ANCIENT SPLENDOUR

Korea is divided now but its past was also often a tale of division. The country is strewn with ancient capitals, hotbeds of power, of dynasties and empires, some short-lived and others long standing. These dynasties often cut the peninsula into two, three or even more sections. Only at rare times was the peninsula unified. The most famous of these ancient capitals is Gyeongju, a town that flourished after its establishment in 57 BC. Its population swelled to over a million at times, rivalling the size and even the grandeur of imperial Rome. Gyeongju is now a city of about 250,000, a provincial backwash maybe but one with a history as proud as any city in Korea. Gyeongju lies about 4 hours from Seoul. The KTX, the 300 kilometre per hour express train, is the best way to get to Daegu where you can catch a local train that will take you to Gyeongju. On the KTX, you get glimpses of the country-side, views into rural Korea, a in-sight into an older Korean lifestyle seldom seen when you’re stuck in suburban Seoul, glimpses gone almost as soon as you see them.

Tumuli in Tumuli Park, Gyeongju

Called the museum without walls, Gyeongju boasts more tombs, temples, pagodas, statues and ruins of palaces and royal buildings than any other spot in the country. We stayed in a traditional styled inn, almost having to double up to get through the short door, sleeping on thin mats on the floor (it was nicer and more comfortable than it sounds). Our inn was near Tumuli Park, the hub of tourist activity in the city.  The park is famous for its tumuli, which are the tombs of monarchs and family members. Twenty-three exist in this park and they look like grassy hillocks, the sort that I remember sliding down on oyster sacks at a school camp twenty years previously. They serve as natural tombs with the same purpose as the pyramids did. Just as in Egypt, tomb-raiders got away with much of the loot but as in Egypt, much of value was left behind.  Excavations of the tumuli in the early 20^th Century led to many fabulous treasures being found, like a golden crown, bracelets, jade ornaments, weapons and pottery. One tumuli dating back to the 5^th Century AD is open to the public (the rest are closed off). Winged horses adorn the side of the tomb which is more spacious than it would appear from the outside at 13 metres tall and 47 metres in diameter (the largest tumuli in Gyeongju has a diameter of more than 200 metres).

Cheomseongdae, one of Asia's oldest observatories.

To the south-east lies Wolseong Park. Food vendors sell candy floss alongside smelly beondegi (silk-worm larvae). Families flew kites in the favourable autumn breezes while men waited along the main-road for people wanting to go on a horse and cart ride. Used for leisure by families, this park is most notable for Cheomseongdae, East Asia’s oldest astrological observatory, which was built between 632 and 646 AD. Its design appears simple but complexity lurks below. The twelve stones that form the base represent the months, while from top to bottom, there are thirty layers, one for each day of the month. The whole observatory is made up of 366 stones (roughly corresponding to a year). Its position is also said to have been influenced by the stars, aligned in a way that would match its design with certain stars.

Anapji pond.

Anapji, a royal pleasure garden, is a five-minute walk from here. The buildings were restored in 1975 and 1976, a period of great restoration in Gyeongju under the dictatorship of Park Chung Hee. It was first built in 674 AD to commemorate the unification of the peninsula, celebrating Shilla’s defeat of the Baekje Empire at Buyeo. It now consists of a few buildings centered on a lotus pond that is roughly shaped as the Korean peninsula, made to allow the King to look out over his entire “kingdom”. Views around the lake are hotly contested as couples and groups hustle for the best photo spot.

Bulguksa

Gyeongju also has a collection of notable temples, including Bulguksa, perhaps Korea’s premier temple, and unusually easy to access as most temples are in secluded places, forced underground through a combination of Japanese rule and Confucian zealotry. Bulguksa is now only a fraction of its former self but is still of an impressive size. It is notable for its architecture including a couple of rare pagodas and its location among pines and delicate and subtle gardens only adds to its appeal. 

Tiles at Bunhwangsa

Bunhwangsa was another temple, famous for having the country’s oldest datable pagoda, which dates back to the 7^th Century AD.  Only three of the original nine layers are left. Fortunately, the statue work at the base has survived, including a couple of cool-looking lions. Bunhwangsa is a twenty minute walk from the National museum which  houses many of the artifacts found during excavations. This is one of the best history museums in the country, with a wealth of artifacts on display and information (in Korean and English) to explain them. The grounds have a slew of Buddhist statues and art-work on display as well as the Emille Bell, one of the largest and loudest bells cast in Asia.

Buddha in the museum grounds.

The other two capitals of old that I visited were Gongju and Buyeo. These cities were once capitals of the BaekjeGyeongju, closer to the west coast. I drove down to visit them one autumn morning, leaving early to avoid the worst of Seoul’s notorious traffic. Autumn is a good time of year to travel in Korea. Sometimes, it seemed whole hill-sides were on fire such was the riot of colours on display. On rare occasions, you would see a patch of trees bearing fiery golden leaves in a sea of green, like a seam of gold uncovered by heavy rain. Farmers were harvesting their wheat, which had taken on a golden glow of their own. On small rural roads, farmers dried the grain on the road on mats, taking advantage of the flatness of the surface and the heat it provides. Pomegranates grew on trees near the roadside and waterfowl, duck, geese and teal were migrating from Siberia and beyond. 

Grain drying on the road.

Men were fishing on small ponds shared with graceful herons and pheasants flew close to the car, wings whooshing in their distinctive style. Soon, it would be winter and too cold to enjoy such travels, the country-side turned into the somber grayish-brown that I have came to dislike more than the cold and which persists for four to 5 months of the year.

Lake near Ganwaldo.

I arrived at Gongju at about 8. The sky was overcast and threatening to rain but the rain never came, giving me a window to look around the royal tombs. Gongju served as the capital of the Baekje kingdom for a short time (only 70 years). It however contains the Korean version of King Tut’s Tomb, with King Muryeong playing the part of Tutankanem. Largely untouched by tomb raiders (or tumuli raiders as the case is), excavation started during the Japanese occupation in the early part of the 20^th Century. 2900 treasures were found here, most stored at the new Gongju National Museum. At the site itself, seven tumuli stand serenely on a hill, overlooking the modern town. These are not open to the public to look into. You can see what they look like at the reception centre on site, where a replica of Muryeong’s tomb has been created. The door of the tomb is formed by a narrow and shallow arch, leading into a domed chamber decorated with elaborate locus-patterned tiles. 

Tumuli in Gongju.

While Gongju only served as the capital for a short time, a fortress (Gongsanseong), built by during the Baekje period, was maintained and re-enforced during the Joseon dynasty (1362-1910 AD). A walk around the walls affords great views over the river, with the grounds littered with pavilions, forts and temples.

Looking out from Gongsanseong

On the opposite hill stands a Catholic shrine. Here, 300 Catholics of all social classes were executed in the 19^th Century for their belief. A statue of Jesus stands at the base of the path up to the monument and chapel that marks this somber spot. As well as a memorial to those who died, it serves to highlight two important facts about modern-day Korea. The first is that Korea is much more tolerant of foreigners and foreign ideas than it was 150 years previous (it wasn’t called the Hermit Kingdom for nothing), and the second that Christianity has come a long way quickly in this country (up to a third of Koreans are now Christians).

Jesus at the martyr site

By the time I got to Buyeo, the greyness of the day had dissipated and it had turned into a pleasant day. Buyeo had been the capital of the Baekje dynasty for a hundred years, after the capital had been shifted from Gongju, and was the capital when the Baekje Empire was crushed and consumed by a joint Shilla-Chinese army in 660 AD.  Much of Buyeo’s history is linked to that time when Baekje was destroyed. In a corner of a large park, Busosan, lies Nakhawan (falling flowers rock), a rock that overlooks the Baengma River. It’s said that 3000 Baekje women threw themselves from this rock to their death (the falling flowers the rock is named after), trusting in death rather than trusting in their conquerors. Near here is a small Buddhist temple that stands on the bank of the river, built over a spring that is said to give properties of eternal youth and fertility. Busosan was popular with day-trippers. Groups of women were power walking, dressed in fluorescent jackets, many with the visors that seem to be an essential part of the costume for women of that age. Older men sat in pavilions sharing stories and a bottle of soju. Children giggled when they saw me approach. This is a corner of the country that would seem to see few foreigners, making me a source of amazement and amusement. Squirrels played in the trees near the river, where old-styled boats took people on short rides along the river.

At the temple overlooking Baengma River

From the park, I went to see some of the smaller sites of Buyeo. Jeongnamsaji is a temple that houses a five storey Baekje era pagoda (that survived the Shilla invasion and consequent Japanese and Mongolian invasions) and a weathered looking Buddha. It also has a recently upgraded museum that had little in the way of English commentary but was aesthetically appealing. The museum staff were obviously very proud of the new museum so I spent as long as I could looking at their displays, without actually understanding what I was looking at.  A little way down the road was Gungnamji, a reconstruction of a royal pond that was popular with school groups. In the middle of the pond was a colourful pavilion, reached over a bridge. The pond had colourful koi and some catfish that you could feed. At the pavilion, a group of elementary kids lined up to shake my hand, giggling as each of them told me their name. Like I said, foreigners still seemed to be a novelty in Buyeo. I met an older man, drunk with a bottle of makgeolli (rice wine) in a paper bag, sitting on a bench. He was missing three fingers on one hand, which made his handshake a little unnerving. He had good English though, having served with American forces in Korea and then overseas in various countries. He had then managed a car service centre in Seoul before returning to Buyeo. He offered me a room for the night but I had other things to see so I had to turn him down. In hindsight, I wished I hadn’t. I’m sure he had some tales to tell.

Mural in a tumuli in Buyeo.

My last stop in Buyeo was at the royal tombs. Seven tombs are here and they looked much the same as those I had seen in Gongju that morning and Gyeongju a couple of years before. Their excavation, like those at Gongju, had been overseen by the Japanese during their occupation. One, in particular, is notable for the colourful mosaics and paintings of tigers and other creatures. Almost no-one else was here. The only other visitors are a family from Seoul. I chatted with them for a minute before leaving to start the journey home, getting lost a few times on small, rural roads before finding the main artery that led directly into Seoul. As the traffic slowed as we got closer to Seoul, I started to think about my trips around some of Korea’s ancient capitals. These trips had reminded me that while Korea has changed a lot, it has a long, proud and distinguished history, one worth preserving.