Tapgol Park and the March 1st Movement

Tapgol Park ('Pagoda Park') is located in the center of Seoul very near Insa-dong, a community and shopping district known for its traditional works and for tourists.

Tapgol Park contains stone relics unearthed during Seoul's modern construction.  No one is certain where all of the relics came from, but a few are famous and well known.

This monument was erected in 1467 or 1471 depending on what source you use to commemorate the construction of Wongaksa temple in 1465.  The temple was built in this area.  The turtle is carved from granite, and the tablet is carved from marble, rarely used in Korea at this time.  There are inscriptions on the front and back of the tablet discussing the Buddhist incarnations that led the king at the time to have Wongaksa built.  This monument is about 4 1/2 feet wide and 16 feet tall.

This marble and granite pagoda was also built for Wongaksa in 1465.  It is 12m in height (about 36 feet).  Because of the glass and a barrier around the case, I could not photograph the intricate detail of the this piece.  It is amazing.  There are 10 levels, several of which depict the life and works of Buddha.  His likeness is carved in detail and three dimensions on several of the small levels.  It is far more beautiful than my sorry photo.

Tapgol Park is also the site of the March 1st Movement of 1919, a student and activist uprising in Korea demanding independence for the country.  Japan 'colonized' Korea in 1910 and committed quite a few atrocities which the Koreans feel they still have not admitted to or apologized for.  This is one of the leaders of that movement, who helped write and read their Korean Declaration of Independence.  After the gathering, its leaders notified the police of their treason and were arrested.  What followed was a large uprising that the police were unable to quell.  The military was called in, and protesters were killed.  This lasted for many years, with a few leaders lucky enough to escape to China and continue their quest for Korean autonomy.  Korea was one country at this time, not divided like it is now.

There were several of these bronze bas-relief statues commemorating the March 1st Movement, aka Samil Movement.  'Sam' is the pronunciation for the number 3 and 'il' (more like 'eel' for those of us from the southern United States) is the pronunciation for the number 1, so literally 3-1.  The fellows holding the weapons are Japanese military.

 The signs around these monuments were not in English (there often are English, Chinese and Japanese translations on the Korean historical markers), so I am not sure, but I think this one depicts the one female leader of the March 1 Movement, 'Maria' Kim, with one of the many male leaders.  Ms. Kim was arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and, as a result from the wounds of her torture, died in 1944, only one year before her country would see a chance for autonomy.

This monument shows the students overpowering the police.  Many of the early independence meetings were held in an American Presbyterian church still standing near the park.  Some church members definitely assisted in the beginnings of the Samil Movement but not so much in the actual fighting.  I have not heard of any American church members arrested, etc.

As I have said in earlier blogs, if you want to know more, check out Wikipedia.  From what I have read, Japan maintained their control until World War II, when the Korean people were told they would have independence 'eventually'.  And then the Korean War happened, how I will leave for someone who is actually a historian, and here we are today.  I will say that all of the Korean people I have asked want reunification for the peninsula, but all also believe a major war is the only way that could happen, and no one wants that.

Boryeong Mud Festival, May 2014

Boryeong Mud Festival!

Early in our stay in South Korea, Bill and I were told of the 'Mud Festival', a must-see attraction for all!  Boryeong is on the west coast, so the body of water is the Western Sea if you are Korean and the Yellow Sea if you are Chinese.  (If you are Japanese, the body of water that lies between your country and Korea is the Sea of Japan.  If you are Korean, this same body of water is known as the Eastern Sea.)  Our local USO tour group, Koridoor, offered several trips to the Mud Festival so we signed up.

As has always been the case, we were the most elder folks of our tour group.  There actually was one other couple nearly our ages; Bill works with him, and they were in Savannah at one point in his career.  When we got to the Mud Festival, we realized it was definitely a younger crowd's attraction.

Inside the fence were the mud rides.  Seriously.  Outside the fence were mud stations.  Seriously.  There were fonts full of this silky mud that people painted onto themselves.  Seriously.

Bill wasn't into painting himself all that much, so he had some slung onto him.  He was really fine with it, although he looks a bit unhappy here.  

I decided mud would make a fine suncreen since I had forgotten to bring any.  The day was overcast, but we all know sun burns happen even on cloudy days.  I covered myself fairly liberally, even more so than shown here.

We briefly walked inside the fenced area where the mud rides were, but the lines were so long and the 'rides' looked less than safe for two overweight middle aged folks, so we chose to watch.  There were mud slides, mud races, mud fights, warm mud baths.  The mud at Boryeong is said to have medicinal properties, and there are several cosmetic lines that use the mud in cleansers and masks. There were several products sold in stands around the area and along the beach.

A large ship is in the channel here in the Western/Yellow Sea.  There were also some rocky areas along the beach, but sand made up the majority of it.

The sand here is darker and more coarse than the sand on Tybee, HHI or Jekyll.  The water is much cooler, too!

There were quite a few people and are many hotels on the beach.  It is a popular festival for tourists and Koreans alike, and a popular vacation area for the Korean people.

We decided to cruise the beach area, so we started walking.

We saw hotels.

We saw a Korean folk music band.

They had a good sound and were very thrilled to have us watching and clapping along.

After several minutes of play, they encouraged tourists to try out the instruments.  Several westerners put on the drums and took the gongs and did their best.  It was fun to watch!

On a street a little more inland, there was a band of Andes Mountain Indians (that is what their sign said) who were dressed elaborately and played traditional instruments.  Their songs were not traditional always, because Bill and I both noticed a Simon and Garfunkel tune in their repertoire!

While we listened to Andean Mountain music (or not!), I had a milk ice with red beans.  Don't knock it until you try it.  These things are delicious, and although they are likely far from low calorie, they can't be as fattening as ice cream.  Please don't rain on my parade here.

I also found the colored mud face painting booth.  I wanted a bit more elaborate mask, but it was busy, so this is what I got.  I like the blue best.

Every hour or so, the huge stage that was set up on the beach would come to life.  The MC spoke English and Korean.  Above is a female dance group, looking rather sharp in their hip hop outfits, but I am afraid their dance moves would have been considered amateurish by western standards.  A few of the girls obviously did not wish to be there.  Just trust me on that one.

The highlight of this show for us was the limbo contest.  The MC asked for folks to come up, men on one side and women on the other.  Each person was allowed to introduce themselves and tell where they were from.  There were as many Koreans as there were other nationalities, from American to Australian to British.  The fellow on the right of the limbo pole covered in mud is American but his Korean was flawless.  I was impressed and jealous of his command of the language.

This young woman won the contest.  She was very good, and I think she could have gone lower if she had had to.  She won several prizes, and the best fellow did as well.

There was also a DJ and loud, fast music, and then the water cannons started firing.  Nope, I am not into that, so I was out of there.  It was a fun day, but Bill and I agreed the Mud Festival is a young person's event, and we likely will not attend in 2015, but we were glad we were able to experience it.