Browsing the archives for the shrines tag
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 [...]
The 19th century was a dark time for Korea (and sadly just a prelude to the horrors to come in the 20th century to come). Korea was still a feudal agrarian society and the nobility of the Joseon Dynasty had become bloated and corrupt, exacting heavy taxes and conscripting forced labor from the peasantry. Foreign [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Gyeongju’s Mt. Namsan (남산), or literally “South Mountain”, may not be among the tallest or most beautiful mountains in Korea, but to me it’s one of the most magical. It might look gentle from the side, but up close Namsan’s got enough steep valleys, twisting peaks and craggy boulders to give any hiker a run [...]
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 [...]
If you’ve spent any time touring the Korean countryside, you might have noticed a single gnarly old tree standing nearby a farm village here or there. These trees are actually called Dang-namu (당나무) and according to Korean folk religion (a form of Korean Shamanism) they are actually one of the village’s Dong-shin (동신), or guardian [...]
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.
Walking through the gates here feels a bit like stepping back in time. The calmness of the atmosphere never fails to move me and if you can catch it now when the gingko trees are bright yellow, it’s just magic. It’s a fairly large complex of buildings, so feel free to nose a round a bit. The only part that’s not usually open to the public is the back part which I assume is only open for ceremonial holidays.
