Yeongju City

1. Yeongju City 1. General Introduction of Yeongju CityYoungju City榮州市 is located on the southern highlands of Sobaeksan Mountain. Its population is 110,000, and it is evoluting into a clean healing city with its abundance of nature. The city is the center of transportation, connecting Gwanwondo, the northeastern region and Yeongnam District, the southeastern region of South Korea. And since the city is in an inland basin, it has characteristics of continental climate showing big daily temperature range around year, producing very delicious apples and grapes with high sugar content, also Korean ginseng of high quality and various herbs. It is also very famous for its viscos rayon products.   We have many tourist resources, including Sobaeksan National Park, and traditional heritages tangible and intangible. Sosuseowon Academy and Buseoksa temple are the representative ones among them, and they havemany national treasure class heritages on the compound. In Sobaeksan National Park area, there are many temples - Huibangsa,  Hukseoksa, Birosa and Choamsa as well as beautiful valleys including Gumseonvalley, and Jukgye valley. In spring when royal azaleas come down the ridge of the Sobaeksan mountain, many tourists from all over the country come and enjoy the breathtaking scenery and the Azalea Festival. Besides, there are held some festivals - Seonbi Cultural Festival and Pungi Ginseng Festival. One more spot you must not let by is Museom village on Sudori delta surrounded by beautiful white sandy riverside, where many traditional Korean houses are still well preserved and people are living there actually. 2. Buseoksa Temple Buseoksa Temple浮石寺  is very famous for its main building, “Muryangsujeon無量壽殿” one of the oldest  wooden buildings in Korea, and five national treasures, six treasures, and two provincial tangible cultural  heritages, and so on. It ranks among the country's ten major temples. Buseoksa Temple was the headquarter of the Avatamska Sutra Denomination華嚴宗派, which became one of the two main streams of Buddhism in Joseon Dynasty. It was constructed by Saint Uisang by the order of King Munmu of Silla kindom. Judging from the fact that  the Buddhism of ancient time was a guardian religion of state, we can easily suppose that Silla kingdom established this temple in purpose of making it as a bridgehead橋頭堡 for strengthening their controlling power in the new territory, current northern Gyeongsang-bukdo慶尙北道 area.  This temple stands on the steep slope of Bonghwangsan鳳凰山 hill, constructed with very hard engineering works of cutting up the slope and making stone stairways, is now highly eval‎uated by many  architects from home and abroad on many unique architectural features and the point that it has an environmentally -friendly outline and landscaping symbolizing the process of truthseeker to get closer to Buddha. Visitors shall go through the three parts of pathway to access the main hall of the temple from the entrance, going through the three main gates called Iljumun Gate一柱門, Cheonwangmun Gate天王門 and Ahnyangru Tower and Gate安養門樓. After climbing the last course at last you can reach the Land of Buddha, Paradise. Also you can get to the best lookout spot commanding the scenery of rooftops of temple buildings and waving ranges of Sobaeksan Mountain as well as the endless spreadout of the fields. There you will find the main building of the temple, “Muryang sujeon”, which is enshrined with a Buddhist image called Amitabha or Amitayus. This building is very famous as one of two oldest wooden buildings in Korea, and it was designated as National Treasure number 18 for its cultural value. And this building is also very famous for its unique architectural style of columns swollen in the center, ‘wooden entasis’. And the tablet of the building was written by King Gongmin恭愍王 during the end of Goryo 高麗 dynasty in 14th century. In the pavilion, you are going to meet Buddha, Amitayus, the King of Buddhist Heaven, who  is believed to have endless wisdom and eternity. The Image of Buddha named Sojoamitayeorejwasang塑造阿彌陀如來坐像 or Amitayus sitting image was designated as National Treasure number 45, and it is located towards east, not matched with the direction of the building facing south. Because the Buddha Amitayus is thought to be reigning the paradise, the west of the universe西方淨土. Stone lanterns mean the wisdom or brightness of Buddha, and they are usually built in front of the main hall or main pagoda of Buddhist temples. This three meter high stone lantern in its complete shape is one of the most beautiful ones built in Unified Silla Kingdom era. Maintaining  the best harmony in balance, it has both luxury and grace..The three story pagoda located on the east side shows typical style of Silla pagoda. And there is located a big stone behind the main building, named Buseok meaning ‘floating stone’. As you have already guessed, the name of this temple comes from the name of the stone Buseok. As to the stone, a very sad and beautiful love story between Saint Uisang義湘 and a Chinese lady Sanmyao善妙 who fell in love with him is written in Samgukyusa, the Memorabilia of the Three kingdoms.    3. Sosuseowon Academy                    This place is Sosuseowon 紹修書院, the firstever Confucian Academy. It not only fostered育成 many famous Confucian scholars and officials, but also has preserved precious academic materials.  “Sosu紹修” means re establishing education, and “Seowon” means Confucian Academy or college in Korean language. The education system of Joseon dynasty was centralized on public school, but small  type of civil school –“Seojae書齋” developed into the shape of “Seowon”, adding shrine to celebrate the great Confucian Masters and preparing school regulations. In the middle of 16th century, Ju Sebung周世鵬, the Magistrate of Punggi county erected a  Shrine for Master Anhyang安珦, and built some facilities for educating students of  Confucianism, and named it “Baegundong白雲洞 Seowon”. This was the beginning of Seowon system. Some years later Master Yi-Hwang李滉, who was appointed as the Magistrate of Pungi豐基 town requested the King to authorize this Seowon, and it was upgraded to be named as ‘Sosu Seowon’. In that way, this Seowon became the everfirst  ‘Saek Seowon賜額書院’, “Saek賜額” means the authorization by King and being supported with finance – in  detail, land, servants and a lot of books for education.  The authorization of Sosuseowon Academy brought influence to the establishment and administration of other Seowon Academies, and afterwards they continued to develop as  the center of political and social activities of the local areas as well as education. That means - “Seowon Academies” took a role as a saloon-the stage of communication between the scholars and dominant figures of the region, and also developed as a supporting  background for the politician in the central political stage. But there are also negative aspects as to them. As the number of Seowon Academies increased and reached hundreds, the characteristics of them changed into means of boasting family’s power, and close relation between them and central politician parties brought many social problems. So in the end of 19th century, royal court abolished the most of Seowon Academies except 47 including Sosuseowon recognized by the royal court among 679 Seowons.     The location of Sosuseowon was selected and the outline was designed with circumspection about oriental thoughts like yin and yang school 陰陽五行說 and the theory of divination 占 based on topography 地形學(風水地理說). The shrine and annexed storage, auditorium,  dormitory, publication room, publishing room, library, dining room and convenient facilities are located in the center of the campus, and all these buildings are surrounded by low walls that outside sceneries can be commanded from inside. Sosuseowon is one of the representative Seowon Acade mies that are existing now, boasting  the landscape with surrounding stream winding around the campus, and a lot of cultural heritages it preserves.  Of course there is not remained the educative function now, but the ceremonies for the Confucian Masters are held twice a year nowadays.  4. Sobaeksan National Park Designated as the country's 18th national park in 1987, and located in Sucheolri, Punggieup, Mt. Sobaek(322㎢)  has been known as the country's sacred mountain and Yeongnam Region's main mountain, and called as mountain saving human being活人山. Changing its direction  to southwest on the Baekdudaegan白頭大幹 mountain system from Mt. Maebongsan , and towering over the clouds, bordering the three provinces of Gyeongsang, Gangwon, and Chuncheong, and stretching about 40 km southwest, Mt. Sobaek provides backdrops to the four districts of Yeongju榮州, Yecheon醴泉, Danyang丹陽, and Yeongwol寧越 and guards the peace and happiness of these districts. It is a clear and splendid sacred mountain, and most importantly, forms part of the backbone of the Korean peninsula.Notably, Jungnyeong竹嶺 Pass, which in the past was reached only after skirting the mountain, was one of the main gateways to Yeongnam Region and was the site of many sorrowful episodes involving the applicants for the prestigious Gwageo government examination, who had to surmount the obstacle posed by this pass to take the examination in Seoul. The main peak of Birobong毗盧峯 (1,439m) presents a cluster of yew朱木 trees, a natural monument. It is connected to many peaks, such as Gungmangbong Peak國望峯 (1,421m), where local scholars looking in the direction of the Royal Palace in Seoul prayed for the peace of the nation and the king when the country faced difficulties; Yeonhwa Peak蓮花峯 (1,394m), where Sobaek Observatory stands; and Dosol Peak (1,315m), where traces of ancient fortresses remain. In the middle of Mt. Sobaek are Huibangsa Temple and Birosa Temple, dating back to the Silla period. At the entrance of Huibangsa Temple, Huibang Waterfalls喜方瀑布(28m) welcomes visitors with its cool waters.The spectacle of royal azalea blooming each May and Oak Tree Forest Tunnel add to the beauty of the mountain. Birobong Peak, which is covered with snow six months a year, is called “the Alps of Korea.”                     5. Museom VillageThe Sudori水島里 traditional village called Museom is located at the center of a river like an island. Museom with its natural beauty, surrounded by a winding river, presents well preserved historic houses, offering a view of the Korean forefathers' lifestyles. While walking through this historic village, you will encounter numerous traces of the Korean forefathers and will profusely(richly) feel their sentiments.Reminding the visitors of the Hahoe河回 Village in Ahndong City安東市, this village offers silver beaches along a winding river, and the opposite low mountains, which feature pine trees, evergreens, etc., surround the river. Also, the solid bridges over the river connect Museom with neighboring villages.Sudori is a well-preserved ancient village composed of historic houses and pavilions. Of these, Haeudang海愚堂 (Gyeongsan gbuk-do Folk Material No.92) and Manjukjae晩竹齋(Gyeongsan gbuk-do Folk Material No. 93) exude the elegant lifestyle of the ancient.