2013년 5월 28일 화요일

Monk Beopjeong

Monk Beopjeong (1932-2010)

“I do not understand your God who throws the ones who he refers his own children into the fire of hell just because they did not believe in him.
I would rather go down to hell and save the souls abandoned by their God”   
-Beopjeong-


Gilsangsa Temple and its love story


Located in north seoul, Gilsangsa is one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples in Korea.
This is where the monk Beopjeong, who is so much loved by Korean people, stayed since 1997 until he died in 2010.
The monk Beopjeong is famous for this teaching of “non-possession”.


This place was built long time ago but it was only in 1997 when it became a temple.
Before that, it was a renowned geisha’s house, that was used by high ranking politicians and top business men. They would come here to talk in more relaxed environment. 


The owner of the geisha’s house was ‘Younghan Kim’(1916-1999), a lady who once was a geisha herself.
In 1987, she was deeply moved by the book written by monk Beopjeong and she decided to offer this whole place to beopjeong so he could use it for a temple. He did not accept it in the begining, not because this place was a geisha’s house, but because it was too much to accept.
The value of this place was as high as a hundred million dollars at that time.
Thanks to her persistant persuations Beopjeong finally accepted in 1995 and the temple was established in 1997.

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Monk Beopjeong

Right… time for the love story.
In 1930s, Younghan met a dashing young man, whose name is Baekseok, in a party and they instantly fell in love with each other.
She was a geisha but an educated and talented one, and he was a famous poet who was often referred as ‘a genius’.
They both loved literature, art and languages.

Younghan and Baekseok
They were deeply in love with each other and soon started to live together.
However, baekseok’s parents (here we go) didn’t like their relationship.  
After all, he was a prosperous young poet who’s from a prestigious family and she was a geisha,
One day, he asked her to run away together with him to Manju (A Chinese province)
She refused. Although she wanted to be with him, she did not want to be an obstruction for his future. (Later she says she regretted this for the rest of her life)


 Baekseok


Baekseok left for Manju without her and they never saw each other again.
He spent some years in Manju and went home in North Korea. After that the Korean war broke out. His life in North Korea is not much known, especially after he was purged by the authority in 1960s. Only thing we know after that is he died in 1995.
Although he once was a celebrated good looking genius poet, his talents meant nothing in North Korea.
Younghan loved him for all her life and never married.
She also published an autobiographical book about him and her.
She said there was not a single day she did not miss him, and that she often dreamt about him.
A journalist asked how it was possible to donate such worth of money.
Younghan said “A hundred million dollars is not even worth one words of Baekseok’s poem.”.
Yes, that’s how much she believed in him and loved him.
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Younghan died in 1999.  
A day before she died she came to this temple. she took a bath and prayed. She asked people “When I am gone please scatter my ash in the front yard of the temple when it is covered with snow” and so did they.
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This is the commemoration monument for Younghan.
The name Gilsangsa comes from Gilsanghwa, the buddhist name of younghan. 






Wish lanterns of Gilsangsa






Changdeok Palace and Secret Garden (Biwon)













Change of guards ceremony in front of Gyoungbok palace







2013년 5월 16일 목요일

Unhyeongung (Palace), Seoul


Unhyeongung is the smallest palace out of 5 palaces in Seoul. 
It used to be much bigger in the old days but only some parts are remained now.
It was the house of prince HeungSeon, who was the father of Gojong the last king of Joseon dynasty. 



It was definitely less popular than other palaces. I saw very few people while I was there. 
So I enjoyed the calmness of the old palace mostly on my own. 


I found this palace very approchable. You can actually see inside each rooms and the decorations are done so simple and beautifully.



I love this picture! Hope you like it too.  The little square thing on the chest is a lantern, which is so cute :-)


This is the storage room.



This is the kitchen.



This shows the Korean traditional heating system.
There is a long hole under the thing that looks like a cooker. They used to set the fire and put it further inside the hole. Then the fire makes the floor of the room gradually warm and cool down lasting over night.



I saw some shoes outside of a room and heard people talking. Then I thought ‘Do people live here?’
Well, not exactly. They run an embroidery course in the palace and they use one of the rooms. Isn’t that cool?
I might think about joining them!



Unhyeongung is also the place where the last Royal wedding took place.  The above costumes are the actual ones that were worn by  last king(Gojong) and queen(Myoungseong)



The queen myoungseong and her lady in waiting.  
I felt a bit sad though as this reminds me of her tragic ending :-(





2013년 5월 15일 수요일

Gwang-jang Market, Seoul


After hearing from one of my friends I decided to have a little explore of this market. 
Apparently this market is one of the oldest and largest markets in Korea.
It is located in Jongno where all the historic sites are. so it is a great place for tourists to visit too.
I went there before noon because it is meant to be sooooooo busy in the afternoon.




This food is one of the things that make this market so famous. It is shallow fried pan cake with beanshoots and little pieces of pork meet.
It’s a bit oily but really tasty.

These are called ‘drug sushi’, another famous food in this market. Don’t worry. There is no drug in the food!
They call it like that because they are supposed to be addictive :-)



This is traditional party food of Korea. Mmmm yummy!



You may have heard of bibimbab. This is what these guys are having. Basically they pick whatever they like and mix them with rice in their bowl.




Yummy looking dumplings! - I quess these are kimchi dumplings by the colour of them.








Gwang-jang market is also famous for having many makers of the Korean traditional costume, Hanbok. 
I just love hanbok! I wish we still wore those in every day life.
But If I wore those and walked on the street I might be on youtube that night!