OhMyNews’ travel section is doing a series by Yang Heo-yong on Mungyeong’s Sae Jae pass. If you read Korean, read it. If not, look at the pretty pictures as you study.
Mungyeong is, of course, a place very close to my heart, as I spent my first three years in Korea residing in the small town at the base of the Sobaek Mountains.
19 Comments
Yeah, that’s a really beautiful area, with some fascination too.
Suanbo Springs, Worak-san and Mireuk-saji to the north of the
pass, Geumryong-sa and Bongam-sa to the south (as well as
all Sogni-san Nat Park). Did you ever climb Shinseon-bong up
above the pass? As with all peaks that bear that name, it
offers a spectacular view….
Thanks for the pointer.
On of the few places that I haven’t been in Korea that I want to visit. Thanks for article, excellent!
a shameless plug, if that’s allowed — the Royal Asiatic Society
runs a good tour there at least once every year. No climbing,
but a good chance to see the area its monuments, led by an
expert guide in English. See: http://www.raskb.com/
David Mason — I’m not sure if you heard, but Geumryong-sa burnt down maybe five or six years ago. The Main Hall survived, fortunately. I always liked nearby Daeseong-sa better. A real treasure that few people ever visit.
Bongam-sa, of course, is in a world all its own.
Marmot, i heard about a fire at Geumryong-sa [aka Undal-san Kimryong-sa] back then, but didn’t know it’d been so bad — real unfortunate, as it was quite charming. It has/had one of the nations best antique San-shin [Mountain-spirit] paintings in a separate shrine; i sure hope that survived! Good thing that the Main Hall was spared at least… Haven’t been there since 98 i guess.
Yeah, Daeseong-sa just to the east is also great, excellent artwork. I forget, is that the one with the 8-sided rotating sutra-case or is that Yongmun-sa?? There’s this whole line of spectacular temples stretching NE to SW along the southern face of the Sobaek Range, from Bulyong-sa Gakhwa-sa to Bongam-sa, that few westerners or even Koreans bother to visit (except maybe Buseok-sa of course). One of them has a 16th-cen main Buddha with I Ching hexagrams on his background-halo, unique…
Bongam-sa, of course, is in a world all its own.
Literally, it’s so isolated… A serious meditation place, not very welcoming to visitors, at least in 1998 — had to bluff my way past the outer gate. Got some spectacular photos there, should post them someday (but they’re on slides).
I believe the one with the 8-sided rotating sutra-case in Yongmun-sa in Yechon, which is kind of a nifty little place, too. And you’re right — that whole line of temples is absolutely spectacular. No place quite like it. Bongjeong-sa in Andong was always my favorite. Still is, actually. I really need to make my way back down there sometime soon.
Funny thing about Bongam-sa. Closed off 364 days a year. It opens its gate on the Buddhamas, but then its like a mad house with traffic backed up for miles. As you know, the roads of Gaeun-eup and parking facilities of Bongam-sa weren’t designed for that kind of traffic. Those gangster monks that guard the front gate are menacing, though. But hey, the monks gotta meditate, right?
Yeah they do… and its good they keep a few temples way out there where they won’t be disturbed. I was careful to not disrupt any meditators when i was there for scholarly photography…
Yechon’s Yongmun-sa, right, thanks. Another great one.
No place quite like that whole line of temples…?
How about the line across the southern face of Jiri-san?
or hell, even locally, up the eastern face of Samak/Dobong-sans, from Hwagye-sa to Hoi-ryong-sa?
Andong’s Cheondeung-san Bongjeong-sa is excellent, true, esp now that the reconstruction is done. Sanshin-gak is superbly placed. It’s adjacent Yeongsan-am has gotta be one of the best-designed most-charming small-scale wooden compounds in the nation! The courtyard like a garden. A few of us got to spend the night there last summer, on a full-moon night, and it was unforgettably magical…
How about Go-un-sa, the great one just south of Andong, did you visit there? Lots of new construction.
I lived in Mungyong for over three years too, and Marmot and I visited Bongam-sa, which is only open on Buddha’s birthday. As a person who came to Korea from Nepal, where I was studying Tibetan Buddhism, the mountains and buddhist temples of Korea were very different. Bongam-sa, and Daesung-sa are real Son powerhouses in my opinion. It was terrible that Kimyong-sa had a fire, and I often wondered if it could have been arson, and even altered Korean buddhist temple arsonist expert, Frank Tedesco to that. Not sure how much Mungyong is off the beaten track these days. Even while living there it came closer to Seoul with construction of new tunnels and highways. My favourtie impression of Bongam-sa was visiting there with a Biguni who lived in a toegyul near Mungyong SaeJae. This was another of those “special days” when the hidden temple complex is open. There is a cave above the temple where an old hermit-monk meditates, and we had tea and organges with him. Kind of like visiting the guru on top of the mountain to ask what the secret to a life of happiness is. All the best. michael
So… did he TELL you what the secret to a life of happiness is?
Or did you just know without words that it’s the tea and oranges?
cool experience, the type that makes living in Korea worthwhile.
Korean buddhist temple arsonist expert, Frank Tedesco
An old friend of mine too, from way back. For those of you wondering, he studies about and protests against arson at Buddhist temples (by fanatical Christians), he’s not an expert at doing it…
Yes I think the tea and oranges at the moment was the answer! Frank Tedesco just asked me if I could make a website for him and I told him he should check out the Marmot’s blog and perhaps take up blogging instead. BTW, Dave, have you heard of people finding san sam (mountain ginseng) in mountainous places like Mungyong for example?
But he HAS a site, that Buddhapia one, linked from
mine and many others:
http://www.buddhapia.com/eng/tedesco/index.html
Yeah, he should start a blog, he’s an opiniated dude…
Sure, i’ve heard of people finding san-sam all over the Taebaek and Sobaek ranges, nationwide… it’s not so rare. Really old ones that bring 100,000,000 won, THAT’s quite rare, but… many legends abound.
Mungyeong Saejae is a pretty special place. I went there in high autumn: perfect ????????? (???????????) weather. My own experience of it was thus: the first leg (from the first to second gate) was not very enjoyable, as there were a virtually uncountable number of people treading back and forth along the road, and although the first gate is somewhat impressive, the gates get progressively more impressive (and the backdrop more scenic) as you ascend towards the pass. After the second gate, the crowds thinned out considerably, and we started to get our exercise as the road wound higher and higher. Pretty soon, there was virtually no one; you could hear the birds chirping (which puts paid to the legend that it used to be called ????? (?????) because even birds didn’t fly that high); mountain streams; ????; etc. And then you get to ?????? itself, way up in the mountains, on this historic road tread by scholars, officials, and soldiers in times past on their way between ?????? and ????…it’s a pretty special place, and I highly recommend the walk to anyone who hasn’t done it. My relatives dropped my father-in-law and me off at one end and picked us up at the other end, so I can’t really provide advice on how to do it if you go on your own, but I did notice there are a number of ???? (spelling?) as you come down from the pass on the ????? side.
For ???? scholars, don’t miss the “????? ??????” stone marker on the right-hand side of the road. And for all the history, my favourite site had to be the road sign on the car-accessible road that winds just to the west of ??????, where from the right angle, you can simultaneously read “?? ????????” on one side and “???????????” on the other. Though I can’t say people were magically suddenly speaking Chungcheong dialect on the other side of the gate….
Oh, by ?????which I’m pretty sure is the wrong spellingI meant that there are decent-looking places to stay on the ????? side, so that you don’t have to rush to get back to wherever you started from all in one day. I’m pretty sure that ???? ?? provides bus service to ??????, and I think there are also a couple of ????? buses that go there, too (also from or via ??? ); I believe on the ????? side ???????? provides transit service to within a couple of km/miles of the pass, though I don’t know the details, so check it out first before going there.
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