Ko-Un's Spring, For A. and YW.

Here's the first section from Young People's Songs for the Four Seasons  by Ko-Un ( translated by Brother Anthony), for A. and YW.

Spring

I stood beside your little grave and gazed.
The unfamiliar haze of my flesh trembled
in response to the haze nearby.
Sorrow of that village where
invisible things become newly visible all winter long.
A stream flows by, nourishing roots of spurge.
My springtime seems to have returned along meadows
with their infant grass intent on putting an end
to a day's agony of falling spring rain.
And in the spring even your grave has been made new.
After waiting a while for something, I left again.

Korea's Girl on A Swing

SWING POEM by Seo Jeong-ju ( 1915-2000)

Hyangdan, push the swing.
Like pushing a ship
Far into the ocean,
Hyangdan.

Away from these wavy willows bowing politely to the wind,
The carpet of flower petals and meadows that lie beneath,
And the sweet butterflies and singing nightingales.
Push me away, Hyangdan.

To the sky where the corals nor islands exist.
Push me up.
Push me up like a coloured cloud,
Push this heart of mine that trembles.

I cannot go like the moon
That slowly runs away to the west.

Push me up away, Hyangdan
As the winds push the waves along.
Hyangdan.

"Seo Jeong-ju is a Korean poet from Jeollabuk-do who wrote three poems on Chunhyang. He dealt with the theme of transcendance through Chunhyang's words to her servant girl, Hyangdan."

What's interesting, for me, at least, is that Seo's Chunhyang, seems so different from the traditional heroine who's been held up as a model of steadfast loyalty to her lover. Instead Chunhyang here is a restless soul who expresses a desire to be elsewhere, a longing to escape the picture-like prettiness of her world. Modern-day misses in Korea may well appreciate the sentiments of Seo's persona instead of the heroine touted in the Chunhyang Festival in Namwon or in the literature books used in Korean schools. How many young Korean girls wouldn't prefer to emulate Han Bi-ya instead of the "Juliet" of the Joseon Dynasty?

Source:
Namwon, The City of Love,  A Tourist brochure ( produced by Namwon Tourism Promotion Commission).
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=527650&page=14

Gyeokpo in Byeonsanbando

Spent the second last night of my 2007 trip to Korea in a small seaside town called Gyeokpo. It was easy enough to board the bus from Naeso-sa on the southern side of  Byeonsanbando on the west coast of Korea and only slightly more challenging to find a yeogwan that suited my taste  ( sea view, of course!) and budget ( under 30,000 won).

photo credit: Kim Byung-joon

The weather was good for a leisurely stroll around the small port-town which has a small supermarket, a small amusement park which has been better days, and many small seafood restaurants. It was more interesting walking down to the small lighthouse and back again, passing a long line of pojang-macha lookalikes except these were plying all kinds of fresh seafood.

photo credit: Kim Byung-joon

Actually I'd come here out of curiosity about Chaeseokgang, the cliff with slabs of rock that resembled a pile of books. Have to admit my curiosity was satisfied too quickly within five minutes. But I did spend more time in the seafood stalls,  poring over the variety of sea creatures available for one's gustatory pleasure or adventure. Click here for a video on autumn in Buan ( production of KBS World Radio); the video has some footage of Chaeseokgang amongst other things.

Getting to Gyeokpo: You can take an express bus to Buan from the Seoul Express Bus Terminal ( bus service available 15 times a day; approximately 3 & 1/2 hours). There're also the same number of buses from Jeonju Bus Terminal. From Buan Bus Terminal, you can board regular or deluxe buses to reach Gyeokpo.

Grave of Yi Hyang-geum a.k.a Mae-chang

Footnote: Came across a poet who's a local of Buan, the main town that connects Byeonsanbando with Seoul. Yi Hyang-geum or Maechang ( 1573- 1610) was a well-known ginyeo. That's a highly-educated female entertainer from the lower classes who performed for the nobility. Here's one of her poems:

All the world loves to fish yet I choose the harp,

Only today do I realise the hardships of life

Three times ashamed for missing my chance with two feet severed

In Hyeongsan I weep with jade rock in my arms.

The missing feet suggest the traditional punishment for a criminal while the story of the jade rock refers to a real person who, unfortunately, received such a sentence when the king refused to believe his claim that he was carrying a piece of jade. What I find interesting is the ambiguous tone of the poem - does the poet regret her choices in life or is she patting herself on the back for her noble values?

sources:

http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=58f3e460-0f18-4db2-8ae9-8c3926e19cb8&lat=35.726683&lon=126.736733&t=4&id=Bus%20Station%20Car%20Wash%20%20-%20%20Buan,%20Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Maechang
http://www.seoulselection.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=1549&category_id=66&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53
http://books.google.com.my/books?id=K17mLqrKA40C&dq=Yi+Maechang&source=gbs_navlinks_s
http://www.ocp.go.kr:9000/ne_pro_search/content_view.cgi?AC=00007128&mode=1&v_db=2&v_disp_type=4
http://www.ocp.go.kr:9000/ne_dasencgi/full.cgi?v_kw_str=&v_db_query=A4%3A35&v_db=2&v_doc_no=00007128&v_dblist=2&v_start_num=451&v_disp_type=4saeng
http://www.ocp.go.kr:9000/ne_dasencgi/full.cgi?v_kw_str=&v_db_query=A4%3A35&v_db=2&v_doc_no=00007128&v_dblist=2&v_start_num=451&v_disp_type=4
http://wiki.galbijim.com/Ki

The Poetic World of Classic Korean Women Writers by Lee Hai-soon ( Ewha Womens University Press, 2005)

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

Danwon's Classroom

Schoolmaster's Sijo

Even the youngest here can answer this simple question!

Why doesn't he know? Why can't he understand?

Fifty winters ago, I was him. How quickly I've forgotten what I learnt.

The KNTO webpage now has an on-line art gallery featuring works by Kim Hong-do ( also known as Danwon) and Shin Yun-bok, the painters featured in the SBS 2008 drama production, Painter of the Wind. Danwon is known for his humorous and humanistic sketches of ordinary people.

For similar postings
Danwon's Threshing
Danwon's Classroom


sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sijo

Danwon's Portrait of A Family

Husband's Sijo

She nags about the price of radishes, my drinking,

Our child cries - hunger or a wet bottom?

Two hours before home where I can enjoy silence.

Wife's Sijo

The cradle on my head's heavy, the child on my back, heavier.

How much rice can we afford to buy for dinner tonight?

Two lovers I rejected for him and now this.

Baby's Sijo

He winks and smiles but he's red as a berry

Her back is warm but wet; she smells of fish and milk.

Two funny people. Where have I seen them before?

Stumbled upon this addition to the KNTO webpage - an on-line art gallery featuring works by Kim Hong-do ( also known as Danwon) and Shin Yun-bok, the painters featured in the SBS 2008 drama production, Painter of the Wind. Happy viewing!

For similar postings

Danwon's Threshing

Danwon's Classroom

sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sijo

One of Yun Sondo's Five Friends

As another farewell nod to Damyang in Jeollanam-do, I'd like to feature an excerpt from a poem by Yun Sŏndo (1587 - 1671). One of the most prominent poets in Korean literature, Yun has been compared to his contemporaries like Shakespeare, Basho and Cervantes. His poem, Song of Five Friends, is often quoted in anthologies of Korean poetry. Here are three versions of verse five from that poem.

The first version is by Larry Gross:

Look at this, it isn’t a tree, and it isn‘t a grass either;
How can it stand so erect when its insides are empty?

Bamboo, I praise you in all seasons, standing green no matter what

The second by Kevin O'Rourke comes from his book, The Book of Korean Shijo:

Neither wood nor grass;

who made it straight, why is it hollow?
So green all the year round; that's why I like it.

The third is my long-winded reworking ( with no regard for the technical rules of sijo composition):

Consider this: too skinny to be a tree, too thick to be grass;
You stand tall and strong, though insubstantial within.
Yet, despite the seasons, you remain steadfast in hue.

source:
http://thewordshop.tripod.com/Sijo/yunsondo.html
http://www.candlemaking.com/store/Bamboo-P2302C31.aspx?UserID=581291&SessionID=JvqIw2qWrguWYkTn4Ryr

A Little Night Music at Jirye Art Village - Part 5

There’s a distinct chill in this autumn evening but the guests of JAV on the 24th October, 2005 are quite warm and ruddy-cheeked in the Ji-seon-sa-dang, formerly a Confucian schoolroom. This is partly because the heater’s on and we’re seated on cushions around a low table with teacups, fruits and snacks and largely because we’re filling each other’s cups with Andong soju ( rice wine with an unbelievable 45% alcohol content!), thanks to our generous host.

With our spirits mellowed and inhibitions loosened courtesy of the potent soju, we take turns to sing or suggest songs for others to hum or sing along. The French guests present Autumn Leaves & La Vien En Rose. Mr Kim does a wonderful imitation of the flute and we’re treated to one of his own compositions. It’s a privilege to hear the pansori singer, another guest, perform the Jindo arirang. Other Koreans join in and I marvel at their voices. “Oh yes,” Dave from Jeonju nods in jest, “ we get a lot of training in the noraebang!”

My turn to stand and deliver. Am completely intimidated by all these people with well-endowed lungs and natural singing ability. I don’t even sing in the bathroom and any lyric flies out of my head. To salvage national pride and as I owe Mr Kim a song, here’s my belated contribution to the party.

JIRYE ART VILLAGE

24 October, 2005

( dedicated to Kim Won-gil )


Here silence is a canvas -
Each paints with
A different palette.

Nature's brushstrokes
Are delicate –
Wind through leaves, bird song.

The resident pup, though,
Punctuates ( or punctures)
The canvas with sharp yaps.

Baby’s cries are highlights
Completing
A family portrait.

The dramatic strokes of
Pansori singer and drummer
Are masterly and deft.

Fragile notes from our
Host’s mouth flute
Harmonise with the calm.

French songs and soju cups
Clinking lead to strange speech
Heard only in dreams.


Sources of pics:
1. Andong soju_bottle http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SH/SH_EN_6_3_2_4.js
2. Soju glasses http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/culturenlife/culturenlife_newworlds_detail.htm?No=16