National Folk Museum of Korea

The second day in Korea (year 2019)

My friend is so lazy because he likes to go to work every day, so, I had to spend that day alone, find an activity.

Museum!

Which one?

Seems I have seen so many of them. Maybe there’re some other great museums left?

It is so good that I have made a screenshot, so now I know the name of the museum – National Folk Museum of Korea.

I wasn’t sure, is it my first time to be there until I entered.

I felt excited this moment, being in Korea again, such a special and exotic place to me.

Even many people told me, that July is the worst time to come here due to the hot and humid weather, I want to be there now, because I am freezing here, in my cold room, and cold outside, only vodka can warm me up.

I always imagine Korea hot, because I have been only during summer, however, winter is cold there too.

Glassy futuristic skyscraper and roads full of colourful sings, contrasting relatively small, wooden-stone ancient buildings along with the buoyant green make up the face of Seoul.

On the way to the museum! I bet it is as hot there as at the hell, I have forgotten that feeling, but I see people on the photo are trying to walk in the shadow; it makes me smile now.

Then, I have entered.

Science: medicine, astronomy, geography, magic and so on.

About agriculture

The first character looks uncertain for me because I didn’t find the exact one or any variety of 農, but I think that means something like: agriculture is the base of the world. It is such a close to the Ukrainian culture phrase. About 70% of the Ukrainian land (603 000 sq km) is the agricultural land (420 000 sq km), which is 4 times more than the whole area of South Korea and even twice more than the whole area of North and South Korea together. Seems unbelievable? However, after visiting Korea I can confidently state that Ukrainians do not really understand the meaning of the phrase above. The huge land is used almost for nothing, not effectively, when you compare to the Korean one. A rain – the crops are destroyed, high temperature – crops are destroyed, wind – crops are destroyed. What I saw in Korea, that each piece of the land is used wisely, even the land seemed to be fruitless along the road is a good place to grow onion, if you know how to do it. Weather is even crazier than in Ukraine: extremely high temperatures, strong wind – nothing can harm, because the crops are protected from the sun and the ground is covered to decrease the evaporation; trees are supported to stand the strong wind. What is a naughty bird wants to eat your fruit? It is a difficult task for the bird – each fruit is covered to be protected. Moreover, a funny thing is that there’s no planning: one year plant too many onions (very cheap), next year nobody plants it (crazily expensive, import).

A cute house for chicks.

There’s a similar tool used in Ukraine to tamp ground, is it used in the same way in Korea? Fishing. A very funny tool, who do you catch with it? Medicine grinder.

My favourite place – I can sleep here. And a nice pillow, what I have seen before in other cultures, it was something solid to support the head, but this one looks pretty comfortable.

Paintings. Feel the culture.

It would be much better if I carefully read the descriptions beneath the items, but I don’t know the special words, so I just enjoyed the appearance and turn on my imagination to guess the story behind each item.

This part of the exhibition made me very upset because I was so hungry at that time, so hungry…

I need more and more foooooooood.

Later in the evening.

Hahahahah.

After the dinner, to keep me fit I participated in Dongducheon sports competition! But still, I don’t know who won…

In a shop. Ukraine – Korea price overview

Shops and its content vary even from the city to a city, what to say about another country. Not only the products itself but the way of the selling and measuring the products, prices, all these differ too.

This cute yellow fruit is a melon, Korean melon, about 300 g each. As for me, it tastes just like an ordinary melon, the unusual thing is the size and colouring. This fruit is symbolic for me, I was happy to eat it last time, and this time I have got it again. Almost every morning started with the melon for breakfast. The price of the melon here is 1.7$ (44 UAH) per kilo, while in Ukraine other types of melon cost from 0.4-0.6$ (10-15 UAH) to 1.4$ (35 UAH). The price for this melon is 3 times cheaper or even almost the same for the better breeds of the melon. Do you think that Korean melon really is more expensive? I am going to investigate this question.

Tomatoes 2.5$ (63 UAH) per kilo, while in Ukraine at the same time – 1-1.2 (24-30 UAH) per one kilo. I can say, there’re tomatoes for 0.5$ per kilo, but you wouldn’t ever find it in the supermarket in Korean, because the one offered in Ukraine is whether half rotten or partially wooden. ~x2. An interesting this is that tomatoes are fruits here. All the vegetables are weighted on the cash, but fruits must be weighted inside the shop. This situation made me confused, because when I took some cucumbers my friend told me, that there’s no need to weight the cucumbers, but then, the tomatoes should be weighted. I thought my friend is silly, but then I got that the system is quite different. Haha.

So, let’s have a look at more detailed information about tomato prices. I collected information about tomato price in website www.garakprice.com in South Korea and compared to that in Ukraine provided by the Ministry of Finance. The prices are shown in USD per 1 kg from September 2018 to September 2019. However, the absolute values of the price can not be compared because the prices are provided to different types of tomatoes. I have chosen the special type (특) of tomatoes, which is the most expensive because these tomatoes were selling at the shop I went, and low (하), which is the cheapest. But, the price for the special tomatoes is provided only for 10 kg boxes, which means is it cheaper than the retail price. That’s why an average price in July is 1.4 $ per, while shop provides it by 0.25$ per 100g (80% more expensive). On the other hand, there’s no information about the quality of the tomatoes on the Ukrainian market. But, if we suggest that the retail price is 80% higher than the wholesale price, it is possible to make some estimation. For comparison, the wholesale of tomatoes of different types on the 2018/9/29:

특 special, 하 low, 중 middle, 상 upper type of tomatoes. The low is 5 times cheaper than the special, and the middle is 2 times cheaper.

Then we can see, that the retail price of Ukrainian tomatoes is higher than the wholesale of the low type tomatoes in Korea and about the same as the suggested retail price. Last winter the special tomatoes were from 4 to 7 times more expensive in Korea, but almost the same or 2 times more expensive during the summer. However, I want to emphasize again, that I don’t know the real retail price.

Watermelon – 3.35 $ (84 UAH) per kilo, in Ukraine 0.32-0.4$ (8-10 UAH) per kilo. Here the watermelons are selling per unit, 8.3$ (208 UAH) per one, which supposes each of them to weight 2.5 kg, in Ukraine the same one would cost about 1$, ~x8. This guy really represents the actual state of our economies, omitting the expenses on the growth (I believe in Ukraine the climate is more suitable, not humid, + more land).

Lotus roots, carrots, cabbage and many undefined things. How to eat it?

Varieties of peppers. I have no idea what is the difference in the taste of these chilly papers, but at least it looks different, the price is 0.75-0.83 $ ( 20 UAH) per 100 g. The red pepper costs 12.6$ (315 UAH) per kilo. The price for the chilli pepper is the same in Ukraine in the wintertime and about 5 times cheaper at the summer. I can’t find reliable information about the red pepper price in Ukraine, but this species is expensive comparing to the yellow pepper.

Turnips. The pickled turnip is often seen on the Korean table.

Korean cuisine is more spiced than Ukrainian one, so, as we can see, the 1-kilo pack of the chopped garlic is on sale. It costs 3.4$ (84 UAH) per kilo. Today the onions of garlic cost 1.6$ (40 UAH) per kilo, however, sometimes price rises up to 3$ per kilo.

When I am looking at this stage I am feeling like I am a real man who has no clue which pencil is used to underline the lips and which one is for brows, same as have no clue what are these souses and how to use it. First I thought these are different types of vinegar. I was partially right – there’s an apple, rice vinegar and as I think ordinary vinegar. But I have no idea what are the oligosaccharides (literally called 올리고당), which I thought are just chemicals not for food, or corn syrup, or some bottles I even can’t get what’s inside. I must taste all of those and learn how to use it.

Pineapple drink. And a box of melons.

So, what about the price of melon and other vegetables and fruits? Previously I mentioned Ukrainian agriculture, and frankly speaking I am not happy with it. While Ukraine owns millions of sq km of the agricultural lands, and not just lands but fertile lands, the climate is mild, we suppose to produce amazing values of crops, what would lead to the excess of the products and if not the quality increase but at least the price decrease. Moreover, wages in Ukraine are much lower than in South Korea, the minimum wage in South Korea is almost 8 times higher.

Unreliable sources say (comparison of Ukraine and South Korea, RU; vesti-ua, RU) that in Ukraine about 7% of the product cost goes for a workers wage, while in South Korea it is about 40-50%.

Let’s calculate the expected tomato price if we suggest that the worker who grows tomatoes earns the minimum wage, which is about 1300$ in South Korea and 167$ in Ukraine. If the workers work same hard and produce the same amount of tomatoes, Korean one would produce tomatoes for up to 3250$, while Ukrainian for about 2386$. Let’s say they have produced 1300 kg of tomatoes. Then, one kilo of Korean tomatoes cost 2.5$, and Ukrainian one – 1.83$. Which is absolutely true for July: 2.5$ in Korea and 1.81$ in Ukraine.

But, if the wage would take the same percentage of the price (40%), then Ukrainian tomatoes would cost 0.32$ per kilo. So, aren’t Ukrainian tomatoes expensive? Or, that are Ukrainians who are slaves?

Here I can conclude that wage does not affect the price and there must be something hidden; the price contest should be reviewed in detail. I am confused and can’t think now! I was writing it for 7 hours by now and there were almost no breaks, exhausted. Where’s the truth?

Bye bye 2019

After the 33 days of fun, it is time to go back to reality, i.e., Ukraine. Even where are some many undiscovered places left, I could say I have done a great job! And the list of articles I wrote about my trips impressed even me, I did not realize it is that big.

The last story will be about my flight back to Ukraine.

The last time I enjoy the food at a restaurant. Dongas with the huge hill of sliced onion and sour sauce – a perfect accompaniment for a fried meaty dish.

I cannot go back to Ukraine without any souvenirs, so, it is shopping time. And an impossible mission – pack all the stuff in a tiny suitcase.

The sun rapidly drops down on skyscrapers, pylons, light poles and successfully hides beneath the horizon. I felt the daylight time in South Korea is shorter than in Ukraine. And a futuristic sculpture nearby Incheon airport; is that made to bring to mind flying, or is it a naughty intend to take travellers thoughts away from possible stress?

So, here I say, “see you again :-p”. My backpack was almost exploding from the crazy stuffing, so I almost lost my consciousness when it did not suit the luggage rack, I just concentrated all the power before my last breath and magically pushed it in.

A good thing about long-distance flights is meals and drinks.

Transfer at an airport in Istanbul.

Sky views on the way from Istanbul to Kyiv.

Checking all my wealth!

I am waiting for my next adventure!

Yangyang

The next destination after Hwacheon is Yangyang country washed by the East Sea.

Yangyang is not a big country too, having a population of over 27,000 people.

The area was called Yangyang 襄陽 since 1416. The area has a long history since it was known to be a part of Ye-guk 濊國 (3rd-century BC to around early 5th-century). Later it has become a part of Goguryeo and the area of Yangyang was called Ikhyeonhyeon 翼峴縣 or Imunhyeon 伊文縣. It is surprising for me, but both variants are quite nice (if compare to what I have seen before, Hwacheon, Boseong), the literal meaning is Wing Hill or That Culture (it is too complicated to find a proper translation for this pair of characters as the second character have too many meanings). Later, the name of the area was changed several times. In 1222, after a successful defend from Mongolians, it was renamed to Yangju 襄州, where the first character yang means a defender. Later the name was changed again until it has got its present name, consisting of the same yang 襄 and yang 陽, one of the meanings is the sun.

The way to the sea lies through many spots with beautiful scenes. Views from Hangyeryeong.

Even it is just a small observatory with a few buildings, there are many special souvenirs and amazing views to have some meal.

Step by step I am coming closer to ….

Naksan! Naksan is used to designate a few spots in the area, the first one I am going to visit is Naksan Beach.

I was swimming there a lot, that is why I did not take many photos. It is quite an awkward feeling to swim in a sea in Korea, because the swimming area is limited, and I could say it is much narrower than that one could be found in Odesa, Ukraine, moreover, there are so many active lifesavers, what makes the swimming quite tense, all the time I have to check if anybody of them is not running to catch me. I still remember the sea bottom there, it was shallow on the right and unexpectedly deep (for South Korea) on the left, about 2 m deep.

The other place called Naksan is a temple. Naksansa 洛山寺 was built in 671 by a scholar-monk Uisang 義湘 (625–702) who was a close friend of the man I met before in Soyosan and Namhae, it is Wonhyo. The temple is named after Potalaka mount as an abbreviation of the Chinese transcription of from Sanskrit, 補怛洛迦山. By the way, Bomunsa Temple I visited before in Ganghwa before stands on Nakgasan Mountain 洛迦山 which also is named after Potalaka mountain. The legend of the temple foundation explains the reason this name was chosen for the temple.

One of the legends says, when Uisang returned from the Tang empire, he heard that Guanyin Bodhisattva lived in the cave at the east coast of Naksan. He went there to pray and after 7 days praying he has received crystal beads from magic general Sinjang 神將, after 7 more days a dragon from the sea appeared and gave Uisang cintamani (wish-fulfilling jewel), after 7 more days Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared and said, “at the place you sit, a pair of bamboo will spring up, build a temple there”. As it is believed Guanyin or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva lived in Potalaka mount, this place was called after the mount.

The temple has lived over many events during almost 1400 years. The last notable event happened in 2005 when the temple was burnt due to fire that started in the surrounding forest. The charred remains of the temple recall that day.

In 1925 Uisangdae Pavilion was built on the spot where Uisang once meditated.

Buddhist statue of Haesugwaneumsang. It was built in 1977. The height of the statue is 15 meters, the pedestal is 2.8 meters high.

And a beautiful sunset. Like a painting.

An interesting path to walk for leaving the temple.

My trip around Yangyang is coming to the end, but there is one more very important thing to do…

To eat unlimited sushi!

The huge crabs in the weak lights I saw on the way home reminded me of a horror movie.

That is all about my travelling around South Korea, tomorrow I have a flight back to Ukraine!

Hwacheon

My last trip around South Korea in 2019 starts with Hwacheon country.

Hwacheon is not a big country with a population of about 25,000 people.

During Goguryeo, this area was called Saengcheon-gun 牲川郡 or Yasimae 也尸買. As I found out before, Goguryeo used to give quite negative names to the areas under their rule to show dominance. Saengcheon and Yasimae, as for me, are not exceptions too, because saeng 牲 means a sacrificial animal and si 尸 means a corpse. In 685, during Silla, the region was renamed to more neutral or even positive – Nangcheon 狼川 – Wolf River. Later it was renamed a few times and only in 1869, the area got its present name, Hwacheon 華川 – Flowery River.

The first stop in Hwacheon country is Sanae-myeon where Tomato Festival is held! Would you expect to see there just a fair where plenty of tomato species or tomato products are shown? Then your imagination is the same as weak as mine.

What are they doing? Do they cook ketchup in this way? No, that is how they are looking for a golden ring hidden in one of the tomatoes. I would join them if I have another complect of clothes, but the only thing I could do is just to film and feel envy.

By the way, I tasted some tomatoes there too.

The next destination is Hwacheon Museum. Craft tools, pottery and other items related to Hwacheon history are presented here.

Tiger and magpies is a prominent motif in the minhwa folk art of the Joseon period. The paintings are a satire of the hierarchical structure of Joseon feudal society. The tiger, which is intentionally given a ridiculous and stupid appearance represents authority, while the magpie represents the common man. The painting is known to keep away evil influence.

Seunggyeongdo 陞卿圖 game board. A similar Chinese game takes its origin during Tang dynasty, the earliest historical record dates back to 836. The origin of the Korean game is not known, however, there is a record saying Ha Ryun (1377-1416) made and spread the game. The objective of the game is to attain the highest possible bureaucratic position. Probably the game was used with an educational purpose for candidates on a government post.

Outside the museum there are some items visitors can try, like a basket or traditional games.

The next destination is Oeum-ri, Vietnam Memorial Hall.

During the Vietnam war (1955-1975), from 1964 to March 1973, South Korea sent more than 300,000 troops to South Vietnam, 5099 Koreans were killed. A controversial consequence on the participation in the war is a boost in the South Korean economy due to payments of the US, which are estimated to account for 4% of GDP in 1967.

There are Vietnamese houses of the territory of the memorial.

And small hiding frogs avoiding the sun on an underground stair.

That is all about Hwacheon country, it is time to move on!

Ungjin-ri, somewhere on a bank of Soyangho Lake, the largest man-made lake in South Korea. Soyang Dam is Asia’s largest and the world’s fourth-largest rock-fill dam.

By the way, the name of the village reminds me of Gongju, the city of a legend about a man and a bear. Originally Gongju was called Ungjin 熊津 too, however, I do not know the meaning of the village’s name. It could be the same, Ford of Bear.

My Ordinary Days in South Korea

Those days when I was not travelling around South Korea usually I was going to Seoul to have some walks, probably, meet some people, have meals and so on.

My favourite location for hangout was Dongdaemun. The area has several attracting features as Dongdaemun History & Culture Park, Russian town, shopping malls, and, along with the busy city life, there are places to chill out like Dongdaemunseong-gwak Park and long Cheonggyecheon Stream. I was coming here I guess over 10 times, almost every time I was drinking beer on the stream banks.

Dongdaemunseong-gwak park is connected to Naksan park, from where one can view Seoul from the hight, especially rich areas.

A couple of kilometres to the west from Dongdaemun there is an extremely popular among tourists location called Myeongdong. The area is really overcrowded with foreigners the same as with locals too. A special feeling arises when you are among that thousands of people gathering there, however, I would not say there is something extremely special in the area, plenty of restaurants and cafes and varieties of shops. For the reason of popularity, this place was my meeting point for a few times. Sometimes I was sitting on a bench and drinking coffee from a convenience store nearby the Myeongdong catholic Church. It was my first time to visit an animal cafe with dogs.

A short walk to the west from Myeongdong, there is a very city centre of Seoul, City Hall, where I was coming for a couple of times too, like that time I went to visit Deoksugung palace. One day I came there and saw a demonstration, seems dedicated to the enprisoned ex president Park Geun-hye

박근혜를 석방하라!

On the square, there is the Seoul Metropolitan Library. The building is one of the few surviving buildings built during the Japanese occupation.

Another notable place in Dongdaemun district is Gyeongdong market, one of the largest herbal medicine and ginseng markets of South Korea.

One of the most disappointing events was my visiting of the Toilet Museum in Suwon. My expectations were extremely exaggerated maybe due to my amazing experience of visiting Museum of Sex and Health on Jeju island, maybe because this museum was recommended to be visited on Ukrainian tv, but the time I have spent to reach the museum and that what I saw there have disappointed me a lot. As I remember it took for me over three hours in one way, over 2 hours on the subway and up to one hour walking from a metro station to the museum. I was so critical about the museum because by the time I reached it I was exhausted. The museum is free for visitors, but is it quite small, and I expected to see more items, but the museum as I understand is more educational like, probably aiming very young auditory.

One funny thing I saw on the way to the museum was onion growing right on a highway side. After seeing that, I again realized how bad is Ukrainian situation, having so many “fruitful”, as all the politicians say, ground and such expensive, low-quality crops, while it seems all South Korea is covered by mountains, the area is almost 5 times smaller than the area of Ukraine, but Koreans are not starving and are far away from that.

Sometimes I was working hard on a military plant, my task was to build nuclear rockets.

Gwangnaru Park on Han-gang river bank.

Looking for souvenirs near Anguk and Jongno 3-ga metro stations, in the end, I came to Cheonggyecheon stream. These green firs remind me how hot it was there that day.

And sometimes I was somewhere around Dongducheon.

And of course, during my trip, I was eating all the food and drinking all the beer South Korea has…

An interesting thing happened to me in a shop. The vegetables are weighed on the cash desk. So, just pick those cucumbers. But why do you weigh tomatoes? Because tomatoes are fruits.

I tried my best to finish up all the reserves, but I did not succeed. I must try to do it one more time!

Ecorium

This day, my next destination after Gwanju, Gochang and Buan is Seocheon country.

A place I am going to visit here is Ecorium – a place where various climatic zones along with its inhabitants are reproduced. It is such a great place to visit for nature lovers.

There are 5 exhibition halls, namely, Tropical Biome, Desert Biome, Mediterranean Biome, Temperate Biome and Polar Biome.

Tropical Biome. One can easily feel himself being in a tropical forest because all the details, including plants, climate and sounds in the best way represent the corresponding zone.

Desert Biome.

Mediterranean Biome.

Temperate Biome.

Polar Biome.

Quick views inside and outside the Ecorium.

The trip ends up with dinner on the seaside.

North Jeolla

After Gwangju city, I am going to discover a few spots in Gochang and Buan countries, North Jeolla province.

It is not my first time coming to North Jeolla province, this year I have also visited the capital city, Jeonju, along with Gunsan city, Jinan and Muju countries.

The first place I am going to visit is Pansori museum in Gochang.

Pansori is a Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer. The word Pansori consists of two words, pan, which is supposed to mean a situation where many people are gathered or a song composed of varying tones, and sori, which means sound. The genre is thought to be originated in the late 17th century during the Joseon Dynasty. The earliest performers of pansori were most likely shamans and street performers, and their audiences were lower-class people.

The Gochang Pansori Museum was established in the old residence of ‘Dongni’ Sin Jae-Hyo (a musical theorist and arranger and a sponsor of Pansori) with the aim of honoring the great Pansori singers of the past (including Sin Jae-Hyo) and preserving and developing the indigenous tradition of Pansori***.

Except exhibiting numerous items related to Pamsori like music instruments, vinyl records, fans, the museum provides records of various songs performed by famous singers which can be listened in several ways, via video, from a music box, or in culm with headphones, what makes the acquaintance more adventuring. Also, one can try to play the drum like a real Pansori drummer.

Examples of different styles je 制 of pansori, loud and powerful Dongpyeonje 東便制, smooth and sorrowful Seopyeonje 西便制, and compromising between two those styles, Junggoje 中高制. ***

During the 18th century, 12 song cycles madang were established as the repertoire of pansori stories, but only 5 of them survived until now.

Chunhyangga – the story of love
Heungbuga – the story about a poor but good man with many children
Simcheongga – the story about a daughter and her blind father
Sugungga – an adaptation of “A Tale of Rabbit and Turtle”
Jeokbyeokga – Chinese historical legend of the Battle of Red Cliffs

Mosaics on the museum facade depict scenes from these stories.

One story might last for 10 hours, so, musicians may only perform certain sections, highlighting the most popular parts of a madang.

I will show just some passages of Chunhyangga too:***

… Don’t you know the butterfly must pursue the flower, and the geese must seek the sea?…
…No, I shall not look at you, I shall not listen to you. Cut my body into pieces if you like, but I shall never go to you…

Very dramatic scenario. This story is considered to be the most popular.

And, it is time to leave the museum and move on!

From Gochang country I am moving to the neighbouring Buan country. The first place to visit here is Gomso salt fields.

The first records about salt production in Buan country date back to 1454.

In 2018 South Korea produced 264.6 thousand tonnes of salt (#49 in the world), for comparison, Ukraine produced over 23 times more, 6,279.77 thousand tonnes (#11). ****

The wide set of the mirror square fields seemed to be covered with snow, the ordered wooden paths leading almost to distant mountains in the horizon produce a futuristic scene which lets the visitor feel being on another planet.

A nice woman presented two packs of salt to me. I still keep it.

The next destination in Buan country is Gyeokpo Beach.

The beach attracts not only the one who loves to enjoy the sea waves but also geologists.

The Chaeseokgang cliffs was formed millions of yeas ago:****

You will find rocks of Paleoproterozoic (1.8-9 billion years ago), granites of Jurassic Period of Mesozoic Era (170 million years ago), volcanic & sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous Period (about 87 million years ago, dinosaur footprints fossils inside rocks, etc.

The hard work of the waves and sea animals created various patterns on the cliffs. Previously, at Namhae, I was looking for dinosaur remains, and seems here I found it, at least something like a footprint.

The way to my next destination lies on Saemangeum Seawall, connecting Buan with Guansan through Gogunsangundo islands (one of them, Seonyudo Island I visited previously). Saemangeum Seawall is the longes man-made dyke in the world, 33 km long.

Let’s go!

Gwangju

The previous day I have visited some places in the southern coast, and the city, I am going to start my trip today with, lays on the south too. It is Gwangju city.

Gwangju is a metropolitan city, with a population of almost 1,5 million people it is the 6th biggest city in South Korea.

The area of the modern city originally belonged to Mahan confederacy, later it was one of the administrative centres of Baekje during three Kingdoms period and was called Noji 奴只, later, during Unified Silla it was called Mujin 武珍. The current name Gwangju 光州 was given to the city during the Goryeo Dynasty.

Here I would emphasize some similarities with the former name of Boseong it had during Baekje, Bokhol 伏忽 which, as for me, is quite humiliating, and the name Gwangju had during Beakje, Noji 奴只, where no 奴 generally means slave. And, same as it happened in Boseong history during the rule of the Unified Silla, the name of the area was changed to positive one, Mujin 武珍, the possible interpretation of this word is a military jewel. However, some theories are suggesting this word should not be understood directly. The character jin 珍 was used to designate stone, which in Korean is pronounced as dol, but, is it supposed that the original pronunciation of dol was duel, and mu is supposed to be pronounced as a close one mul. And, it is supposed that mul means water 水 and duel means field 野. Then, Mujin original pronunciation could be Mulduel, meaning watery fields. This theory is supported by the fact that some of the geographic objects of the city area have pronunciation resembling the word Muduel, such as Mudeung mountain 無等; an area in Yeongsanpo, Naju city is called Idulo 水入伊, Korean pronunciation of each character is mudeul-i, which is supposed to be called so because it is assumed there was a swamp in the area in the past. This disambiguation in the suggested meaning of the word and literal meaning of the word is explained by fact before Chinese characters were introduced into Korean culture, the cities and areas already had its names***. One can notice that it is unlikely to find a Chinese character which would satisfy 2 requirements, to bear the original meaning and to have pronunciation close to the Korean one. In this case, the name might be written using any characters with the pronunciation similar to Korean one, people, who do not know how to write would not care about letters, but they would be very disturbed if one forces them to speak in another way. Other examples of this phenomena are Bisabeol 比斯伐 (Jeonju), Michuhol 彌鄒忽 (Incheon), Dalgubeol 達邱伐 (Daegu), etc.

Street views.

A notable thing about Gwangju city is demonstrations. The last one, Gwangju Uprising, happened in May 1980. A peaceful demonstration against Chun Doo-hwan, the general who served as president from 1980 to 1988, was suppressed by military forces and ended up with 165 (or 1,000-2,000) civils and 37 militaries dead, 76 people were missing and over 3,700 people were injured. Only in 1995, Chun was arrested, in 1996 he was sentenced to death, but in 1997 the sentence was changed to life imprisonment and a fine in the amount of ₩220 billion. Today he is still alive, 88 years old.

Another conflict, raised in 1929, had more crucial consequences for all the country. Gwangju Student Independence Movement is considered to be the second-most important independence movement in the period of the Japanese occupation.

In 1967, Gwangju Student Independence Movement Memorial Hall was opened to commemorate the noble spirits of Student Independence Movement. In 2005, the memorial was relocated.

Student Independence Movement Memorial Tower.

Everything has started from a small incident on October 30, 1929. Japanese students in the train station in Naju harassed a few Korean female students. This incident was the initial cause of anti-Japanese demonstrations in various high schools in Gwangju. Later, it has developed into a nationwide anti-Japanese movement and lasted about 5 months.

The protests resulted in the severe repression from the Japanese government, but those efforts students made not only encouraged national independence movement but also became the predecessor of student movements, the spirit of the student movements inspired the secret society movement, resistance movement, the second student independence movement in May 1943, etc.

That is all about Gwangju, but it is not the end of trip for today!

Jangheung

The last destination this day after Suncheon and Boseong is Jangheung country!

Jangheung county has a population of 38,628 people by November 2019. Since 2001 the population of the country have decreased by 27% (from 53,392).

During Mahan, probably, the area was called Geonmaguk 乾馬國. It is known, that during Baekje, there were several prefectures in the area, namely, Ocha-hyeon 烏次縣, Masanyang-hyeon 馬斯良縣, Komamiji-hyeon 古馬彌知縣, Gyecheon-hyeon 季川縣. Later, during Goryeo, the area raised to the status of a city and was renamed to Jangheungbu 長興府, as it was the hometown of Queen Gongye.

The word jang 長 generally means long, but it also can be understood as long-lasting, profound, permanent, the word heung 興 means rise, thrive, prosper, flourish, etc. Then, 長興 could be permanent prosperity.

I have visited 3 spots in Suncheon, 2 spots in Boseong, so, I have time only for one spot in Jangheung. I am going to visit the Water Festival held on the banks of Tamjin river. The festival is celebrated every year from the end of July to the beginning of August.

The festival really impressed me, because, I think, it was the first time I have seen so many Koreans being excited, free, dancing and just enjoying the time. One more special thing is that the people I saw there have quite a different look, the style of their clothes and quite uncommon (as I thought) behaviour for Koreans (I have seen one madam getting slightly naked when danced). Unfortunately I did not have time to really enjoy the festival, I believe, to do that, one needs to spend at least a day there, from morning until the evening and try all the activities presented there, watch a performance, taste street foods, check up a market, enjoy concert, sing, dance and play with water.

The setting sun, clouds and the fountains made a fantastic scape that day.