Browsing the archives for the Arts & crafts category
As one of the few architectural structures left standing from the Silla Dynasty, Bunhwangsa (분황사) Temple is one of the “must see” historical sites in Gyeongju. Built in 634 C.E. by order of the legendary Queen Seondeok (선덕여왕), Bunhwangsa is most famous for its three-tiered pagoda. Originally built as seven or nine tiers, the pagoda [...]
To be honest the Korean urban lifestyle doesn’t really do much for me. Sure, I sometimes miss the art and culture, the night clubs and the convenience. But after living in London, Berlin and Barcelona, there’s really not anything new that I get out of big cities in Korea. All it takes is a walk [...]
Somehow I always forget about the annual Gyeongju Shilla Ceramics Festival. It’s not that I hate Korean pottery or anything. (In fact, I’m a proud owner of several Korean tea sets). Rather, the fine folks over at Gyeongju’s City Hall always double book the Ceramics Festival along side other big events (which actually isn’t as [...]
Continued from part 1… Usually built in the mountains, a lot of folks enjoy visiting Korea’s Buddhist Temples for their relaxing atmosphere and serene architecture. Appropriately, most temple buildings are decorated with mystical portraits of Bodhisattvas, pastoral images of the Ox Hearder Parable, or scenes from the life of the Buddha. Occasionally though temple visitors [...]
In Korean Seon (선) Buddhism (Ch. “Chan”, Jap. “Zen”) practitioners often meditate on paradoxical or nonsensical riddles known as koans (공안 or “ kong-an” in Korean) to gain insight into the nature of thought, perception and reality. One of the most famous of these riddles is “Why did the Bodhidharma (Kr. “Dalma” or달마) come from [...]
There are many times in this country when I’ve wished I had a better grasp of the Korean language. Standing in Mr. Seo Seung-am’s workshop at the foot of Mt. Namsan (남산) was definitely one of those times. On display all over the shop are literally hundreds of hand-carved wooden penises. There are big ones, [...]
There are a few things going on in Gyeongju this month that I thought I’d mention here. First, I recently heard that the Buddhist Art Majors at Dongguk University are currently holding an exhibit of their work at the Seorebol Cultural Center (서라벌 문화회관). The Buddhist Art Program at Dongguk University is pretty unique as [...]
Continued from Part 1… If you’re shopping for gifts or personal mementos in Korea, there are a lot of options. You could get something functional, like a hand-made tea pot or a brass ware dinner set. Or, if you’re searching for something ornamental, take a look at the calligraphy scrolls or hand-carved wood work. The [...]
Christmas time is just a few months away, which means (for a lot of folks in my country anyways) that it’s time to start shopping for presents. Korea offers some very unique and interesting gift options for folks back home and I’m not just talking about the kimchi chocolate or plastic fans that you can [...]
I was sorting through my video archives a while back and discovered some great footage from one of my first visits to Gyeongju back in the Spring of 2003. I had stumbled into a Korea-Japan Buddhist Culture Festival in Tumuli Park and was lucky enough to catch the performance of the famed Korean Zen Master Beomju [...]
