So Saturday morning I woke up and met Tanguy to get the 8:50 bus from Gyeongju to Jinju. We were told by Tanguy's korean colleague that it would take 2 hrs and 20 minutes, but it was almost 3 hours. We finally arrived in Jinju and walked to Jinju fortress - only a 5 minute walk from the bus terminal!
Jinju fortress is famous for 2 things. First, holding off an army of 20,000 Japanese soldiers with only 3,800 Korean soldiers during the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 1590s. Second, for Nongae a female Korean entertainer. During the invasion she seduced a Japanese general and took him to a cliff over the Nam river, embraced him then jumped into the river, killing them both. There is now a shrine in the fortress complex dedicated to her heroic action.
Next in the complex we came across a statue of Kim Si-min, a Korean general during the Joseon Dynasty and is famous for defending Jinju castle from Japanese invadors. The statue also reminds me a bit of Uncle Sam.
I also really enjoyed seeing Hoguksa Temple. Though I'm sure those who don't particularly enjoy seeing temples would think this looks like every other Buddhist temple in Korea (and smaller), I enjoyed it. This temple was the base for the monk army during the Japanese invasion
After making our way to the other side of the fortress grounds Tanguy and I took the riverside path back to the entrance. It is such a beautiful place, wonderful scenery and the fall colors were gorgeous!
Pictures from Jinju can be found on my picasa account:
http://picasaweb.google.com/aeihrig/Jinju#
Here are some sites I found interesing. I'm mostly putting them on here so I can remember them.
http://yisunsin.prkorea.com/imjin.htm - about the Japanese invasion of Korea
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Korean_Buddhism - Korean Buddhism
No comments:
Post a Comment