Dr. Scott and the Busan Scavenger Hunt
- Dr. Scott
- Jul 17, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 16, 2020
A random information poster led to a long, enjoyable history lesson of my favorite Korean city.
Background
On June 6th, I visited the famous Beomeosa Temple in the Geumjeongsan mountain range. It was actually such an enjoyable and unique experience that I decided to start blogging my weekend adventures in addition to just posting pictures. Something I didn't mention in that post is that every Saturday I meet up with other researcher(s) for diner in either Seomyeon or Jagalchi (districts of Busan). For the sake of these blogs, I'll call my main diner friend Dr. Russia.
On this particular day, I had several hours before my reservation with Dr. Russia so I decided to visit a nearby neighborhood named Dongnae to eat pajeon (파전, a regional pancake made with green onions) and rehydrate. While walking to a restaurant, I noticed a sign titled "Dongnae Tour Courses" that had multiple walking routes throughout the small neighborhood. I was impressed by the total number of sites/locations and the fact that each route claimed to take at least 2 hours to complete. I left thinking that this could make for an interesting walk when I ran out of temples to visit and committed the name "Dongnae" to my memory.
Flash forward to June 26 and I was a little tired of visiting temples. I also didn't want to spend a dry Saturday inside a museum when the typhoon season is only weeks away. Therefore, I googled "Dongnae" and "Dongnae tour" to determine if I could spend a whole day in the region. To my pleasant surprise, I found at least six interesting sites within walking distance of each other.
Dongnae Background
In short, the Dongnae region is the original epicenter of Busan. Small borough-states formed in the region as early as the first century BC, with Dongnae remaining as the population center throughout the next centuries. As was custom for the times, a literal fortified wall was erected to protect the citizens from raids or attacks. Although the exact age of the Dongnae Fortress is unknown, records show that the walls and command posts underwent significant repair in 1021 under the command of King Hyeonjong of the Goryeo Dynasty.
After unifying feudal Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592 to expand his territorial control and political power. Since Dongnae had the well-fortified defense wall mentioned above, it immediately became a target. This history became the starting point for my walking tour of Dongnae.
The Journey and Suan Station
The travel was pretty much the same as any other trip; Ulsan station to take the train to Busan Station, followed by taking the subway to my final destination. In this case, my journey started at a small, lightly populated stop called Suan Station (blue line). During construction of the subway line in 2005, a burial site was discovered on the station grounds. It was ultimately determined that these were the remains of Korean soldiers that were killed during the Imjimwaeran (Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592). In a uniquely Korean move, construction continued on the subway but the actual grounds were respected by erecting a small museum.
Recovered arrowheads from Suan Station burial site
Recovered soldier armor from the Suan Station burial site
Ultimately, this quant "museum" wasn't anything to write home about. The recovered items can be found at any museum in Korea, and it only took about 20 minutes to read every placard and take pictures of literally everything. However, the museum's origin story still makes me smirk and the information of the Imjimwaerin was a very good primer for my next location, Chungnyeolsa Shrine.
Chungnyeolsa
Literally one stop further on the blue subway line is Chungnyeolsa, a shrine dedicated to the memory of the soldiers who died defending the Dongnae Fortress from the Japanese. The shrine grounds is actually very expansive, consisting of about five halls on three different levels. Some highlights and personal pictures are described below.
The ground level contains a traditional wedding hall to the right and a reflecting pond to the left. The main entrance way has the same design and feel as a college mall, making each entrance gate seem more impressive. On the second level there is an interesting shrine called the Uiyeolgak, which is dedicated to four women who participated (and died) in the fight. Directly across from the Uiyeolgak is the Sojuldang, a lecture hall specifically built to teach about the sacrifice of the Dongnae soldiers. On the final level, the main hall is dedicated to the 93 soldiers who died in the fight as well.
Front entrance of Uiyeolguk
Chungnyeolsa main hall, view from rest area
Inside of Main Hall
On the western side of the grounds is a series of small, paved trails that lead to resting areas and unique monuments. I was particularly intrigued by a small section called a "reflexology path", in which you're supposed to walk barefoot across rocks to improve your posture (I think).
Beginning of "reflexology path"
At the end of these pathways was an unpaved trail leading straight up Mang-wolsan mountain. I didn't read anything about this area before my trip, but I did find a sign I couldn't read saying that a couple things were within 400 meters of my location so I started walking up the steep incline. About halfway up the trail, I started hearing a familiar Buddhist chant echoing through the woods. A quick check of my phone identified Jeondeungsa Temple, but as mentioned above I just wasn't interested in these types of pictures today.
Towards the end of the trail were several open structures labeled 군관청. A quick translation revealed these were "military offices" or possibly military barracks. Roughly 20 meters from these offices was the summit of the mountain and an impressive one-story building. A quick read of the provided information revealed this building was the Dongjangdae Command Post. In short, several large command posts were constructed along the Dongnae Fortress to serve as areas for the military to assemble and launch counter-attacks. After laying down and resting in the command post for about twenty minutes, I determined the easiest way to reach my next location was to completely backtrack and take a city bus instead of walking down the other side of the Mang-wolsan mountain.
Military office or barracks
Dongjangdae Command Post
Bokcheon Tombs and Museum
The next stop on my Dongnae history walk was the Bokcheon Tombs (and the associated Bokcheon museum). The Bokcheon-dong tombs are the burial sites of the ruling class of pre-6th century Busan. Since 1980, 169 individual tombs have been excavated and more that 2,500 pieces of earthenware, 2,720 metal instruments and decorations, and 4,010 pieces of personal jewelry have been recovered from the tombs.
The actual locations of excavated tombs were outlined with hedges, which made for an interesting image against the modern city background. In-between the two major dig sites was an observation center, which is basically a recreation of two famous excavation sites. I feel that the phrase, "when you've seen one, you've seen them all", is very appropriate for Korean grave sites and tombs.
Bokcheon tumuli in front of Bokcheon Museum
Bokcheon tomb re-creation
The Bokcheon Museum was one of the most pleasant surprises I've had exploring Korea. In short, this museum is dedicated to displaying the items recovered from burial tombs in Busan, primarily from the Gaya Dynasty (ruling kingdom of the Busan region from about 50 to 560 CE). Despite being roughly half the size of the other museums I've visited, I managed to spend over an hour taking pictures and reading the many placards. My personal favorite section described the evolution of burial tombs throughout the Korean Dynasties. For the blog, I've included three of my favorite images from the museum below.
Burial jar from the Three Kingdoms period
Recovered armor for horses
Recovered jewelry from burial tomb (replica)
Dongnae-eupseong Fortress
North of the Bokcheon Museum was a small, unpaved trail that ran along an actual section of the Dongnae Fortress wall. Following this dirt path, which provided another enjoyable walk through a small forest, lead directly to the Bukmun (North) gate. Despite the tacky mannequins guarding the entrance, I found this portion of the fortress to provide the best pictures.
Bukmun gate from inside the fortress
Jang Yeong-Sil Science Garden
Directly south of the Bukmun gate was the most pleasant surprise I've had exploring Korea, the Jang Yeong-Sil science garden. Jang Yeong-Sil was born a slave/peasant in the Dongnae region in 1390. However, he was such an accomplished engineer, inventor, and scientist that King Jeong of the Joseon Dynasty allowed him to work as a government official. During his time of service, he contributed to the invention of about 27 different astronomical and measuring instruments including sundials, water gauges, and early celestial maps. Replicas of his most famous inventions were displayed in a large garden in front of the North gate. Check out the main website for images of all these inventions.
Kanui, astronomical instrument to position stars and planets
Remaining Dongnae-eupseong Fortress
For the remainder of the afternoon, I walked up and down the perimeter of the actual fortress wall. To summarize about two and a half hours, I visited two additional command posts, a monument to the Busan independence movement, and several observation stands. At this point in the day I was exhausted, probably from the 90% humidity and mostly walking uphill, so I literally laid down in the grass near the Seojangdae Pavilion for about thirty minutes and called it a day. Please check out the main website for these remaining images.
View from an observation post along Dongnae-eupseong Fortress, including the Bokcheon tombs
The Future
I won't make a habit of describing my lunches or diners, but this day was particularly unique. Instead of going to our normal tuna and sashimi restaurant in Seomyeon, Dr. Russia and I went to the famous Jagalchi fish market for fish and shrimp. Check out our diverse spread below.
Raw fish spread, Jagalchi fish market
Sea urchin, Jagalchi fish market
Steamed shrimp, Jagalchi fish market
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to Dongnae. Each location provided an interesting history lesson and great photo opportunities without huge crowds or other tourists. Despite visiting five or six different locations, there are still many historical sites I didn't explore including a restored Confucian school and provincial Busan magistrate office. Whenever I finally grow tired of temples or Busan museums, I might check out these additional historical sites.
Check out more pictures on the main pages of the website. Follow ag4abroad on Instagram, Steller, and Flickr for updates.
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