Ganghwado

This past Sunday I went to Gwanghwa Island. I was taken by the husband of a friend, a Korean woman who I met in graduate school. The island is located at the mouth of the Han River, near Incheon, and is an important historical and cultural site.

It was a cold and drizzly morning, which meant fewer recreation seekers and little traffic, so we were able to get there from Seoul in about an hour. The drive, along the banks of the Han River (한강 漢江), was interesting. For several miles there is barbed wire stretched across the south bank of the river, where the river marks the boundary line with North Korea. Inside the barbed wire there are numerous military guardhouses. Some of them looked unused, but some were manned by South Korean soldiers. I don't know if security has always been tight in this area, given the proximity to the North Korean border, or if an incident that occurred in March 1980, when three North Koreans attempted to infiltrate South Korea by crossing the river here, is partly responsible.

I managed to get only one blurry picture of a guardhouse from the moving car. I believe that in this view we are looking east, on a stretch of the river that runs north-south, so the opposite shore is not North Korea.



On the island we stopped first at a small fort, which is now a park with a historical museum. Because of its location at the estuary of the Han River, the island was an important defensive location, as it protected river access to the capital. It also served as a refuge for the royal court during times of land invasion. The island therefore played important roles over the last 1000 years during attacks by the Mongols, Japanese, Manchus, French, and Americans. Korea won some of those battles and lost others. The American marines soundly defeated Korean forces there in 1871, as part of an attempt to force Korea to open itself to trade. It was a short and lop-sided battle: about 350 Koreans were killed, while only 3 Americans died. You can read details here. Recently, America agreed to lease back to Korea the large battle flag that was captured during the battle.

Here's a picture of the flag:

Flowers were in full bloom on the grounds.


There are still plenty of old cannons around. I was reminded a little bit of the forts at Quebec, although the cannons here are much smaller.

That's the history museum in the background of this picture:


We next stopped at the local fish market for lunch. This was the kind of place, and the kind of food, that seemed likely to cause serious digestive ailments for a visitor. But I couldn't pass up the chance to have local, fresh seafood.

We got grilled shellfish. This astonishing dish arrived at our table:


We laid the shells over a charcoal grill to cook them. (This picture is worth clicking on and inspecting in detail.)


Our next and final stop was the famous Jeondeung Buddhist Temple (전등사 傳燈寺), said to have been established in the 4th century. It's set in a lovely U-shaped plateau nestled in the mountains in the south part of the island. The balloons are in celebration of the Buddha's birthday, a national holiday on March 12. The weather had cleared up nicely by afternoon.


Korean Buddhist temples often have a pavilion with bell, a drum, a fish, and cloud plate, all of which are sounded at certain times of day for various purposes, both mundane and spiritual.

In this shot you can see the bell (범종 梵鍾) and drum (법고 法鼓); the cloud plate (운판雲板) is hanging behind the bell.


And here's the wooden fish (목어 木魚 or 木漁).

I found three things on the island that connected to other experiences I've had here in Korea. First, there was a lot of information at the historical museum on movable type, which apparently was invented and developed on the island (hundreds of years before Guttenberg). I'd been learning about that in my philology seminar.

Second, the Tripitika Koreana, which I saw at Heinsa Temple, was carved on the island, while the Goryeo court was taking refuge there from the Mongol Invasion. Actually they were carved twice, as the first set was destroyed by the Mongols. The second set set was later moved to Heinsa.

Third, a branch repository of Kyujanggak, the royal library, was located at Jeondeung Temple. The building is still there, though it is empty now, as all its former contents are either in France, having been stolen by the French, or at SNU.

It was really satisfying for me to see all this historical and material connections, and link together various strands of my sojourn here.