Browsing the archives for the legends tag
As part of another project I’ve got in the works at the moment, I put together a brief timeline of the history of Gyeongju which I’m posting it here with some photos. I hope that clearly and concisely portrays the dramatic thousand year rise and fall of the Shilla Dynasty and is subsequent rediscovery and [...]
Taking advantage of a break in the cold weather, the other weekend I piled into the car with some friends and took off to explore the mountains south of Gyeongju (not to mention my wife was putting the finishing touches on her Master’s thesis and needed me out of the house). I’d managed to score [...]
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 [...]
If you’re visiting the Gyeongju National Museum and happen to look east over the highway you might notice the outline of a hill on the far side of the train tracks. From the looks of it you wouldn’t guess this low ridge (often describe as looking like a silkworm) was in fact considered one of [...]
Seems like it’s been ages since I’ve posted any book reviews here on the blog. But last month I scored a passel of books from Seoul Selection Online Bookshop for a bit of light reading over winter vacation. Not to get to promotional here (and no, I’m not getting paid for this), but if you’re [...]
Yup, you read that right. About 17 km west of Gyeongju on the north face of Mt. Obongsan (오봉산) is a little valley that goes by the name of Yeogeungok (여근곡). This literally means “Jade Gate” Valley which, you might not have known, is actually a euphemism for female genitalia. Just why the ancient Koreans [...]
To ring in the New Year I thought I’d share some video I shot at last year’s Andong Mask Dance Festival. On its last Sunday the festival hosts a traditional folk game from Andong called Chajeon Nori (차전놀이) which literally means “Combat Carriage Game.” It sometimes goes by the more impressive moniker “Juggernaut Battle Game” [...]
If you’ve been to a Buddhist temple in Korea before, you might‘ve noticed a little shrine to the back of the temple that’s home to the image of a bearded old man with an odd-looking tiger laying at his feet. This wise and aged being is not some kind of Buddha or Bodhisattva, but rather [...]
Last month my University asked me to help guide a tour of Korean-American students around Gyeongju for a day. That afternoon we stopped by Golgulsa (골굴사) Temple for a short lesson in Seonmudo (선무도), or Korean Zen martial arts. In all the times I’d been to Golgulsa, I’d never actually seen what Seonmudo actually is. [...]
