Sober Seollal

If you're a Seoulite with a bus or train ticket bound for your hometown this Seollal and grumbling about the long queues or traffic jams leading out of the city, spare a thought for some hundred-over employees of the  National Institute of Animal Science at Suwon, Gyeonggi-do.  While most people have the luxury of disregarding the government's call to minimize visits to hometowns which have been stricken with the foot -and-mouth-disease ( FMD), the workers at NIAS have been quarantined in their workplace since January 3.

Caption from source: A day before the Lunar New Year holidays, passengers yesterday line up to board buses at Seoul Express Bus Terminal in Banpo-dong. The Korea Expressway Corp. estimated 680,000 cars had left the capital as of 9 a.m. yesterday and 1.93 million cars would hit the road during the period. [NEWSIS]

Caption from source: Employees at the National Institute of Animal Science wash dishes because only two kitchen staffers are there to prepare meals for more than 100 workers who have to quarantined for fear of spreading FMD. Provided by the institute

Consider the sad example of Shin Sook, as reported in the JoongAng Ilbo:

Shin Sook, 38, who works in the computer room at the institute, walked from the building toward a big steel gate where a JoongAng Ilbo reporter was waiting. That’s how far Shin is permitted to have contact with the outside world. And that includes the Lunar New Year holidays, too. Shin, a mother of two young daughters, lives only three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the institute, but she has only been gazing in that direction for 28 days, unable to go home.“From the office, I can see the windows of my apartment. If the lights are on, I think to myself that my kids are home and when the lights are out, I know that they have gone to bed,” said Shin.
“Everyone treasures all the animals here. We can’t let anything happen to any of them,” Shin said. There are hundreds of priceless livestock at the NIAS, ranging from pigs that were genetically modified to help produce cures for hemophilia to cows used for cloning somatic cells. If the disease infects animals involved in projects that have been conducted for decades - with billions of won in investments - it could shake the foundation of the country’s biotechnology research to its core.


After the NIAS building became off-limits, the only things that have been allowed in are food for the workers and the livestock and oil to heat the facilities. The food is sterilized by infrared light before being carried into the building. And trucks carrying can only enter the grounds after being carefully sterilized. Workers’ family members can only meet them at the steel gate. So, two weeks ago, when Shin’s daughters visited, she couldn’t even hug them. Shin tried to explain the situation to her girls. “The pigs that mom’s company raises are very precious. Mommy can’t go outside or hug you because these pigs might get infected with a dangerous disease,” Shin told her older daughter, a fourth grader, while her younger daughter, 7, cried loudly. Shin said he told her husband not to bring the daughters to visit anymore because she couldn’t bear turning the daughters away as they cried.


Life inside the building is trying. Shin said half of the workers caught a cold after sleeping on the floor with no heating. The air is cold and dry, with the only heat coming from radiators. Employees wash their hair and face in a basin and take turns using the few showers at the institute. But still, Shin said, the conditions are bearable. The unbearable part is being unable to see her daughters. On Jan. 20, Shin spent the whole day sitting absentmindedly at her desk. It was her younger daughter’s elementary school orientation day.


Let's hope we can see an end to the spread of the FMD soon so that people like Shin can be reunited with their families.

sources:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2931790
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2931798

Korean Folk Village

For those who don’t have the time to visit the Hahoe Maeul, in Andong or Nagan-eup-seong near Suncheon right down south, Korean Folk Village near Suwon is the most convenient introduction one can get to the lives of Koreans in the past.

 Pretty pavilion beside a wishing tree in KFV

An open-air museum of sorts, the KFV gives visitors a vivid impression of what life was like in Korea during the Joseon Dynasty.

Greet the wooden guardians which protect the village

There are various houses ranging from a humble peasant’s cottage to an aristocrat’s mansion, an array of shops with wares ranging from traditional medicine to straw sandals.

Rustic traditions kept alive here; wonder if the beast is on the KFV payroll

See for yourself the difference between the northern and southern styles of traditional home architecture. Observe craftsmen at work making pots, horseshoes, ropes and paper the traditional way.

Dried calabashes, corn, fermented soybean bricks, red peppers - staples of a bygone era

Check out the various foot bridges which span the stream hugging the eastern side of the KFV. Satisfy your curiosity about what a Korean haunted house looks like and visit the local female shaman.

 This footbridge is one of easiest ones to cross; there are others which test your balance!

Get married the traditional Korean way in KFV - serious. But book in advance!

Keep a lookout for your favourite Hallyu star as this place is a popular shooting location for K historical drama.

Some Suggestions:

1. Getting there – click here.

2. Be prepared to spend more than half the day there – work out a walking route around the scheduled performances ( wedding ceremony, acrobats, samul-nori, horse riding).

 Don't miss this - Samulnori performances - one of the highlights of KFV

Check out the map on the KFV website.

source: http://www.koreanfolk.co.kr/folk/english/guide/guide_sche.html

3. There used to be a two tier pricing system - the cheaper one didn’t include admission to the amusement park side but if you were visiting with children, you probably had to go for the pricier option. Looks that the option's no longer available from the looks of the current ticketing scheme on the KFV website though the KNTO website displays the older ticketing schedule ( I'm guessing the KNTO page needs updating!)

12,000 won (adults), 9,000 won ( adolescents and seniors), 8,000 won (child)

4. Read up on the various sections in the KFV website before you go. The information brochure which you get when you buy your ticket doesn’t give as much and the explanatory boards are sketchy.

5. KBS World Radio video on KFV – juxtaposes old photos from its archives with present day video shots.

Snacks on sale in the open-air marketplace

6. Note that the food stalls in the open-air market section are tucked right at the back and there’s a long walk to get there, so if you tend to feel peckish throughout the day, carry your own snacks and water.

7. KFV has been the outdoor location site for various dramas such as Daejanggeum and Painter of the Wind.

sources:
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/culturenlife/culturenlife_touringkorea_detail.htm?No=436
http://www.koreanfolk.co.kr/folk/english/contact/contact_tran.html
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/South_Korea/Soul_tukpyolsi/Seoul-1058426/Things_To_Do-Seoul-Korean_Folk_Village-BR-2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Folk_Village
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264121

Janganmun at Hwaseong, Past and Present

Exterior view of Jangan-mun, the North Gate of Hwaseong

Many thanks to Henny Savenjie for giving me the green light to reproduce the first and second pictures here. They  came from a book  but he wasn't able as yet to find the publication details. To see bigger pictures in more detail, please click here.

Imagine, if you please, King Jeongjo making his grand entrance through Jangan-mun into Hwaseong from Hanyang.

According to one source, the word "jangan" means a capital, illustrating King Jeongjo’s intention to make Hwaseong a major city. But I'm puzzled - my very limited knowledge of Chinese suggests to me another translation -"Chang" meaning Long and  "An" meaning Peace, so could it be read as the Gate of Lasting Peace? Those who are familiar with Hanja, Chinese and Korean, please enlighten me.

I like this photo of Jangan-mun taken in the early 1910s. With its two-storeyed pavilion, Jangan-mun is the biggest of all the main gates in Hwaseong and is even larger than the unfortunate Sungnyemun ( Namdaemun ) in Seoul which was burnt a few years ago.

From another source, "water could be poured through five holes called oseongji on the upper side of ongseong (jar fortress- a semicircular outer gate) in case enemies tried to burn the gate." Remarkably this gate is the original one which survived many conflicts through the ages.

If you have the inclination and patience, you could check out this website with a blueprint and instructions  for constructing your own paper model of Jangan-mun. Good luck to you!

sources:
http://www.hwasong.henny-savenije.pe.kr/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2009-01-24_-_Portrait_of_King_Jeongjo_in_Unhangak.JPG
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hwaseong.Fortress-Janganmun.03.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Janganmun_of_Hwaseong_Fortress_in_early_1910s.jpg
http://shfes-eng.suwon.ne.kr/html/sub3_2_225.asp
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/3152/hwaseong/index.html
http://english.visitseoul.net/visit2007en/activities/dattoursuggestions/dattoursuggestions.jsp?cid=38&sid=1911

http://magazine.seoulselection.com/index.php/articles/60-travel/211-hwaseong-fortress
http://www.knto.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264391&nearBy=tran

What Would Shakespeare Have Made Of Yongjo And Sado?

Bruce Cuming's book devotes more pages to King Yongjo, the monarch with the longest reign in the Joseon Dynasty than to King Sejong. Perhaps he wanted to highlight this particular individual to illustrate the Korean perception of "the ideal Confucian prince" but I suspect he also couldn't resist the high drama of his tragic relationship with his son and heir, Prince Sado who, unfortunately, embodied all the worst of the Korean royal system.

It has all the elements of tragedy - the sharp contrast and conflict  between a serious-minded and stern king who strove to be the best ruler possible at odds with a  spoilt son whose neurosis soon turned into schizophrenia; the son's wastrel ways degenerating into the habits of a serial killer; the mother who failed to make her husband acknowledge the son's mental illness - King Yongjo simply saw Sado as an unfilial son and so the desperate mother even once suggested  that the king sentence the son to death for all his crimes against court physicians, eunuchs, kisaengs and even Buddhist nuns. The poor woman was so burdened with guilt for even contemplating the possibility of encouraging the death of her own flesh and blood that she soon succumbed to illness and died.

As Cumings put it," To execute the son for his crimes would tarnish the royal family, and simply to kill him would be a crime." Apparently Yongjo had told Sajo: " If I die, our three -hundred -year dynastic line would end. If you die, the dynasty can be preserved. It would be better if you died." Sado failed to strangle himself in front of his father and "by early evening the king was tired of pleading: ' Aren't you ever going to kill yourself?' " So the solution seemed to be to persuade/ compel Sado to enter a large rice chest and to leave him there to die under a hot July sun thirteen days later.

These and other intriguing details such as Sado's attempts to delay his daily meetings with his father by changing his clothes continually and his inclination to sleep in a coffin-like box ( a sinister foreshadowing of his grim end), were noted by Sado's wife, who was betrothed to him at the tender age of ten and subsequently recorded by Lady Hong in her "Memoirs of a Korean Queen" ( translated and edited by Choe-wall Yang-hi, London, KPI, 1985).

Apparently this fascinating episode has been made into at least two mini-dramas. One of them is the rather clumsily-titled: Eight Days The Mystery Of Jeongjo's Assassination. Has anyone seen it?

Source:
Korea's Place in the Sun- A Modern History by Bruce Cumings ( W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1997).

Hwaseong,Suwon - A Fortress For A Father

Wish I had read Bruce Cumings' "Korea's Place in the Sun - A Modern History" before I visited Suwon. I would have appreciated Hwaseong fortress a lot more if I had a fuller picture of the sad Prince Sado then. As it was, it was a rushed visit to Suwon, coming at the tail end of my 2005 autumn tour. I'd taken the inter-city bus from Yongdae-ri into the city after spending a few peaceful days in Baekdamsa. Not exactly a wise move as the contrast between the idyllic setting in Soraksan National Park and the busy urban landscape was too jarring. Then it was a quick tour of the Korean Cultural Village just outside of Suwon before making the all-too-hasty decision to cover only the western half of the fortress wall as I was pressed for time.

Told myself that I'd complete the circuit in another visit. Ha - how optimistic I was. Now I have to be content to be an armchair traveller to revisit Hwaseong. Fortunately, there're a few interesting websites that I hope to explore more fully in the days to come. Plus, am re-reading the section from Cuming's book which describes how Prince Sado was forced to kill himself after his scandalous behaviour and how Hwaseong Fortress was eventually built by his son, Jeongjo, in memory of his late father.

Of course, the fortress isn't simply an elaborate shrine to commemorate one's parent. It was designed to repel invasions by the Japanese but it was also intended as an alternative capital. King Jeongjo evidently had a bone to pick with Seoul in more ways than one.

source:
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/CU/CU_EN_10_4_3_1.jsp

Korean Cultural Village

The Korean Folk Village near Suwon is usually considered a pretty good introduction to traditional life particularly for those who can't spare the time to explore the real deals such as Hahoe Village, Andong or Nagan-eupseong Village near Suncheon.

I had visited KFV way before I went to the other two places so my response was more favourable than it would've been if it had been the other way round. Liked the variety of footbridges across the stream which flanked one side of the village. Also remembered the elderly gentleman at the paper-making mill who patiently demonstrated his skills and the impressive performances of the nori players. It was mildly interesting to observe from a distance a film crew at work, shooting another historical drama but aside from all that, I'm sorry to say I don't really remember that much of KFV.

A pity I hadn't checked out its useful website before making my visit. Click here for a KBS World Radio video clip that covers other entertaining aspects. For more information about admission charges, opening times and transportation link, click here.

Rustic Charms of A Fortress Village, Suncheon, Part 3

Feel strange walking into Nagan-eupseong simply dressed in jeans, a pullover and sneakers. Should be wearing a plain hanbok or even some traditional peasant clothes stained the colour of persimmons with straw sandals instead. Such is the charm of this village that once I pass through its main gate, I am transported into another world and another time.

Nagan-eupseong Folk Village, 22 km west of Suncheon, was the site of the Paji Castle during the Baekje Dynasty and continued as a village in the Joseon dynasty. It’s more like a combination of Hahoe Village in Andong and the Korean Folk Village in Suwon because people still live and work here, alongside the open-air museum that it is. Unlike Hahoe which prides itself on being home to aristocratic families, Nagan-eupseong showcases the life of the ordinary folk.

Another striking difference is that Nagan-eupseong is a fortress village surrounded by a pretty thick wall with impressive gates at both ends of the village. The 1.41 km long and 4 m high walls, first built from sand and eventually stone, were intended to keep out Japanese invaders. These days, tourists such as yours truly are free to climb onto the ramparts. The double vision one gets standing there is quite strange: within the walls, I’m back in the time looking over rustic straw huts or tiled roofs of cottages and outside the walls, I’m immediately whisked back to modern times with the Korean 20th century style houses.

Am glad to have the company of three year old Dong Ok and his mum, a friendly ajumma that I meet on the tour bus. She points out to me various plants in the gardens of different cottages as we peer over the low stone hedges. We discover cotton balls which can be plucked straight off the plant, the purple flower of the doraji plant, another delicate bloom from the green tea bush, calabashes ( longish dark-green gourds sun-dried to use as bathing sponges). Persimmons and quinces hang from bare branches and the ginkgo trees are splendid as always.

There’s also a water wheel still in operation, the amusing entrance of a dragon kiln at the local pottery ( painted to look like a monster’s open mouth), a drinks dispensing machine boarded up to look suitably rustic and retro, a grand pavilion with an enormous drum, a long-bearded halbeoji in yellow earth-dyed garb who welcomes us as we watch him weaving ropes the traditional way.

The claim on the Suncheon website seems justified – there is a friendly atmosphere and if I’m fortunate enough to pass this way again, I’d like to stay in one of the minbaks available here to soak it all in very slowly.

Sources:
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=762732
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=312888http://www.nagan.or.kr/english/main.html