Oseam, Baekdamsa Part 4

On my long list of places I'd like to check out in Korea, Oseam may seem a choice as obscure as the actual location of this tiny hermitage in the north-west quarter of Soraksan.

It was built in 644 during Queen Seondeok's reign during the Shilla Dynasty. From what I can gather from the contours of the map, it's at least at least two hours' walk from Baekdamsa ( which is remote in itself, if you don't take the soft option of the shuttle bus).

So why would I want to visit this spot?

First of all, with Gwaneumbong as its backdrop, it promises to be a pretty spot with great views of Soraksan. Next, I'm curious to see how this place inspired Manhae as he spent quite a number of years as a monk who also composed poems here

Next, "Oseam" which means "five year old temple" got its name from a local legend. It tells of a five-year-old boy who, stranded in a remote temple, prays to be reunited with his mother. Some miracles of nature apparently happen and so the temple since then has kept the memory of this boy alive through its name.

Now the story is assured of a little more longevity, thanks to the animated movie by the same name directed by Sung Baek-yeop.

Though it wasn't such the box office as hoped because it was released about the same time as Spirited Away, it won the grand prize for the short films category at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

I stumbled upon the DVD at a shop in Incheon International Airport while waiting for my flight home and it was only then that I had heard of the place. Thought it would be a nice Christmas gift for a child but ended up watching it instead. It's a pretty, charming and modest film though I'm not too comfortable with its ending.
Still, it's a home-grown Korean anime which strives to achieve its own distinct voice.

For an interview with the director, click here.

sources:
http://guriguriblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/oseam-commentary-translated-in-englis/
http://koreanfilm.org/kfilm03.html#oseam
http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=513
http://www.anime-planet.com/reviews/a591.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/oseam
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=790281
http://movie.subtitlr.com/subtitle/show/175336
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/HA/content/cms_view_316264.jsp

Who's a Buddhist Priest, Nationalist Fighter and Poet Rolled into One? Baekdamsa Part 3

Aside from former President Chun Doo-hwan who spent a few years in Baekdamsa,  Manhae, a.k.a. Han Yong-un ( 1879-1944)  is the other person with close associations with this remote temple in Gangwon-do. He was one of the 33 signatories for the historic document which contained Korean's declaration of independence from Japan.  He spent some time in Oseam, a hermitage under Baekdamsa where he was ordained as a monk and the temple now has exhibitions dedicated to his life and works. There's even a festival dedicated to him.

Yom Moo-ung on his poems: They "can be read by the young as love songs, by the religious as words of salvation and by mankind as watchwords that convey the ardent desire for national independence."

Koreans study and recite his poems in high school such as the two works which I've quoted in a previous posting so today I'm just including a snippet from his poem, " Envoi: To My Readers" as an introduction to his works ( rewording and line breaks are my own):

In time to come, reading my poems
may be like sitting among the flowers
of late spring
and rubbing a withered
chrysanthemum
and holding it under the nose
for its scent.

For more poems, click here.

sources:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2008/08/203_26966.html
http://manhaeprize.org/manhaeprize/bbs/board.php?bo_table=literary_world&wr_id=1&page=&sca=&sfl=&stx=&sst=&sod=&spt=&page=
http://www.manhaeprize.org/ebook/myloveebook/lifewz.htm
http://www.korea.net/News/News/newsView.asp?serial_no=20071214012&part=108&SearchDay=
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=10,2059,0,0,1,0
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/culturenlife/culturenlife_istory101_detail.htm?No=36
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~b9park/HY.htm

Staying Next to the Presidential Suite in Baekdamsa, Part 2

Don't think there was any official templestay in Baekdamsa way back when I visited the place in this quieter spot in Seoraksan, Gangwondo in 2004 but I was lucky enough to be allowed to stay there. Found that my room was just next to the room once occupied by former President Chun Doo-hwan when he went into a self-imposed exile of less than three years in the late 1980s.

President who? He's the one who imposed martial law and gave the green light for the Gwangju massacre when at least 207 people were killed and 987 hurt while protesting against his unconstitutional disbanding of the National Assembly. He escaped a death sentence imposed in 1996 when President Kim Young-sam pardoned him.

Cynics would say the exile was more like a convenient retreat to escape the publicity and media while his supporters would applaud the move to this remote spot in Gangwon-do as a sincere act to repent for what he had done. Two years of eating vegetarian food, waking up before dawn to do 108 prostrations, chopping firewood and doing other menial chores alongside his wife - was that his escape route or a fitting punishment for a disgraced President?

source:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=45,6738,0,0,1,0
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Chun_Doo-hwan
http://www.baekdamsa.org/contents/sub5_2.php?mode=view&page=1&uid=3082&secret=&key=subject&search=
http://www.answers.com/topic/chun-doo-hwan-1

Baekdamsa Revisited, Part 1

It's not a state secret but I'm still loathe to write about Baekdamsa. I'd like to keep this place selfishly  to myself but who am I kidding? The place that I visited in autumn, 2004 has probably changed a lot. Besides, who was it who said you can't step into the same river twice?

Baekdamsa, Temple of a Hundred Pools, lies in a quiet north-western corner of Soraksan. "Quiet" is a relative term - it's spared the massive crowds that descend on the main section of this popular national park but at the same time, don't be surprised to see a long line of people along this bridge that leads to the temple. Busloads of ajummas and local tourists can make this place quite noisy at times but if you head out for the trails, it's easy to think that you may be the only visitor.

Then again, the piles upon piles of stones built by past visitors remind me that I'm just one of countless visitors who have been fortunate enough to make our way to this place.

Here's another pic to put one in a solitary mood - can only imagine the beauty of the wintry solitude in Baekdamsa. Whichever season you choose, do check the shuttle bus schedules that takes passengers from the village of Yongdae-ri to Baekdamsa ( 3.5 km, 2,000 won). I arrived by a local bus from Sokcho and just missed the last shuttle bus in the late afternoon so had to spend one night in Yongdae-ri as I wasn't prepared to lug my backpack for that distance. On hindsight though, I should have not spent the night in Yongdae-ri. Not that it was hard to find a decent yeongwan but the walk would've given me more time to count the pools along the way.

Here's an alternative route: At Inje Terminal, take a bus to Wontong or Jinburyeong and get off at Yongdae-ri. (40 minute interval, Runs 20 times a day)

sources:
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264231
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baekdamsa
http://www.koreanculture.org/06about_korea/symbols/09seoraksan.htm

My Fav K Sounds - Part 2

Sometimes the things you don’t seek are the most rewarding. One of my favourite sounds in Korea is something I discovered by chance when I stayed overnight at Baekdamsa in Gangwon-do. I went there just to see what this quiet corner of Soraksan National Park was like and was already taken with the beauty of the maples in autumn there. I sought silence in Baekdamsa but found instead an unforgettable sonic experience.

It was also my first temple stay experience except that there was no formal program here. The vegetarian meal taken in silence was almost over in the communal dining-hall when I heard a muffled but intriguing rhythm building up on a drum somewhere outdoors on the temple grounds. Hastily, I cleared my dining-tray and went out into the nippy evening air in search of the source. In the darkness, my ears led me to a raised pavilion which housed an enormous drum, a cloud-shaped metallic cymbal of sorts, a wooden fish with a hollow body and a bronze bell with a profile reminded me of the Emile Bell. One seonim was facing the drum, his hands wielding two sturdy drumsticks while another was waiting for his cue beside the other instruments.

How can I describe to you what I heard? Definitely not mere banging. Not tuneful but riveting. Surprising because of the variety of rhythms created on the massive drum and so different from the monotonous beating heard in temples outside Korea and it. It had a commanding presence, speaking with authority, except that I wasn't sure what it was saying. But it was magical.

According to Brother Anthony, an expert on Korean culture, sounding the Dharma Instruments (bell, drum, fish, cloud) “represents communicating the call to enlightenment (the Dharma) to all 'sentient beings'.” The bell made of metal reaches out to those below the ground, while the drum made of leather is the call to living things above the ground. The hollow body of the wooden fish is struck to communicate to all the creatures in the sea whilst the cloud shaped gong is meant for all in the air.

Source of pic on left: KNTO website