“Catch a Falling Star” was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and made famous by Perry Como in 1957.
Statue of General Kang near the entrance to the park
I understand the stars, but what do the rabbits mean?
Nakseongdae, the neighborhood just outside the campus of Seoul National University (SNU), certainly must have caught a falling star. This is the birth place of the famous Goryeo-era General and scholar, Kang Gamchan (948-1031). It is said that when Kang Gamchan was born, a star fell from heaven and landed where he was born, so this place was named “site of the falling star” (Nakseongdae).
Map of the park: the statue in the plaza in the front, the shrine buildings going up to the top left
Beginning the walk to the shrine
The people of Goryeo erected a 3-story stone pagoda at the house of his birth to praise him for his great deeds—he supposedly defeated 100,000 Chinese invaders with only a small army in the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. Korea has a very long documented history, so it’s amazing that these details are well known.
The pagoda
One of the paths leading to the shrine
Damaged portions of this pagoda were restored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 1964, and designated a Seoul Tangible Cultural Property in 1972. Two years later a shrine—Anguksa Shrine—was constructed for him and the pagoda, which was originally close by, was moved here, close to the shrine on the hill.
Inside the shrine. The colors and decorative touches are lovely
NakseongdaePark is the memorial park to General Kang. It’s in the Gwanak-gu district of Seoul, just outside the gates of SNU. It’s a lovely park, with large open spaces well used by the local people. A huge equestrian statue of General Kang dominates a large central square, which kids use to ride bicycles or skateboards. Another square connected to this has a small café on the side and many free exercise equipments around the edge, very well used, especially by older folk. It’s a place to meet, chat, have a picnic, watch kids learn to ride bikes etc.
One of the tile panels telling the story of General Kang’s battles
I believe the turtle is a symbol of longevity
While staying at the Goam Faculty House in SNU, we visited the park a number of times, walked up the hill to the shrine, wandered the peaceful green leafy paths, and had tea in the café. It was fun to just wander around, absorb some of the excited vibes, and soak up some sunshine. There are a number of information boards, some serious, some more cartoon-like, but we realize that many Korean people love cartoon characters, so this is likely a good way of catching people’s attention, and of imparting a bit of history.
Cartoon Kang
I love this sign in the park: Women Friendly Seoul
Hoam Faculty House, in Gwanak, south Seoul (Hoam, pronounced Ho-am)
As I posted earlier, we visited Korea and Japan again in August/early September and had a wonderful time. The main reason for the visit was a conference Rod attended in Pyeong-chang at the SNU (Seoul National University) agricultural campus there. But we spent our first 4 days in Seoul on the main SNU campus, and then our last night, after Pyeong-chang, back in Seoul on the SNU campus again.
Hoam motto, “Truth is my light”
Rod’s contact at SNU, Dr. Myunggi Baik, booked us into the Hoam Faculty House on the edge of the Gwanak SNU campus, the main campus in south Seoul. We had stayed there for almost a month in spring 2016, when Rod conducted a special workshop at SNU, and we enjoyed it a lot. Here’s a link to my blog post at that time:
So, we were happy to be back in the Hoam Faculty House, a great place for international visitors to the university to stay. The guest rooms in the building next to the main building are comfortable, there are two restaurants, various conference rooms and a convention hall for international conferences and seminars. We enjoyed a number of very good meals in the restaurant there.
Lunch one day
It is also the final stop for bus 6017 that goes to and from Incheon Airport, which is very convenient. In addition, a 20-minute walk takes you to a shopping area (with convenience stores, coffee shops, noodle restaurants etc) and the Nakseongdae Subway stop—Green line—part of the extensive subway system in Seoul.
This visit, we found out more about the history of SNU and the origin of the name “Hoam”. Seoul National University originated from various educational institutions established by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty in the late 1800s. SNU of that name was founded in August 1946 as the premier national university by merging these 10 institutions of higher education around the Seoul area. During the Korean War some classes were held at Busan Wartime Nations University, and after the Korean War there was reconstruction and expansion, 1954-1960.
Going into the subway
At that time, SNU had multiple campuses in different parts of Seoul. In the 1970s the president of Korea was Park Chung Lee, the army general who ruled the country until his assassination in 1979. There were many student protests during his time in office. President Park disliked student protests to such an extent that he requested a new SNU campus be built with all the downtown campuses moved to one place far removed from the downtown. In March 1970 Gwanak Mountainwas selected as the site of the new SNU campus, and in April 1971 construction of the newly integrated campus in Gwanak started. Apparently, the Gwanak mountain site originally belonged to Samsung CEO Lee Byung-chul and part of it was a golf course. President Park ordered Lee Byung-chul to donate the land.
View from our guest house room
Starting in February 1975, most colleges of the university relocated to the new Gwanak campus and campus integration was complete when the College of Engineering moved to Gwanak campus in January 1980. Gwanak is the main campus, but SNU also had Yeongeon medical campus, and Suwon agricultural campus about 40 km (24 miles) south of Seoul. The Suwon campus has now been mostly replaced by a new agricultural campus in Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province.
Hoam Faculty House opened in 1990 and is named after the Samsung CEO Lee Byung-chul, whose nickname was Hoam.
nhyuk wanted to take us to this museum and we were always happy to have a local take us around, as it usually gives us a bigger and clearer picture of things in another country.
Please note that, as always, I have a lot of photos, so enjoy scrolling through!
This was the former Seodaemun Prison that was established during Japan’s annexation of Korea (1910-1945) and is now a museum-cum-memorial. It was built to house political prisoners and Independence activists. It was one of the most notorious prisons established by the Japanese, and some of what you see and learn is not for the faint-of-heart. It was opened in 1908 as Gyeongseong Gamok (Prison) just prior to Japan’s annexation of Korea, and renamed Seodaemun Gamok (Prison) in 1912. It went through a number of name changes until 1988 when it was designated a National Historic Relic. In 1998 it opened as the History Hall of Seodaemun Prison. The Independence Park was opened in August 1992 and from then the public was able to enter all parts of the previous huge area.
Information board about work hours
The Japanese established 16 prisons in 1908 but, after the forced annexation in 1910, many more were built in all the major cities of Korea. Prisoners in each prison produced different goods as part of their forced labor; for example, textiles and clothes at Seodaemun Prison, and bricks and paper at Gyeongseong Prison. During WW2 all prisons produced war supplies. As one information board tells us, “inmates were driven to forced labor for at least 10 hours to 14 hours a day. When moving from factories to jails, inmates were forced to jump a wooden bar in the nude as a means to inspect whether dangerous articles were being carried”. To us, that seems like a good example of real cruelty and disregard for human dignity!
One of the stamped bricks
The entrance and a watch tower
The Gyeongseong Prison bricks were used to build Seodaemun Prison and we can still see the imprint of the Chinese character that means Geongseong (the first character of Koreaa’s name) on the external red bricks of the walls of the prison.
There are a number of preserved buildings (7 of the original 15) open to the public, all enclosed by a wall with watch towers. All are built of the red bricks mentioned above.
We started at the entrance and the nearby Exhibition Hall and then followed the map in the pamphlet (the same as the map on the big information board) in a roughly anti-clockwise direction. We went through various prison buildings, past Engineering Work buildings, the Leper Building, and the gruesome Execution Building with its special Corpse Removal Exit. In front of this is the Wailing Poplar and next to it is the Reverence Monument. All of these places have information boards in Korean and English, and on some there was a short Japanese and Chinese entry too, so we could stop and read them at our leisure. I will add information about them when I post the photos. They are spread out in fairly large grounds now, designated on the map as rest areas.
A rest area
Entrance to the Exhibition Hall
The site is a kind of monument to the cruelty and atrocities of the Japanese Colonial era, which were without doubt committed. As the pamphlet tells us, “the museum preserves and displays the suffering and pain of Koreans during the modern period. Here, independence activists and pro-democracy activities were jailed and martyred”. But, there is not much mention of the fact that similar acts were inflicted on protesters and dissidents well after Korean independence from Japan. The focus is on Japan and the Korean suffering, but we should remember that Korea was a military dictatorship until the 1980s and the military didn’t always treat protesters well either, so many Koreans continued to suffer.
It was a grey overcast day when we were there, which somehow seemed appropriate as the atmosphere is somber, imbued with the dark history.
Rod demonstrates just how small some of the spaces were!
National Resistance Room
Within the large Exhibition Hall building (#1 on the map) are a number of exhibition halls whose rooms showcase different facets of the history of the prison and life inside. People were imprisoned for many different reasons/crimes, some obvious, some not so clear. For example, one information board tells about a shortwave broadcasting listening incident. Supposedly, groups working at the broadcasting station propagated programs made available by the Korean Provisional Government, such as the “Chongqing Broadcasting” and “Voice of America”. Unfortunately, the Japanese Imperialists detected this in 1942, and 150 people were arrested and imprisoned.
The National Resistance Room is very poignant, as the walls are totally covered with pictures of all the prisoners, with their names and some other information.
The Underground Torture Chamber is stark and sobering, especially if you listen to any of the audio clips of torture survivors. We saw a really gruesome torture device called Box Torture; an individual was put inside a box studded with sharp nails and shaken inside. It’s hard to imagine anyone surviving that!
Information board on Records on Torture
A number of spaces and rooms tell about March 1st. March 1st is a very important date for Koreans as that was the date that saw the beginning of the movement with millions of Koreans marching to protest Japan’s colonial rule. Koreans proclaimed their independence on March 1st, 1919. The movement started in Seoul and spread over the whole country. Eventually they succeeded in getting independence but it took many more years.
The actual prison buildings radiated out like petals from the Central Prison Building (#2 on the map), which controlled all the facilities in the prison buildings. We tried to imagine prison life as we walked the corridors, with a guard overlooking them. The cells depict what life was like for the over 2,000 inmates, who were cramped into spaces designed for only 500. It’s possible to go into a single cell, which is an amazingly small space. Prisoners had to sleep in rotation due to lack of space and endured poor ventilation and sanitary conditions, as well as torture and starvation. One information board about meals in prison explains that meals were called Kata, because there was a special measuring device to distribute a fixed quantity to each prisoner depending on jailing sentence and forced labor. Meals were supposed to consist of 50% beans, 30% millet and 20% brown rice but the reality was that many got less than the prescribed amount.
Cells on both sides of the corridor, with a guard watching
Another board gives information about the prison uniforms.
On the far back side of the site is the Reverence Monument, also known as the Pot with Soul of Nation. The artist is Lim Seung-O (2010), who produced it to remember the souls of the activists who sacrificed their lives in Seodaemun Prison. It has the projected names of those activists inside.
Reverence Monument. Note the poplar tree in the background
Nearby is the Exercise Facility, which looks like a fan on the map. To facilitate monitoring and to keep the detainees separate, there are multiple compartmentalized walls.
Model of Dead-Body Pickup Room. How graphic is that?!
Right in the back corner is the Execution Building and the Corpse Removal Exit—no photos, but we did get a picture of the information board. Next to it is a poplar tree, known as the Wailing Poplar. As the information board explains, “this tree was planted in 1923 at the time when the Execution Building was constructed. It was said that patriots, in the course of being dragged to the execution hall, grabbed this tree and wailed with deep resentment for their unachieved independence”. A sad story.
The whole site was very interesting for us and we did learn more about this chapter in Korean history. The Japanese Colonization is a period that Koreans still feel very strongly about and that obviously has shaped who they are today.
The Wailing Poplar
Open March-Oct 9:30am-6pm; Nov-Feb 9:30am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Admission fee, but free if you are over 64 years old. Inhyuk got us in for free, even though we are not Korean.
Address: 120-80 Hyeongeodong
Metro: Dongnimmun, line 3, (exit 5), one stop after Gyeonbokgung
Inhyuk, Rod’s PhD student at the U of I, also came to Seoul to help with the Microbiology Workshop at Seoul National University (SNU). He did his undergrad studies at SNU, so he’s very familiar with the area, and he really wanted to share this city and all its treasures with us. Some evenings he escorted us to a restaurant for a special meal, or a local bar that he liked. Over many of the weekends he took us to specific sights in the city.
One Saturday he suggested the Seodaemun Prison History Hall in the Seodaemun Indepedence Park. We didn’t know what this was, but were quite happy to go and learn.
Sign for Seodaemun Independence Park
Inhyuk and I walking in part of the park towards the gate
We set off on Metro Line 2 at Nakseongdae (closest to where we were), switched at some point to Line 3 and rode to Dongnimmun Station—took maybe an hour.
We first visited the Prison Museum, a sobering experience that I’ll write about in an upcoming post. We then walked in the Seodaemun Independence Park and reached the Seodaemun Independence Gate, which was more relaxing and fun.
A Bit of Background:
The name “Seodaemun” means “West Great Gate”, which was one of the 8 gates of Seoul, located in the fortress wall of Seoul that surrounded the city in the Joseon Dynasty. All were built between 1396 and 1398. The gate in the Seodaemun area was called Donuimun, and it was torn down in 1915. Six of the gates still survive.
Seodaemun Independence gate
The Seodaemun Independence Park in the northwest part of Seoul commemorates the Korean patriots and independence activists during the Japanese Colonial period (1910 to the end of WW2). It opened in August 1992 and was renovated in 2009. It was built on the site of the former Seoul Detention Camp and, until the park opened, this area was off-limits to citizens. As Inhyuk said, why would the people want to come here to this place with such a dark history? Seven prison buildings were preserved, now the Seodaemun Prison History Hall Museum. The park is a great place for people to exercise, enjoy the outdoors, and the scenery, and is very popular. The park has many monuments and buildings, the most important being the Seodaemun Prison History Hall Museum (see next post).
Rod and I in front of the gate
Seodaemun Independence Gate is a memorial gate towards one end of the Seodaemun Independence Park. It was designed by Soh Jaipil (or Jae-Pil and also known as Philip Jaisohn), a Korean-American political activist and physician, and built November 1896-November 1897. He modeled it on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, as it was to celebrate Korea’s independence from the rule of the Qing Dynasty, China. It is 47 ft high and 37.6 ft wide and consists of about 1,850 pieces of granite.
It took the place of the Yeoungeunmun, a historic gate built during the Joseon Dynasty where envoys from China were received. Two pillars from the old gate are still in front of the new gate. After the 2009 renovations, visitors can now walk under the gate, which they could not do before. The day we were there, the weather was cool-ish and raining lightly, but that did not deter visitors! There were lots of colorful umbrellas.
Note the 2 pillars from the old gate
Statue of Seoul Jaipil
The Gate is indeed imposing and reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe. We realized that the name ”Independence” here in the park and the gate is actually celebrating two instances of independence/liberation: first, from the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and second from Japanese Colonial rule.
The park also has a number of huge statues on pedestals, including one of Seo Jaipil (or Jae-Pil), who designed the gate, and devoted his life to Korea’s independence movement. He published Korea’s first private newspaper, “The Independent” and founded the Independence Association.
Declaration of Independence Monument
Another is the Declaration of Independence Monument with the names of 33 independence activist leaders and the verse of Independence Declaration engraved on the wall. It was originally in Tapgol Park, but was moved here in 1992 when the park opened.
Temple inside the park
Inside the temple
Interesting to us was that along one of the wide paths we saw a small temple, we guess the temple for the park. It had colorful murals on either side of the entrance, plus “trees” with “leaves” of small Korea flags, no doubt part of the patriotic/independence theme.
Metro: Dongnimmun, line 3, (exit 5), one stop after Gyeonbokgung
Like Dachau and Auschwitz, for example, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are events and places that we, as humanity, should not forget and should strive to prevent from ever happening again. We need to be a witness to what was, to what is, and the peace that we continue to hope for.
Seventy-five years ago, on August 6th, 1945, at 8:15 am the United States Army Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The B-29 Enola Gay, acting on the authority of President Harry Truman, dropped the first wartime atomic bomb over Hiroshima. This was the first use of an atomic bomb on a human population. It destroyed 5 square miles of the Japanese city, instantly killing 70,000 people. And 140,000 died by the end of 1945. There were many survivors who suffered from radiation sickness and various cancers for the rest of their lives. The age group that suffered the largest number of casualties were students between 12 and 14 years old. This was because junior high school students alternated between days in school and days doing labor, either creating fire breaks by demolishing houses for the expected fire-bombing of the city, or working in vegetable gardens scattered around the city, many close to where the hypocenter was. So, we mourn.
Memorial to Students who died
Children’s Memorial
A-bomb Dome
Hiroshima today is a modern city, completely rebuilt. It shows almost no visible scars of that destruction 75 years ago, except for the iconic A-bomb Dome, the ruins of the Chamber of Commerce Building that was almost directly under the explosion. It has now become a memorial to all those who died in the blast. The bomb missed its intended target—a confluence of two rivers—and exploded directly over Shima Hospital. Everyone in the hospital died instantly, as well as 85% of the doctors in Hiroshima, just when they were most needed. There are also a number of A-bomb trees, trees that miraculously partially survived the blast and have become a symbol of survival.
An A-bomb tree
Rod and Viv in Peace Memorial Park, going to museum
Max (in orange) and I (left)
A charred child’s trike and helmet
We visited Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Park with a young Japanese PhD student—Max—who was from Hiroshima, whose family was affected by the bombing. It’s a difficult place to visit, somber, thought-provoking. This is especially true of the Peace Memorial Museum, which the student would not enter as he said it was too traumatic for him to see all the items and photos inside. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum tells the story through possessions and pictures and some first-hand accounts of survivors. It also attempts to explain the development of atomic power and why the bomb was dropped here. Information boards are in Japanese, English and Chinese. The visitor gets a visceral jolt when viewing many of the graphic photos and the mementoes full of pathos, such a watches and clocks, burned and stopped at exactly 8:15. Or a child’s burned tricycle. Or photos of shadows on steps, the shadows all that remain of the person sitting there at the time.
Charred watch that stopped exactly at 8:15
Photo in museum of the destruction
Photo in museum, taken from the hypocenter
But, one of the main purposes of the museum is a plea for peace, a hope that such a horror will not be repeated, a hope that by documenting that day we can all learn from these events. In fact, the whole city, the symbol of the complete annihilation by a nuclear weapon, has become a city of peace and disarmament, attracting peace organizations and summits. The Hiroshima Interpreters’ and Guides’ Association was established in 1992 to provide services for conferences, and the Hiroshima Peace Institute was founded in 1998 as part of Hiroshima University. The mayor of Hiroshima is the president of the international Mayors for Peace. Whenever a nation tests a nuclear weapon, the acting mayor sends a letter to the leaders of that nation expressing deep dismay.
A small shrine close to the hypocenter
An information board in the museum, asking “Why was the bomb dropped on Hiroshima?”
So, what is the future?
At its peak the global nuclear arsenal was 70,000 weapons, but today it is 13,400, showing that the world can reduce this risk. Detonating only a small fraction of these weapons could make our planet uninhabitable. The USA has not signed the 2017 UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. But, reducing our nuclear arsenal will decrease the chances of accidental nuclear war with no reduction in deterrence. Demand that the USA sign the treaty.
In the USA, what can we do to act? The proposed FY 2021 budget requests $44.5 billion for nuclear weapons, an increase of 19% over FY 2020. The US government is projected to spend 400 billion over the next 10 years and 1.3 trillion over the next 30 years to maintain and modernize its nuclear weapons. Is this a wise and productive use of tax payers’ dollars? Speak out!
KORE Limited: Keepin’ Our Roots Eternal (see information at end of post). Well, here are some very ancient roots.
SNU Museum and very early Roots of Korean history
When we were staying at Seoul National University (SNU), the Faculty House was not far from the SNU Museum, so we breezed through a couple of times. It is well-known for the artefacts collected from many excavations of archeological sites around Korea. It was interesting, but for a really great Korean museum we preferred the National Museum of Korea in the city.
But what was fascinating here was a huge piece of fossilized wood fenced off just outside the museum.
The sign has an English title “Silicified Wood” so we had a general idea of what it was. The dictionary definition of silicified wood is wood that has been changed into quartz/silica by a replacement of the cellular structure of the wood by siliceous waters. This type of petrified wood often preserves even the microscopic details of the replaced wood. Rod loves fossils, so we quite often stopped to look at this.
Thanks to my Korean friends Jinhee and Jun-ui (June) who translated the sign, and to June for the map of the area.
“When a tree dies and is exposed to the air, it is decomposed and decayed by microbes. However, when trees are buried quickly in the soil around swamps or mud, the wood component slowly is changed to contents that are dissolved in underground water. If this continues for a long time, the wood components will be removed, but the structure or shape will be preserved and became a fossil. Most wood fossils are filled with silicon dioxide. In Korea, they are mainly found in Gyeongsang-do (also written Kyungsangdo).” This includes numbers 2,3,7,14,15 areas in the map.
I’d like to give Jinhee and June one of my KORE Tee-shirts, but they have both returned to Korea for a few months, so that will have to wait. KORE is an urban streetwear clothing brand in Los Angeles that began in 2013, which is dedicated to spreading awareness of Korean culture, heritage and lifestyle. KORE stands for “Keeping’ Our Roots Eternal”, which I find to be a very clever name. They are trying to promote understanding of Korean roots, and that would also include the very early history of Korea, so this museum at SNC and the fossilized wood are an example of that.
Part of the special flag exhibit at Nakseoungdae Station, Seoul
Design on back of Pal-Trigram Tee-shirt, at Allerton Park, IL, with a Fu Dog
A Fu Dog at Allerton Park, IL
The other Tee-shirt that I have from KORE (https://korelimited.com ) has an interesting design on the back, called Pal-Trigram. As you can see, the 8 designs around the central circle are all very reminiscent of the Korean flag. The Tee-shirt photos are all in a nearby park to us, called Allerton Park. It’s a beautiful place, with many outdoor statues, including the Avenue of Fu Dogs and an Avenue of Chinese Musicians—not Korean, but we decided they were a great backdrop.
With a Chinese Musician statue
When we stayed in Seoul at Seoul National University (SNU), the nearest subway station was Nakseoungdae and at that time the station had a special exhibition about the Korean flag and its development. We also saw Korean flags in many places, and we discovered from our Korean hosts that Korean people are really proud of their flag. They feel it stands for their race and people as much as for the state.
Inhyuk Kwon and Rod
Park of the flag exhibit at Nakseoungdae station
Part of the station exhibit
The flag is called Taegukgi (or Taegeukgi), meaning flag of Taeguk, literally “supreme ultimate flag”.
The original version was adopted January 27, 1883. It was changed a few times in the 1940s and the current version adopted on May 30, 2011. But, flags similar to this were used in the Joseon Dynasty, and the Korean exile government during Japanese rule, so this motif has been important to Korea for a long time.
Rod and Inhyuk Kwon at the Former Seodaemun Prison, Seoul
Meaning of the flag:
White is a traditional color in Korean culture and represents peace and purity.
The circle in the middle symbolizes balance in the universe, the red representing positive cosmic forces and the blue negative cosmic forces. The four trigrams (kwae) represent fundamental principles in Nature/life.
Each of them has a celestial body, a season, cardinal direction, virtue, family, natural element and meaning.
The top left is heaven/spring/east/humanity/father/heaven/justice
The bottom left is sun/autumn/south/righteousness/daughter/fire/fruition
The top right is moon/winter/north/intelligence/son/water/wisdom
The bottom right is earth/summer/west/courtesy/mother/earth/vitality
Bird-shaped ewer with crowned rider holding a bowl, 12th century
Huge Buddha statues. Weird and wonderful African masks. Exquisite paper weights. Old Korean ceramics. Hindu elephant gods sculptures. Ancient Greek vases and amphora. Nineteenth-century American furniture. Japanese textiles and delicate wood-cut prints. Imposing portraits by 16th-century European artists. Monet’s “Hay Stacks”. Ballerinas by Degas. All this, and much, much more in Chicago’s Art Institute.
This is our favorite place/museum in Chicago and one of our favorites anywhere in the world. Practically every time we visit the city we make time to pop in here, even if only for a few hours. The Art Institute of Chicago is huge—much bigger than you expect from the entrance. It’s on a grand scale, GRAND in capital letters, with monumental staircases and large galleries with great collections. You can’t possibly cover all the areas in one visit, so breeze through to get a general overview, or pick an area of special interest. There may be a special exhibit—check beforehand.
Vase with stylized floral sprays, 12th century
Gourd-shaped ewer with twisted rope handle, lotus leaves and floral sprays, 12th century
Lobed vase with stylized floral scrolls, 12th century
The last time we visited Korea we decided to spend a day first in Chicago (where we flew from) and visit a special collection of Korean pottery in the Art Institute: Goryeo Dynasty Celadons. We knew from our previous visits to Korea that pottery has been an important part of the cultural scene for thousands of years, so we were happy to learn a little bit more and to see what the Art Institute has collected.
It’s not a large collection, but the pieces are exquisite. From the information boards we learned a lot. We find out that these are celadon-glazed stonewares commissioned during the peaceful Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) for the court, the aristocracy and large Buddhist monasteries. The Korean potters created a soft green-glazed ware that was unique for the time, and by the 12thcentury their surfaces had an unprecedented luminosity, created by the addition of porcelain stone to the glaze mixture. This resulted in a bluish-green “kingfisher” glaze, which they sometimes left plain and sometimes added decorative motifs, either carved or pressed into a mold. (We could see why it was called this color, as it is very reminiscent of certain kingfishers). However, the most innovative contribution was inlaid decoration (sanggam)—they cut designs into the unbaked clay and filled the grooves with creamy white and brown or reddish-brown inlays. The designs could include pictorial scenes, dragons or chrysanthemum blossoms.
Melon-shaped ewer with stylized floral scrolls, early 13th century
Lobed cup and stand with chrysanthemum flower heads, 12th/13th century
These celadons are both elegant and functional. There are wine ewers inspired by melons or bamboo, petal-shaped cups, stands for wine or tea, and small ceramic basins.
Oil bottle with chrysanthemum sprays, 13th century
Ewer formed as sprouting bamboo, 12th century
We really enjoyed looking at these and trying to capture a selection in photos, to see how beauty often lies in apparent simplicity. During that visit to Korea we really noticed and appreciated many examples of gorgeous pottery in modern-day life, so this visit to the Art Institute was invaluable. I hope you enjoy these photos too.
At the railway station. The symbol for Hiroshima is the paper crane
Strings of paper cranes are even on manhole covers
Thanks to our friend Max (real name Naoki Fukuma), who was originally from Hiroshima, for taking us around his old city, and explaining so much to us. It was an intense day and we learned probably more than we could absorb or that I can include here. This post is quite long and there are lots of photos, so please be patient and read and scroll through—it’s definitely a worthwhile place to visit.
Hiroshima. The name evokes images of a huge mushroom cloud; of destruction, death, dust, rubble; of dead, dying, and dreadfully wounded people.
View of A-Bomb Dome and river
A-Bomb Dome
General view of Peace park
A few stark remains of the almost total destruction of the city—the A-Bomb Dome, a few A-Bomb trees—do exist. Even the hypocenter is marked only by a plaque. But, except for these, the city has rebuilt and the modern city shows little of that fateful day, August 6, 1945.
Of course, the museum has documentation of the A-Bomb blast—the development of atomic energy, the lead-up to the decision to target Hiroshima, the record of events of that day and the aftermath, the fact that this was the beginning of the nuclear age. The visitor gets a visceral jolt when viewing many of the graphic photos and the mementoes full of pathos.
But, one of the main purposes of the museum is a plea for peace, a hope that such a horror will not be repeated, a hope that by documenting that day we can all learn from these events. In fact, the whole city, the symbol of the complete annihilation by a nuclear weapon, has become a city of peace and disarmament, attracting peace organizations and summits. The Hiroshima Interpreters’ and Guides’ Association was established in 1992 to provide services for conferences, and the Hiroshima Peace Institute was founded in 1998 as part of Hiroshima University. The mayor of Hiroshima is the president of the international Mayors for Peace. Whenever a nation tests a nuclear weapon, the acting mayor sends a letter to the leaders of that nation expressing deep dismay. The symbol for the city is strings of origami paper cranes, as Japanese beliefs say that if you make 1,000 cranes your wish will be granted, or there will be a happy ending to a project.
Strings of paper cranes at the Memorial for Students
The A-Bomb Dome
Almost everything related to the atomic blast is concentrated in and around the Peace Park, on an island between the Motayasu and Honkawa Rivers, two of the seven rivers in Hiroshima.
Start at the pivotal Aioi Bridge shaped like a letter ‘T’. The long arm crosses the river and from the center of that a shorter arm crosses to the tip of the island. This T-bridge was the target for the dropping of the bomb, and in fact the hypocenter is only a couple of blocks off, marked simply on a single stone plaque on the wall where once stood the Shima Hospital. This is Ground Zero at Hiroshima—the Uranium-235 atomic bomb exploded about 600 meters directly above this very spot. These days, it is on a small side street surrounded by car-parking buildings and offices.
Next to the bridge on the riverbank is the A-Bomb Dome. When you first see this structure it’s hard to grasp that this is the spot where 65 years ago a single bomb almost completely destroyed an entire city, and killed some 80,000 people directly, with a further 60,000 dying by the end of 1945 due to burns, trauma and radiation exposure.
Wander past the A-Bomb Dome (the Genbaku Domu in Japanese), its dome now a latticed skeleton, which has been strengthened with steel beams. It has become a symbol of the atomic bomb blast and an international committee was formed to actively preserve it. It stands as it was after the explosion, a symbol of devastation in the midst of a beautiful city. This building, which was the Industrial Promotion Hall at the time, is 150 meters from the hypocenter and apparently survived partially intact because it was so near the hypocenter that the blast came down on its roof rather than against the sides of the walls. Even though a large part of it remained standing, the blast caved in the roof and everything inside ignited immediately from the 4000 C fireball, of course killing everyone inside instantly.
Memorial for Mobilized Students
Strings of paper cranes at Memorial for Mobilized Students
Move on to the Memorial for the Mobilized Students nearby. In a totally different way to the defiant remains of the A-Bomb Dome, this memorial makes us stop and ponder on the meaning of life and death: This reminds us of all those young lives lost, of all that potential gone. During WW11 more than three million Japanese students over age 12 were mobilized to help with various war efforts. More than 10,000 were killed, including some 6,300 by the A-Bomb. This ferro-concrete tower, with an unusual design that widens as it rises, was built by families and friends of all those students. The day we were there, a group of Australian high school students were visiting with their teachers. They carefully placed many strings of origami paper cranes, in different sizes and colors, which they’d made and carried from Australia.
Children’s Peace Monument
Top of Children’s Peace Monument
The story of these paper cranes is actually linked to a young girl named Sadoko Sasaki, who survived the blast but later died of leukemia. In Japan, tradition says that if you make 1,000 cranes your wish will be granted, or there will be a happy ending to a project. Sadako’s wish was world peace and her recovery, and when she became ill, she believed/hoped that if she folded 1,000 cranes she would recover. She only managed to fold 644 before her death, but her classmates finished the project and she was buried with the 1,000 cranes. Still today, young people bring strings of paper cranes to both her memorial, on the island, and to this memorial for the other students. The strings of cranes are draped in the open here, but at Sadako’s memorial the millions of strings are preserved in glass cases.
Strings of paper cranes behind glass
Cross the river on the Motoyasu Bridge onto the island and Peace Memorial Park, with Sadako’s memorial, which is actually called the Children’s Peace Monument. Most of the monuments, memorials and towers are on the north part of the island, in the large green park setting, all beautifully tended. We thought that one of the most touching is this Children’s Peace Monument, especially when you know the story of Sadako Sasaki, who inspired it. You can read Eleanor Coerr’s children’s book, Sadako & The Thousand Paper Cranes for the full story. There is a bell that many people, including many young kids, come and ring and then bow. Rather touching.
Peace Memorial Park
Rod and I in Peace Memorial Park
Wander round the park, noting the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound and the Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-Bomb. Go past the Peace Fountain, Flame of Peaceand the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb victims. Below the Cenotaph is the Peace Memorial Hall, with photos, memoirs and stories of the A-Bomb victims. The Hall of Remembrance offers a solemn space for mourning and contemplation.
Undoubtedly the highlight of the park is the Peace Memorial Museum —if such an event can have a highlight. The entrance fee into the museum is only 200 yen, a token really, but so many thousands pass through that it must add up very quickly. It’s a sobering, thought-provoking place and the thousands of visitors from all over the world are generally quite quiet, unlike in many other types of museums.
Inside the museum
In the museum, which has extended into two linked buildings, the story told along its walls and passages with photos, videos, text and artifacts is pretty comprehensive, beginning with the history of the city before the bombing, the lead-up to the war (not overlooking Japan’s own part),to the actual day and finally the gruesome after-effects. There is also lots of information about nuclear weapons in general, how they were developed, how they work, what type was used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which countries have them, who is suspected of having them and how many they currently have. The museum makes several pleas to the world to ban nuclear weapons and band together in peace. To achieve that, it might be a good idea if all children—future leaders—from around the world visited Hiroshima Peace Park and the museum, as many displays make a huge impression.
For example, at the entrance is a watch that stopped at precisely 8:15am, the time of the bomb. You see the actual stone steps where a human shadow was etched in stone, and a wooden wall with a shadow of a soldier and ladder. In each case, the surface was turned white-ish by the intense heat rays but the place where the person was, was left dark. There are numerous personal items found at various distances from the hypocenter, such as: torn, burned and bloodied clothing, and pictures of victims with burns patterned on their bodies, depending on the color of the fabric—the heat rays burned the dark part of the fabric onto the skin; children’s metal school lunch boxes with charred food still inside; a charred toddler’s tricycle; and disturbing aftermath photos of victims and their surroundings.
The sad charred remains of a child’s trike and helmet
There is way too much information to absorb in one visit so we decided to buy the museum book to peruse later, called “The Spirit of Hiroshima”.
The museum is open daily, except December 30, 31. Hours vary depending on the season but always 8:30am-5pm (later some months).
Outside, on the ground floor, facing the park, is a small café where tea, coffee, or a soda is most welcome when coming out of the museum. It’s facing the so-called Phoenix tree; one that seemed dead from the blast, but grew again. There are a number of A-Bomb trees around the city, some in their original position, some that have been moved—all a miracle.
Chinese Parasol tree
Eucalypt
If you have time (and energy by then!), stroll up to the Hiroshima Castle, also known as Ri-Jo or “Carp Castle”, in its huge park, enclosed by a moat. It was destroyed by the blast, but rebuilt in 1958 and is very attractive, as a “typical Japanese” castle. In the grounds are the remains of other destroyed buildings—previous castle administration offices—of which we can just see the outline of the foundations. Another reminder of the recent history here.
Then catch a taxi back into the city for an okonomiyaki dinner—a real Hiroshima specialty and treat! (See here for information on Okonomiyaki: http://viviennemackie.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/yumm-okonomiyaki/ ). In the city you realize that the population of Hiroshima has moved on from that tragic day. Once you leave the park, it’s not too difficult to put the dark history out of your mind and just appreciate this city for what it is today: a thriving modern city.
A book to read is Hiroshima by John Hersey (Penguin, 1946). This is a reporter’s account of the bombing and its aftermath.
Opened in 2014. Admission free, open daily 10-6, later on a Saturday.
I’ve always been interested in languages, so when I discovered there is a Hangeul Museum in Seoul I decided that I should try to go. Luckily it’s easy to get to Yongsan Park by subway so I went one morning while Rod was busy at the lab.
It’s a beautiful new building in Yongsan Pak, not far from the National Museum, and I had fun wandering around. The Korean people are very proud of their writing system, so it’s logical they would build a grand museum highlighting the language. There are a couple of floors and English explanations at many of the exhibits, so I could follow a lot of it. There are English tours some days but I didn’t catch one of those.
Example of an information board
Hangeul in different signs
part of the Children’s area
The exhibition design seems to be very successful in telling the story of Hangeul, I thought, and the whole is very spacious and well lit. There’s also a Hangeul Playground, with fun hands-on activities to help children learn about Hangeul, and the Hangeul Learning Center.
The day I was there, there were a number of groups of school kids, so it seems a popular destination for field trips. Photography inside was tricky, so I didn’t get many photos, I’m afraid.
Basically, the National Hangeul Museum showcases the history and development of the Hangeul writing system, which is the Korean written word.
Attractive entrance to the museum
Hangeul used in neon signs
History:
The museum begins by noting Hangeul’s predecessors based on Chinese characters, and the adoption of Chinese as the language of literature and education. Then, it covers the development of the language, although this might not be totally factual as it focuses on the old romantic story that King Sejong himself developed Hangeul and that it only took a month.
Who was King Sejong?
The creation of Hangeul, by King Sejong and his scholars, was certainly the most important step in the development of modern Korean literature, as it increased literacy in Korea (today Korea is one of the most literate nations in the world) and it opened the doors to literature to women, the poor, and those without a classical education.
King Sejong the Great is one of only two Korean kings to be called Great, and is regarded as one of the finest rulers in Korean history. King Sejong was born in 1397, and ascended the throne in 1418 at the age of 21. He was the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty (1397-1910). He died in 1450 at the age of 54 after ruling for 32 years.
A group of school children
Realizing that literacy was key to a powerful nation, he gathered a group of scholars to develop a phonetic writing system that would correctly represent the sounds of spoken Korean and that could be easily learned by all people. The result was the creation of the Korean Hangeul alphabet, and this scientific alphabet is his best-known achievement (he had many others). The system was completed in 1443 (or 1446). This alphabet allowed the general population to become more literate, as before this they were unable to master the classical Chinese language and script that was the official written language of Korea at the time. In addition, Chinese is very different to Korean in its vocal patterns and sentence formation and so could not represent Korean sounds and structure adequately.
Books in Hangeul
Like Hungarian, Turkish, Mongolian, and Finnish, Korean is classified with the Ural-Altaic language group. The Hangeul system is a simple alphabet, with 24 characters (10 vowels and 14 consonants), that is apparently easy to learn, and the shape of the characters actually instructed readers where to place their tongues, thus making it easier for uneducated people to grasp.
Initially, many scholars and government officials opposed the use of Hangeul. Despite this, King Sejong ordered popular poems, religious verses, and well-known proverbs to be translated into Hangeul to encourage its use. Hangeul was therefore also a political as well as a linguistic achievement.
Many linguists consider Hangeul to be one of the most rational and logical alphabets.
Why?
The museum explains what aspects of the language are “scientific”: the shapes of the consonants are based on the shapes of the vocal organs while making the sounds; the consistent ‘boxed’ construction of syllables in incredibly efficient for writing and reading; and the creation of related letters by the addition of strokes to create new aspirated, glottal and double sounds is logical and consistent.
There are exhibits on the digital friendliness of Hangeul and the history of textbooks and Hangeul. It’s kind of interesting to see how the designs and typography change. This digital friendliness is an important point as, among Asian languages, Hangeul is probably the most suited to typewriters, keyboards, and small digital devices (as someone said,”for example, think how much more you can say in 140 characters in Hangeul than you can in English”).
Cia-Cia map
There’s one section here that I found particularly interesting. It’s about the Cia-Cia, a tribe of about 80,000 indigenous people who live in the city of Bau-Bau on Buton Island, Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was the former capital of the Kingdom of Buton, and as the information boards explain, ”the 4,200 square km city has a strong history and rich culture in which it takes tremendous pride. Major agricultural and marine products include corn, rice and sea cucumber. The tribe are adherents of the Islamic faith….The Cia-Cia have a tribal language that exists only in verbal form. Since July 2009 they have been attempting to use Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, at several elementary schools to record the language’s pronunciation, as they believe Hangeulis better suited to the task of
Cia-Cia book
transcribing their dying spoken tongue than Roman characters”.
The description of a Cia-Cia textbook says, “ the textbook, Bhasa Cia-Cia, begins with an introduction to the vowels and consonants of Hangeul and is composed of three categories: Speaking, reading, and writing. The book is written entirely in Hangeul and includes content pertaining to the Cia-Cia tribe’s language, culture, history, society etc., as well as the traditional Korean fairy tale, “The Story of Rabbit”. The Cia-Cia tribe’s method of using Korean characters is very similar to ours.”
That’s really great, as it’s a sad truth that many of the world’s lesser-known languages are dying out.
Underwood typewriter
The museum has plenty of videos and interactive screens, and a collection of Hangeul typewriters that were made at first by Underwood. The Underwood family was one of the first families to settle a branch in Korea and are still quite famous here, having, among other things, founded Yonsei University.
On the 2nd floor there is also a small cafeteria and museum shop, which didn’t seem to sell much related to Hangeul, or much related to literature. This seems strange, as the 3rd floor is arranged around the concept of a writer, thinking, writing etc.
It’s lovely museum and well worth a couple of hours. If I’m ever in Seoul again I would definitely return—and take Rod!
But what was fascinating here was a huge piece of fossilized wood fenced off just outside the museum.
“When a tree dies and is exposed to the air, it is decomposed and decayed by microbes. However, when trees are buried quickly in the soil around swamps or mud, the wood component slowly is changed to contents that are dissolved in underground water. If this continues for a long time, the wood components will be removed, but the structure or shape will be preserved and became a fossil. Most wood fossils are filled with silicon dioxide. In Korea, they are mainly found in Gyeongsang-do (also written Kyungsangdo).” This includes numbers 2,3,7,14,15 areas in the map.
Thanks to our friend Max (real name Naoki Fukuma), who was originally from Hiroshima, for taking us around his old city, and explaining so much to us. It was an intense day and we learned probably more than we could absorb or that I can include here. This post is quite long and there are lots of photos, so please be patient and read and scroll through—it’s definitely a worthwhile place to visit.
Next to the bridge on the riverbank is the A-Bomb Dome. When you first see this structure it’s hard to grasp that this is the spot where 65 years ago a single bomb almost completely destroyed an entire city, and killed some 80,000 people directly, with a further 60,000 dying by the end of 1945 due to burns, trauma and radiation exposure.
Wander round the park, noting the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound and the Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-Bomb. Go past the Peace Fountain, Flame of Peaceand the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb victims. Below the Cenotaph is the Peace Memorial Hall, with photos, memoirs and stories of the A-Bomb victims. The Hall of Remembrance offers a solemn space for mourning and contemplation.
For example, at the entrance is a watch that stopped at precisely 8:15am, the time of the bomb. You see the actual stone steps where a human shadow was etched in stone, and a wooden wall with a shadow of a soldier and ladder. In each case, the surface was turned white-ish by the intense heat rays but the place where the person was, was left dark. There are numerous personal items found at various distances from the hypocenter, such as: torn, burned and bloodied clothing, and pictures of victims with burns patterned on their bodies, depending on the color of the fabric—the heat rays burned the dark part of the fabric onto the skin; children’s metal school lunch boxes with charred food still inside; a charred toddler’s tricycle; and disturbing aftermath photos of victims and their surroundings.
National Hangeul Museum
important step in the development of modern Korean literature, as it increased literacy in Korea (today Korea is one of the most literate nations in the world) and it opened the doors to literature to women, the poor, and those without a classical education.
consonants are based on the shapes of the vocal organs while making the sounds; the consistent ‘boxed’ construction of syllables in incredibly efficient for writing and reading; and the creation of related letters by the addition of strokes to create new aspirated, glottal and double sounds is logical and consistent.
Experiences in Korea and Japan 