to the heavenly realm of meditation and enlightenment, one is ready to reach spiritual purification.

Haeundae Sand Festival

Every year there's a sand and beach festival at Haeundae Beach in Pusan. People travel from throughout Korea to play in the sand and have fun on Korea's most famous beach. The main theme of this festival is sand sculptures by professionals, but amateurs are certainly invited to try their hand as the shifting art.

Immediately below is an interesting sand "castle" representation. It's interesting because it reflects the Korean cultural perception of "castle", which is very different than the sheer walls of the European style castle or the sand castles in Cambodia looking very much like Angkor Wat. This large area to the south of the professional carved sand sculptures were for friends and families to play and design their own sand construction.

The Dragon & the Phoenix (용가 불사조)
... This represents an old legend of the twinkling pearl lake located at the foot of the Mountain of the Dragon and the Phoenix. In Chinese culture, "Dragon and Phoenix" are historical and traditional ways of talking of the King and Queen via means of auspicious symbols representative of long-standing peace and prosperity for the people and its country. Maybe this is why the young couple stands in front of the one of the symbols to get a 'couple shot', or maybe they just want a commemorative background for their couple shot to probably post in redundancy on their Smart Phones.

I don't know the story behind this, but the people walking past give an idea of the size of the mounds of sand which the artists were sculpting. BTW, this is one of the smallest mounds. As the line up of sculptures progressed, the mounds increased in size.

Love Story of Dalmaji Hill (달맞이 언덕의 사랑 이야기)

... A legend concerning Dalmaji Hill (Mtn Wawoo) where a single young man found both his lost cow and a young woman out collecting herbs. As all tales seem to go, the young people were married, and now it said that if single young men and ladies go to the hill and make wishes while gazing upon a full moon, their wish will be realized.

Queen Jinseong of Silla (진성여왕)
... The 51st queen of Silla is one of the three queens of the Silla Dynasty who reigned as governing regent (from 887-897). According to legendary history, Queen Jinseon suffered from smallpox as a child but was completely cured after bathing in Haeundae Gunam Hot Springs. The hot springs are located nearby but are not open-aired springs but totally in doors and enclosed. No matter. They are very, very famous and people traveling to Pusan often feel the need to bathe in them. My first year here in Korea, I bathed there too. I didn't know the legend at the time, so no placebo effect for me, but then nothing was wrong, and likewise, nothing got healed.

Dongbaek-seom & the Wife of a Fisherman (동백꽃으로 한생한 어부)
... Dongbaek-seom (Camellia Flower Island) got its name from the wife of a fisherman who perished at sea. Every day the wife would stand on the island waiting for her husband who was attacked by wind and the waves of the sea, and every day after his disappearance she continued to do so never knowing if we were alive or not. Eventually she died, and around the grave of the wife bloomed camellia flowers and camellia woods ... and so with the passing of time, the island was named by the flower representing the faithful fisherman's wife.

General Lee Sun Sin & the Turtle Ship (거북선 진투)
... General Lee Sun Sin designed the turtle ship, an iron-clad compact ship designed much like a turtle in both shape and armored appearance. With the turtle warship, in the Koryo Dynasty General Lee was able to give a fatal blow to the invading Japanese fleet. Although he died defending his country, his name has been immortalized by his invention and warring finesse, and so now he is regarded as one of the most significant heroes in Korean history. Many of his soldiers heralded from Haeundae area, thus the related significance of incorporating the turtle ship in this year's sand festival.

The Scenery of Returning Vessels (오륙귀범)
... Just a piece of mundane behavior, but in the past when returning fishing vessels approached land with the setting of the sun, the fishermen threw pieces of fish to the seagulls. Evidently this had some kind of cultural significance, but that has somehow been lost in the explanations of the sand art.

King Shi of the Jin Dynasty (진시황)
... (Not a Korean nor connected to Korea ... so why is he represented at this themed beach festival? Not sure.) King Shi was the king in the Jin Dynasty who united China for the first time, eliminated the feudal system and proclaimed himself emperor. His connection to Korea seems rather tenuous, only that of a ruler who supposedly sent his son to Cheju Island in search of an elixir plant, but which one is unclear.

Alexander the Great!
... Now why oh why is Alexander here? His representative sand sculpture strikes me as a huge anomaly, but anyway, he was also a king, the king of Macedonia and who had good understanding of the Greek culture. (My opinion - this sand sculpture bespeaks strength, skill and movement and is definitely the most powerful one on the beach!)

Sungnyemun (숭례문) or Namdaemun (The South Gate)
... Here is a strong cultural representation of Korea, albeit not of Pusan but of the capitol. Sungnyemun, more commonly known to foreigners as Namdaemun (The South Gate) was designated as National Heritage (or Treasure?) No. 1 in 1962. However, about five years ago the cultural heritage was burned by a disillusioned old man who was angry at not getting some kind of insurance benefit. Restoration work has been ongoing since the fire and the gate will be completed sometime this year, 2012.