Silla Dynasty- South Korea

July 5, 2012

It poured rain as we drove three hours to Cheonmachong area. The fog that just sits right in between the rolling tree hills-- seriously breathtaking. This was the capital of Silla Dynasty. This dynasty was one of the most prominent in Korean history. It lasted for 1000 years. It had active relationship with China's Tang dynasty and the silk road. To help put in better context if you're not familiar with East Asian history, this is the time period of the Classical era of Rome and Greece. Today was a very busy day, so I below please ready the chronology of some of the highlights of the Silla Dynasty!




Today we began our stop with the birthplace of the Silla Dynasty- Gyeonju Najeong. (Early Silla Dynasty)

One day in 69 BCE according to legend, Sobeol, chieftain of the village called Goheo, saw a white horse on its knees by a well. When he went out to the well for a closer look, the horse suddenly disappeared but he found a large egg on the spot where the white horse had been. A baby boy came out of the egg. When he reached the age of 13, 6 chieftains in the area elected him to be the first king. They called their country Seorabeol, the ancient name of Silla.

Some interpretations to this legend is that this was a small village town and some historians believe that perhaps invaders were coming from the north and of course bringing horses (not native to this land). The egg represents birth and re-birth and the horse represents wealth, movement and cultural diffusion.

O Reung
It's 5 tomb complex. These five tomb is a mound burial ground dedicated to members of the royal Silla dynasty. To enter each complex, you have to pass through a typical Confucian Gate that was most likely made later during the Joeson dynasty as a way to honor former ancestors. The gates are always the same and have three doors. Spirits enter the the center, humans enter through the right and exit to the left. The Mounds have not be excavated. The usual rule of thumb is that if you know which ancestors that are buried, you do not excavate out of respect, but when they do not know who is buried, it's okay to excavate. Also inside this complex is the birth place of the first king's wife. Al- Young-Jung. The well marks the birth place of the first Silla queen. There is a another historically inaccurate building style. The Pagoda, which was created during the Joeson period and again probably created an a way to honor her. This place is about one kilometer away from the birth place of the king and was most likely another village. It implies that a political alliance was made by the two kingdoms and created a two center power base for the early Silla dynasty.

Cheon-Ma-Chong- (Middle Silla Dynasty)
This is another temple mound burial site that had been excavated. At the time of excavations they did not know who was in the tomb, which made it okay to dig. What they found in the first mound was that it was a most likely an important figure in middle Silla kingdom and based on an image they found they name this burial ground Heavenly Horse Temple. They found 11,500 artifacts in that one tomb and stopped there since they were able to date the mound. An interesting fact was that up until 1970s many people's homes were built in between the mounds, but now it the area is a national park.

Gyeong Ju National Museum
This museum is a treasure house of the Slla Kingdom. Some of the amazing things here were the the artifacts found in the Heavenly Horse Temple. The greatest artifacts to me were the burial clothing worn by the rulers. Elaborate uses of Gold and precious stones. You can see that the Silla kingdom was influenced by the silk road because they had glass in the burial sites. I also like the shamanistic (pre- buddhist) influence of burying rulers with important objects that would be needed for the after life. You will see a picture that shows some of the artifacts found that are meant to accompany the person in the after life.

Hwanghyongsa
This was a palace during the middle Silla dynasty and had at its height 170,000 inhabitants. It was destroyed in a fire and conquered by the Mongols. Now, many Korean scholars have been studying it and there is talk about one day rebuilding.

Moving South: Gong Ju Region- South Korea

July 4th, 2012

Today we began the field trip component of the trip and ventured south. The landscape is very picturesque with many tree filled rolling hills. This is a picture of me in Gong Ju right next to King Muryeong's underground tomb. At first glance, you might think, "the scenery is very pretty" or "oh how fun to see another country." Living in the modern world we have the luxury to take and have thousands of pictures of ourselves and we can document everything we do. Back in King Muryeong's day and not even that long ago people did not have this luxury. To them having a picture was something special, something you wanted to document and show future generations. A burial site is even more special than just a picture because a great amount of effort was put into making this final resting place. We learned about the importance of carefully selecting a final burial site and the objects that needed to be present to consider it good enough for a king. This careful and precise planning is very important because they wanted to ensure that the king's legacy was honored and would be respected for many generations. When we study history, we think about historical figures and judge them by what they either accomplished or did not accomplish in their life. Even in our own families, we look at family ancestors and think about all they accomplished. Some parts of our family stories are fantastic, some are so so and there are some we would rather forgot. Not everything will always be perfect, but that's the best part of life... we can always change our story by changing our actions. We can build a legacy that we want our future generations to remember. King Muryeong became a king at a late age in life, forty, but he recognized the importance of legacy and accomplished a lot during his reign. The parts of his story that everyone remembers are the positive things he did for his people. When people of this region saw the stone bust of King Muryeong that was located outside his tomb many people must have and probably still feel pride in all he accomplished during his reign. While I won't have an elaborate grave site, be a queen or have a large sculpture of myself, I will have pictures. Snap shots from my life that document the legacy I am creating. Just like in the ancient world, we have to be intentional because if we do not make an effort to document and reflect on the past our legacy it could be forgotten. I want to remember and share with future generations my story and my family's story. My challenge to you is to learn your family story, share it with other family members and think about how it has impacted you as a person. Learning from the past is the only way to success in the future!

Gongsanseong Fortress in Gong Ju, South Korea

It was originally a mud castle, but most parts of it was renovated to a stone castle during the Joseon Dynasty. This fortress was a capital during the Baekje period. It contains many relics. It is a historic site in Korea.

Tomb of King Muryeong

This tomb was discovered in 1971 when archeologists were working on the Songsanri tombs. The discovery of this tomb provided concrete evidence of the historical dates and artistic achievements of Baekje period (18 BCE- 660 CE). This tomb was created for King Muryeong (461-523) and his wife. The tombs in this area are dedicated to royal family ancestors during the period of 475-538.

The tombs are built underground. Artisans used granite which is native to this land and it was made to look like bricks like the Chinese used. When these artisans made the tombs they had to carefully select the site and prepare the tomb site. Most of the tombs have the four guardians either painted on the wall and/or using figurings. The four guardians are animistic figures: Blue Dragon, White Tiger, Red Phoenix, and the Black Tortoise all which are to be placed on the four sides of the tombs to protect it from evil spirits. This practice came from China's Han dynasty. At the very front of the tombs is a stone sculpture of the king and serves as marker for the tomb. It also indicates the dates and funeral procedures used. Inside the tomb are many relics.

Gongju National Museum

This museum displays mainly relics from the period when the capital of Baekje was Gongju. It contains many relics from King Muryeong's reign.


Early Printing Museum

Jikji is one of the oldest metal type printed book (1377) still in existence. Metal type set was first used in Korea even slightly before Gutenberg's press. The difference between the two is that Korean type would only print 4-5 papers at a time before the tray had to be reset, whereas Gutenberg's metal type was locked securely into place and could then print thousands of pages. We learned about the various ways artisans created metal type (sand and wax methods). Then we created a book. First we made some ink prints using both metal and wood carvings, created our pressed cover, made homemade paper, and then sewed it all together. Wow! That was a big production and took over an hour of fast paced effort. In the end, it turned out pretty well.

Korean DMZ

Tomorrow is July Fourth, our national independence day. When the founding fathers declared our independence from Great Britain in 1776 and then won the revolutionary war... a great nation with a lasting constitution was created. While we are still such a new country, we have managed to create a stable and constant government. Even though, our great union was tested during the Civil War, thankfully strong leaders helped the nation remain unified. That said, as a citizen I feel a constant sense of safety and have experienced a much higher standard of living than many other people around the world. I am proud of to be an American citizen and do not take lightly the freedoms we have by living in a democratic nation. Today we left Seoul to visit the 38th parallel DMZ line. It was a very interesting and yet a serious place. Issues of democracy,communism, power, wealth, security are a real part of the atmosphere in this area. It is clear that the people in the north do have the same rights and luxuries that I have and it makes me feel even more appreciative of my nation on her birthday!


During our visit we had many stops a long the way culminating to the official Military Demarkation Line (MDL). See the information below about each stop.

Background
After WWII & independence from Japan in 1945, the peninsula was was divided at the
38th parallel. In the North the Koreans were influenced by Communism and China and
in the South would be democratic and influenced by America. The land that is between
North and South is called the Demilitarized Military Zone aka DMZ. Officially North and South Korea are still at war because after the Korean War they only signed an armistice, which is just an agreement to stop fighting. Kind of like taking a break. This is why visiting the DMZ is a very serious excursion.

Stop 1:
We first stopped at the Philippines Monument dedicated to the 7,000 soldiers who assisted in the war and the 300 that died during the Korean War.

Stop 2:
Unification Park which is nestled in between many tree filled green hills. The park is more of a memorial because it is filled with many smaller memorials dedicated to specific important figures during the Korean war.

Stop 3:
Imjingak Park. There are three spots to see here. The first was a train that was a casualty of war. It was derailed by bombs during the Korean War. More than 1020 bullet holes show the tragedy. The second is the ancestor memorial. Since South Koreans can not visit the North, they do not know if their ancestors in the North are still alive. Thus, they perform their ancestral ceremonies at this site. The third is Freedom Bridge where the train used to pass from north to south. This was also one of the locations used to exchange prisoners after the Korean War.

Stop 4:
Upon entry into the DMZ zone we stop twice at Camp Bonfas where a Korean then American officer came on the bus to check dress code and passports. At this point an American soldier was with us the rest of the journey to help ensure our saftey. There were very strict dress code and behavior requirements. From this point on, we could only take photos in a few designated locations. In the middle of the DMZ is called the Joint Security Area (JSA) which is the main area. Many important meetings take place here and it is the main area where tourists are allowed. Then we went a little further into the zone called the United Nations Command. We entered the main entrace of South Korea's side. There we saw the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) that is the official division of the peninsula. South Korean soldiers stand right on the South side and are on guard. Both North Koreas and South Korean main halls face directly at each other with the MDL in the middle. If you look closely you can even see a North Korean soldier watching all tourists from the North Korean main hall. Directly in the center on the MDL is a set of 6 temporary buildings. The center building is where the armistice was signed. Inside it has a conference table that is directly on top of the line. The microphones in the center of the table is another way to show the division. If peace negotiations were to happen, government officials from both sides would meet here. Technically when we crossed to the other side of the room, we were in North Korea. As we were leaving, we could see another bridge called, "the bridge of no return." After the Korean War, this was another point where prisoners of war were able to cross to either side, but once you crossed there was no going back.

Interesting Facts
All South Koreans must join the military for one year service with out pay.
South Koreans can not visit North Korea.
North Korea is a very poor country and people earn about $110 per month.
The South is lush with many trees, but the North has cut down many of the trees to use for heating their homes in the winter. As a result their landscape is not as beautiful. In the South they are industrial and use electricity to warm their homes.

Seoul, Korean Culture and Yoo's House

Legendary western writers such as Shakespeare, Hugo, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Poe, Wilde and Twain claimed their work with their name. Korea has equally impressive national writers, but during ancient times in Korea, most scholars and high officials did not place value on literature. As a result the greatest written treasures are anonymous or written under a pen name. Most writings reflects themes focusing on religion, loyalty, love and honor. One great writer was Jeong Mongju (1337-1392- pen name: Poeun), a civil minister and scholar. He lived during the late Goryeo dynasty and is responsible for many writings that are considered national treasures. Most people revere him and consider him an inspirational person because of his strong loyalty to his country and his unwillingness to betray his leader and country.
Jeong Mongju's sijo (poem)
단심가(丹心歌)
이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백 번 고쳐 죽어 此身死了死了一百番更死了(차신사료사료일백번갱사료)
백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 白骨爲塵土魂魄有無也(백골위진토혼백유무야)
임 향한 일편 단심이야 가실 줄이 있으랴. 鄕主一片丹心寧有改理歟(향주일편단심유개리여)
Though I die and die again a hundred times,
That my bones turn to dust, whether my soul remains or not,
Ever loyal to my Lord, how can this red heart ever fade away?

This poem is moving and powerfully illustrates loyalty. He wrote this in response to an event where his loyalty was tested. As a civil minister he was approached by some unhappy citizen who wanted to start a coup against the current government. He decided he would rather die than betray his loyalty to his leader. This is very inspirational! Consider what you value the most... this might include: family, relationships, faith/religion, values, country. Would you be willing to be perceived as different for not conforming to what everyone else is doing? Would you be willing to stay strong to what you value at any cost? Even though we do not have to experience death like Jeong Mongiu, everyone still encounters tests of loyalty on a regular basis. I know I am inspired and I hope you are too... Let's stay strong to our personal values and not care what others are doing or what other people may think.

After a long day of three lectures, we ventured off to Yoo's family which is a museum site dedicated to learning Traditional Korean lifestyle. Korean's value a similar cultural idea like US "Home is where the Heart is." Traditional Korean homes lack clutter and material objects. They emphasize openness. At this site we learned how to prepare and serve traditional Korean Tea, where traditional clothing and understand what it means, we use print blocks to make designs, and then finally had some kimchi pancakes!

Tomorrow we're off for the DMZ...









Lecture One: Korean Literature and Modern Korean History
We began this lecture focusing on Korean literature like Sijo which is a three line poem, similar to Haiku and limerick.

The history is over 5000 years old. Korea has three Kingdoms (Silla, Baekje, Goguryeo, Kaya) and three dynasties (Unified Silla, Goryeo, Joseon). Japan was Korea's worst enemy and took over from 1910-1945. One of Japan's intellectual/imperial reasons for the take over was that Kaya was historical part of Japan, so it made sense from the to absorb this into their empire. Many scholars believe there is evidence that the Japanese royal family was originally from Korea.

7 Important modern dates to know: 1. 2,333 BCE rule of Dan'gun; 2. 57 BCE founding of Silla; 3. 414- The Kwanggaet'o stele- the date with the oldest written document from Korea ; 4. 668- Silla Unification; 5. 918- founding of Koryo; 6. 1392 Founding of Choson 7. 1910- 1945 Japanese occupation

Important dates in modern history
1945- liberation; 1948- political division; 1950- Korean War; 1960- end of Rhee government; 1961- Park Chung Hee take over led by students; 1979- assassination of Park; 1980- Chun Doo Hwan take over; 1990- Unification- North Korean's believe this was the date unification events have begun.


Lecture Two: Hallyu (pop music and social media)

The growth of the Internet has allowed for Hallyu to increase at a rapid rate. Japanese animation was one of the first media to spread world wide. As a result helped other East Asian media to increase world wide.

Lecture Three: Korean Education: Achievements & Challenges

After the Korean War, Korea was very poor and undeveloped. It has changed dramatically since then. The lecturer is suggesting like many of the other have as well that Education is one of the contributing reasons. Another national motto is "Education is Our Hope, Human Resources are Our Future." Education allows people to have hopes and dreams and education provides a way for those dreams to come true.

The school system is similar to the US structure: 6 years in primary school, 3 years middle and 3 years high school, 4 years university. In high school there are two tracks: one for vocational and the other for university. By 2010 more than 80% of students attend university.

According the speaker, the driving forces behind educational achievements is based on qualified teachers and good working conditions. The strong respect factor, job security and favorable compensation makes teaching a desirable career path. Some other factors can be attributed to strong government role and effective education finance.


Socio-Cultural context- Korean society is homogenous and reflects Confucian tradition which reflects respect for teachers. There is an old saying that you should respect the king, father and teacher in the same way.

Changdeok Palace

Saturday June 30

Today after only one lectured we ventured to one of the palaces of the imperial family. As we walked through the palace and garden grounds, I saw a direct parallel to China. During China's warring state period various leaders desperately tried to maintain power of an empire that was crumbling and plagued with political and social dissension. This year we studied the philosophical approaches taken by leaders that were attempts to maintain order. Confucianism- the desire to use reason, education and filial piety to govern your actions. Legalism- strict harsh punishment to discourage wrong doing. Taoism- retreat from problems specifically to natural settings and focus more on improving one's self internally. While the Chinese emperors used these approaches at different times and had varying levels of success, these philosophies managed to find their way to Korea and other East Asian countries. This is cultural diffusion. The palace today represents elements of both Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism is clearly seen through the use of clean structured lines and layout design. The palace buildings are based on reason, thought and precision yet the gardens represent a retreat from the stresses of life. It contains a peaceful and completely serene atmosphere. In this garden, one could surly reflect and create inner peace as a way to discover solutions to problems. This brings us back to the idea of balance. It is an essential part of life. If you find yourself completely consumed with something and you've lost site of things important, you've lost your balance. Sometimes we can be consumed with things that seem really positive like homework, work and even friendships, but ask yourself these questions... Have I told and shown my my family that I love them? Have I spent time with friends that really needs me? Have I taken time to read a book or do something that makes me feel complete? If the answer is no, then find out where you are using your time. It might be that you need to retreat to a natural setting to regroup.This could mean somethings as simple as turing off the computer or not responding to text messages for an entire night. Remember though, it goes both ways... you can't stay isolated and alone in retreat mode for too long because that is just as destructive as allowing something to consume you. Take the time to be honest with yourself and you'll know how to maintain balance. Sometimes we just need a reminder. Thanks royal palace for reminding us about cultural diffusion and balance so we don't crumble and fall a part like China's warring period.


Today's adventures included an amazing traditional lunch, the palace, an amazing traditional dinner, a drumming lesson and traditional Korean theater performance. Side note, I was pulled up on stage to help complete the opening performance to the play. For more detailed information, see notes below.


Sanchon(Mountain Village) Restaurant The menu is inspired by vegetarian Buddhist temple cooking.

Changdeok Palace
Is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Seoul. It is located within a large park at has "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Changdeokgung, like the other Five Grand Palaces in Seoul, was heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Currently, only 30% of the Palace structures remains. Construction of Changdeok Palace began in 1405, and was completed in 1412. King Seonjo expanded the palace grounds by about 500,000 square meters. The Palace experienced a many types of destruction during foreign invasion. Korea's last Emperor, Sunjong lived here until his death in 1926. Currently it is now a popular historical site. The palace garden was a sight to see. They call it a secret garden because it was grounds just for the emperor and his selected guests.

Chong Dong Theater: Drumming Lesson & Traditional Korean Art Performance
Chongdong Theater in Seoul is a traditional arts performance theater and is a popular tourist attraction.

Today's Lecture: Past, Present and future in US Korean Alliance
A more formal Alliance started in 1953 during the Korean war. Prior to more this time there was more than 100 years of relationship starting with missionaries entering the country in the lat 1800s, after the Russo-Japanese war, also with the support of Korean students studying in the US. The division of the Korean peninsula began from 1945-1948.

The present situation has mixed review. The positive aspects is that the US has provided assistance to Korea during the 1950s-1960s to aide economic development and continue to maintain a mutual security agreement. Some negative issues include withdraw of US control over Korean forces, address the issue of crimes of American soldiers. Present questions continue: Why did the US send troops during the Korean War? Why has the US maintained its forces in South Korean even after the collapse of the Cold war? Why did Anti-American demonstrations happen after 1987. The anti-American sentiment came from perceptions of Korean's perceptions of unequal treaties, difference in opinion on Iraqi War.

Future projections about the relationship continue to be positive, but contingent on many factors. Some factors include: N. Korea- US relationship, rising US-China relationship, possible collapse of N. Korea.

Becoming an economic powerhouse- Seoul, Korea

Friday- June 29th, 2012

Today's lecture theme is based on understanding Korea's economy on a Macro level. Each lecturer began with 1945 (end of WWII) which was the point when Korea gained freedom from Japanese colonization and traced growth to 2012. It's very apparent that Korea has industrialized and grown at rapid rate. Historically by far Korea has achieved industrialization and leading nation status faster than other developed nations! I couldn't help but wonder how did they do this? Are Koreans smarter? harder workers? or is there something else? Of course the lecturers clearly outlined the complex macro goals and strategies that were utilized by policy makers. However, it seems to me that there is something else greater at work, perhaps collective norms and values have a greater influence than most people are suspect. The collective mentality of "us" rather than "me" and the emphasis on filial piety (respect and honor for family. understanding one's role in society) creates an environment that supports a unified vision for what is acceptable and good for one's self, family and society. It's this unified vision that keeps the people focused and as a result growth was seen and is maintained. Everyone knows that it is much easier when you're working together. Just like on any small or large project or goal when two or more are at work without a unified vision and goal, the project or goal is very difficult to accomplish. So what can we learn from the Korean's... understand respect, know your role in the home and outside the home. Most important work together and remember that with a collective norm set and vision success will occur!

After another long day at the Korea University (see condensed notes below for more lecture information), we set off to the National Museum. I absolutely loved the museum. Our tour guide was fabulous and gave such a upbeat presentation on 15 impressive artifacts. For more information on the museum check out the website

http://www.museum.go.kr/main/index/index001.jsp

Then after the museum a few of us ladies went in search of a highly recommended Korean restaurant- Tosokchon The menu is simple chicken ginseng soup or rotisserie chicken. We got the soup and it was just as good as the review and recommendations promised. The setting was very traditional and we got there and ate in perfect time because when we left, the line was beginning to form.

Daily Notes:
Lecture One: Korean Economy

Korean Key Milestones of Economic Development
1960s Light and labor intensive industry promotion (export) and import protection.
1970s Heavy and chemical industry promotion.
1980s Liberalization and privatization
1990s Globalization and deregulation
1997 Crisis and Reforms (regionalization)

Economic Development
How do resource poor countries industrialize? Develop labor intensive industries like textiles, increase productivity and export, import capital equipment, invest in infrastructure, expand exports and earn foreign exchange, import capital goods.
What are the sources of growth? Export oriented economic policy, savings policies, family planning, education policies, adequate accumulation of human capital (eduction), adequate accumulation of physical capital (domestic savings, foreign aid, foreign loans).
Economy grew rapidly over time!

Prospect
Currently the expectation is to maintain, but progress will be much slower than in the past.

Lecture Two: Korean Society: National Projects and Revolving Axes

National Projects

Economic Development- Capitalism (yes)
Political Democratization- Democracy (yes)
National Unification- Unified Korea (not yet)

Korea grew and developed to a great power in a very short period of time. In 2012 Korea joined the 20-50 club- countries with per capital income of exceeding $20,000 with 50 million population. Korea is now ranked 7th in this group. This demonstrates it's success and economic growth.

Multiple front of social change
population dynamics- 1960 - 6.2, 2010- 1.22 --drastic drop in fertility. What are the reasons behind this? increased longevity, aspiration of advancement for families.
education dynamics- increasing education demands for children and a majority of Korean students go to University. Pro- highly educated citizen base, Con- demand for lower level positions because most students are overqualified. Over 400 higher education institutions in South Korea.
religion dynamics- Religious affiliations has grown over time.

Lecture Three: South- North Korean Relations

How to deal with North Korea
There are many ways that nations are trying to get N. Korea to de-nuclearize. For example many nations including S. Korea have promised financial support.


II. How to deal with North Korean Nuclear Problem
Many nations are in agreement on how to deal with North Korea and are placing financial and human rights pressure on North Korean regime. Currently N. Korea is put under US Sanctions (can not buy luxury goods). North Korea has been successful in hiding nuclear weapons. As a result S. Korea is prepared for a war if the North attacked, but will not initiate because they are a peaceful country and will show honor to the armistice. A formal peace treaty was not signed only an armistice which is just an agreement to stop fighting.

III. Implications for ROK-US Alliance
The alliance started when the cold war began and has continued during the post cold war. However their are some challenges that include: Korean nationalism and anti-American sentiment, policy and perception over how to deal with North Korea, US uncertainties about traditional allies, and growing influence of China on the Korean peninsula. The vision of the alliance is maintaing status quo, creating a strategic partnership, alliance and security cooperation based on shared values, trust and desire for peace.

Korea University- Thursday July 28th

The academic portion of the trip begins today with a heavy all day schedule of learning about Korean Language, Traditional Arts and Culture. Our academic sessions are held at Korea University. This private university was established in 1905 and has enrollment around 35,000 students. The campus has a Hogwarts feel to it. The architecture reflects east coast building style with large granite buildings. It's beautiful with many tree lined paths.