Browsing the archives for the people tag
Continued from Part 1…..
6. King Munmu the Great (문무왕r. 661 – 681 C.E.): King Munmu wasn’t dubbed “the Great” for nothing. A nephew of the famed general Kim Yu-shin, Munmu was the Shilla Emperor responsible for finally defeating both the Beakjae and Gogoruyeo kingdoms (with some assistance from Tang China) and uniting the Korean [...]
Okay, so maybe I’m going a bit gaga with this whole “Top 10” thing here, but it seems like a quick way to sift through a lot of information and hit a few key points in just a post or two. In keeping with a method tried and true, here’s my personal top 10 list [...]
Continued from Part 1….
5. Neoseo-ri Tombs (너서리왕릉): Once surrounded by houses, the half dozen or so tombs of Noseo-ri have been cleared of buildings and made into oasis-like park in the midst of downtown Gyeongju. Just across the street from Bonghangdae tomb, this park is a great spot for tomb watching, an afternoon picnic or [...]
One of the things that make Gyeongju noticeably unique among Korean cities are all of the ancient Shilla hill tombs scattered about. Some of them are pretty darn impressive actually, as they range from one to two millennia old and most of them are at least a couple stories high. Not to mention [...]
Like a lot of posts on this blog, I’d meant to get something up on San-shin.org ages ago. If you’re at all interested in traditional Korean culture, this site’s an awesome resource. It’s a treasure trove of info on everything from Korean Shamanism and Buddhist culture to folk art, feng shui, hiking and green tea.
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Just a few blocks down from City Hall in Dongcheon-dong is one of the lesser known historical gems in Gyeongju, the four-sided Buddha of Gulbulsa Temple (굴불사). The original Shilla era structures of Gulbulsa are long gone, but remaining is a striking four-sided Buddha, or samyeonseokbul (사면석불), chiseled out of a large boulder. In fact, [...]
My wife and I went out for a short hike yesterday on Mt. Geumgansan (금강산) to get some exercise and enjoy a bit of the Spring weather. As I’d just posted on the legend of of Ichadon (이차돈), I figured we’d take walk up to Baegyulsa Temple (배귤사), which was built on the spot where [...]
If you visit enough Buddhist temples here in Korea, you might come across some pretty gnarly scenes painted on the sides of these hollowed halls, such as the gothic tortures of the Hell Realms or the gruesome image of the 2nd Patriarch of Zen, or Seon (선) Buddhism, chopping off his left arm (but more [...]
Probably my top pick of things to do when visiting Gyeongju is to go for a walk around Anapji Pond (안압지) at night. Sure, Anapji’s worth checking out during the day, but when the sun goes down it really blings. The city’s done a great job with lighting, though some might say its a bit [...]
If you’ve had the pleasure of visiting Bulguksa temple (불국사), you’ve probably admired the twin masterpieces of Seokgatap (석가탑) and Dabotap (다보탑) pagodas in the main courtyard (if you haven’t yet, Dabotap is on the face side of the 10 won coin). What you may not have known is that there is a tragic legend [...]
