Henrike Tietjen 지방답사 후기

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In the third week of the program we left the urban landscape of Gyeonggi-do to visit the area of Gyeongju. The urban landscape we have mostly seen until now was replaced by wide flower fields and instead of skyscrapers lining up one after another the distinct curved roofs following the model of Korean traditional architecture dominated the skyline. Our first stop was the Anapji area, a pond famous for its beautiful view, especially at night.

The next day we got a guide to accompany us throughout the day which was filled with visits to various historical sights. She also told us some general facts about Gyeongju, and I specifically remember her saying that Gyeongju was known as number one in Korea in several aspects. Firstly, for being a place filled with history, dating back to Silla period as it used to be its capital city. Secondly, for the greenery throughout the city and thirdly for the heat.

I think all of us agreed with her at the latest as we arrived at our first destination, the Daereungwon. Nowadays, the grassy, rolling hills that are actually burial mounds are incorporated into nice park complex. One of the tombs, the Cheonmachong, is open to visitors and shows how labouriously the mounds were constructed and it also displayed facsimiles of the treasures with which the king had been buried in the 5th century. The tour guide explained every object to us in great detail, explaining also the shamanic symbolism in them. We could admire the real objects of the display later on that day in the Gyeongju National Museum.

But before that we took a stroll through the park and to Wolsong where the Chumsungdae is located. The Chumsungdae is said to be the oldest observatory in East Asia as it had been built under the reign of Queen Seondeok in the 7th century. Through later research I found out that the architecture of the tower is very sophisticated as there are twelve base stones, representing each month, 30 layers, representing each day of the month and 366 stones in total, amounting (approximately) to the days of the year. It was fascinating to me that the design of the tower is actually very symbolic.

Next stop was the Gyeongju National Museum. This museum focuses mainly on relics and art from the Silla period. There we could find the real objects we saw in the Cheonmachong Tomb before. It became obvious why Silla is also known as ‘Korea’s Golden Kingdom’. We got the opportunity to admire the gold crown and golden belt and other jewelry. It showed the significance of Gyeongju as an archeological site, as all the exhibited objects were found in the Gyeongju area and gave a little impression of how splendourous the culture of Silla might have been. Although personally, I liked the exhibition on Buddhist work best.

Gyeongsanganamo Gyeongju Yangnam fan shaped columnar joint

In the afternoon we continued our journey to the seaside to take a refreshing walk along the seashore to see Gyeongju’s Yangnam Jusangjeolli Cliff until we reached a specific rock formation that is shaped like a fan.

However, at that point some of us already got distracted by the cooling sea which they could explore some more after we made our way to the Underwater Tomb of King Munmu, which the guide explained to us that King Munmu, the king who unified the three Kingdoms, wished to be buried in the East Sea to protect his Kingdom even after death, so his ashes were scattered over the rocks not far from the shore. As we got to the beach a lot of the other students were excited at the sight of the sea and went swimming even with their clothes on. Although I did not go into the water myself it will stay as a good memory with the other students for sure as it was fun just watching them.

The day ended with a traditional Korean meal that covered the whole table with various sidedishes, ranging from pumpkin to fish and of course Kimchi. Although the food was not for everyone’s taste with the many sidedishes I think everyone could find something they liked. And after dinner we received a specialty from Gyeongju from our kind teachers which was a sweet bread out of barley called Gyeongju bread as a delicious dessert.

The next day a visit to the last couple of sights were planned, which I think are two of the most famous sights of Gyeongju called Bulguksa and Seokguram. For this trip these are the sights I was most excited for as those are the ones have first learned about during history class back in Germany. Actually I have already visited Bulguksa once before but this time the guide gave us explanations giving us more insight. As I am especially interested in architecture and art I enjoyed it seeing for the second time even more as our guide explained the symbolism to us in great detail and I was again struck by the beautiful vibrant colours and dynamic shapes. I also liked that this temple seems to be in a much quieter and more secluded area surrounded by nature in contrast to Bongeun-sa which we have visited before. Although Bongeun-sa is also a beautiful temple the loud surroundings of the city disturbed the picture slightly.

Seokguram Buddha.JPG
Seokguram Buddha

Our last stop for out Gyeongju trip was Seokguram where a famous statue of Buddha is looking towards the East Sea. We walked the shaded track up to the grotto for some hundred meters until we finally reached it. The temple itself was quite small and we could only see the statue through a window while a monk and some Buddhists of the temple were praying in front of it. Yet, it was remarkable seeing it for the first time in person.

Although Gyeongju has even more sights to offer that are surely worth visiting our trip ended with a last traditional lunch. Personally, it has been my second visit to Gyeongju and it stuck in my memory as a city that mixed tradition with contemporary Korean culture. The term ‘museum without walls’ seems a rightful expression for a city like Gyeongju harbouring many remnants of the past centuries. Also, seeing all the nature and wide field showed us another face of Korea that we can barely see in Seoul or Seongnam where we spent most of our time until then. Despite the heat I think it was an enjoyable trip for all of us and it will definitely stay in our memories.