According to this piece in the Donga ilbo, some old books in the Jangseogak library of the Academy of Korean Studies are literally falling to pieces. By way of illustration this copy of Zhu Xi’s Assorted Sayings of Master Zhu, the cover of which shows clear signs of damage. According to a reported submitted to the national assembly, of the more than 150,000 old books, more than 30,ooo are in need of repair, of which 4,000 urgent. Yet with only two dedicated staff members, only 40 odd books can be mended a year… Even the paltry 200 million KRW needed to get the most urgent work done is not being granted by the assembly (the Academy resorts directly under the Ministry for Education etc.) Hence probably this media expose… According to a story on KBS, the real concern seems to be the many books given in trust to the library by private families who can no longer take care of them; these books arrive at the library already in a bad state. This puts into perspective the media storm over the return of the Uigwe ritual manuals by France; if only a fraction of the money spent on the lavish welcoming ceremony would go where it is needed …

Another Koryo shipwreck was recently discovered off the coast of Mado; since it is already the third found near this small island, it has been baptized ‘Mado no. 3′ (마도3호). About the first I blogged in 2009, but not sure what is meant with no. 2 – perhaps I missed it. Unlike the first two, which were laden mainly with pottery, this one contained mainly preserved seafood (including pickled mussels and shrimps sauce – 젓갈 was apparently known as 古乃只 in Koryo; the article gives this as 고내지 though it was probably pronounced differently) and grain. This one had departed from the south coast (Yosu) and was destined for the capital in Kanghwa.

Thanks to dispatch notes on bamboo, some of the addressees have been discovered: mainly military men, and from their titles it is evident that the ship left between 1260 and 1268. Some of the addressees have been identified as members of the elite sambyolch’o, who would put up such resistance against the Mongol annexation soon after this. Also remarkable is that the ship has been so well preserved:

Interesting: the great number of recent finds can apparently be explained by the recent construction of a dike (방파제) between Mado and Sinjindo, which diverted the current and exposed some ships from the mud in which they had been entrenched for centuries (and which preserved everything so well!). As with the last find, this confirms and completes what we know about Koryo rather than challenges it: it shows that despite the Mongol invasions and imminent takeover, the supply routes to the capital in Kanghwa were still functioning well, keeping the military rulers of the country in power.

This year marks the 1000th anniversary of the “First Koryo Tripitaka” (초조대장경), and among the many events to commemorate this, the exhibitions at the Horim museums are surely the most worthwile to visit. Horim has the biggest collection of prints from the first “Tripitaka Koreana,” as it is also known, about 100 fascicles. To compare, Nanzenji in Japan has more than 1800 and Tsushima, also in Japan, more than 600. In Korea, only the Seongam archives (성암고서박물관) comes close, but this institution is somewhat mysterious: though nominally a museum, I have never been able to find its exact location, or whether it is open to the public even (I suspect not).

Horim is also an interesting institution – much like Hoam, it uses the penname of a wealthy industrialist who founded the collections, in this case Yun Jangseop 윤장섭 (b. 1922 – in Kaesong! A true ‘Kaesong merchant’), founder of Sungbo Chemicals (성보화학) – don’t ask, there’s not exactly a lot of information on him or his group, not even on Wikipedia! Like Hoam museum, founded by Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul, it has divided its collections over two museums: a swanky version in Shinsa-dong (aka Horim art center - parallel to Leeum?) and a more modest ‘main museum’ in Shillim (Horim Museum, parallel to Ho Am Art Museum?). Last Monday I visited the ‘chique’ Horim Art Center in Shinsa d0ng:

Well, the neigborhood lived up to its chique/expensive reputation, and so did the museum: all the top pieces (national treasures etc.) were here, but the entrance price (8000 won) was commensurate. I can live with that, but not with an 80,000 won catalogue (not even hardbound!). Anyway, it was still worth the visit, because most of the pieces I could see for the first time, and thus learned some new things: some of the colophons show that the early tripitakas were much more open-ended than is usually argued, with many re-editions, even temple editions, taking place ca. 1000 – at least in China, but I suspect also in Korea. So the ‘first tripitaka’ is really a much more relative concept than is usually thought – basically it’s just a copy of the Kaibao tripitika. Anyway, most of the prints can be admired through this website, which contains good images of most surviving prints. Meanwhile, excavations continue at Puin-sa, where the buildings that housed the original printing blocks of the first tripitaka when they were burned by the Mongols in 1232 have allegedly been found:

Today was National Remembrance day, so I took advantage of the holiday to visit a couple of museums. First went to the National Palace Museum, which had a very interesting little exhibition on the contents of a statue of Avalokitesvara from Songgwang-sa (pictured above – the statue itself remains in the temple). During regilding in 2009, a lid on the bottom of the statue was opened to reveal a cache of scriptures, clothes and other things. This is not exceptional – all Buddhist statues have such contents – but the identity of the donor and some of the items were remarkable. Here is an overview of the contents:

Particularly eyecatching were the items of clothing – the two vests, dating to the 17th century, were in perfect state of preservation – they looked as if new, and showed the high quality of silk weaving and coloring of the time. But what is really unusual is the inside of the vest:

Inside the vest is written a vow! This reveals that the objects were placed in the statue in 1662 on behalf of sir Kyongwan (1644-1665), a grandson of King Injo, praying for his and his wife’s long life; the names of two ladies in their sixties – presumably court ladies – also appear. A child’s vest also has a vow for a long life. Obviously these were personal items, perhaps standing in for their owners to share the company and blessings of the bodhisattva. Although sir Kyongwan died soon after, his wife seems to have survived him somewhat longer. Both items of clothing are for women, so obviously the prince should have placed his vest in there too!

However, there is another interesting twist to this story: the statue is placed, naturally, in the Avalokitesvara hall (관음전) of Songgwang-sa. I actually visited the place last October, and was then struck by the paintings of officials bowing in the direction of the statue: most unusual. Well, there is a simple explanation for this: originally the building was not designed to hold this statue, it was designed as a prayer hall for the longevity of Emperor Kojong at his 51st birthday in 1903! But when the original Avalokisvara hall nearly collapsed in 1957, the monks demolished it and re-dedicated the Songsu-chon (Kojong’s longevity hall) as an Avalokitesvara hall, moving the statue there – but leaving the original decoration of officials bowing towards Kojong and wishing him a long life!

moral of the story: always check all available stories before interpreting iconography…

Vipassana, which means “to see things as they really are”, is an ancient Buddhist technique revived and popularised by a Burmese-born Indian, SN Goenka. His courses are taught in about 140 centres around the world, all of which observe the same schedule: wake up at 4am, meditation from 4.30am, breakfast at 6.30am, more meditation, lunch at 11am, meditation, dinner (two pieces of fruit and a cup of tea) at 6pm, meditation, a video talk by Goenka, and lights out at 9.30pm. The courses are free, although you are encouraged to give a donation at the end.

The article gives the impression that Vipassana practice has somehow been singlehandedly revived by SN Goenka – never came across his name before. But what is really interesting is the time schedule: this is almost exactly the same daily schedule that would be maintained in a Korean temple (though most temple programs for laity in Korea have somewhat more variation). I am sure there is some influence from modern-day Zen practice here …

When traveling with the AREX line from Incheon airport to Seoul, you can see the construction on a large waterway – this is the ‘Gyeong-In’ Ara Waterway (아라뱃길). I was puzzled by the Korean name when I first saw it, but ‘ara’ seems to be taken from the refrain of the Arirang song. Having failed in his bid to construct a canal from Pusan to Seoul, at least pres. Lee Myung Bak has succeeded here; although in this case the canal is not his own idea – there seem to have been plans from the Koryo period onwards, and attempts were actually made in the Choson dynasty. I also remember that there was actually a small, deep canal along the road to Incheon, but this is now being deepened and widened so that it can be used for shipping. Starting from Chun Doo Hwan onwards, various governments tried to push the idea, but it always failed feasability studies. Without much ado, and without much consultation, the present administration seems to have simply started it (just like the 4-rivers project) anyway, and it is now scheduled to be completed by 2011.

(photos from here)

In one sense, the canal makes good sense; because the estuary of the Han river enters the sea right at the border with North Korea (the border runs through the river at that point), obviously it cannot be used for shipping; so the shortcut to the sea will allow much better access for shipments to and from the capital. But at the same time, it is somewhat odd that the project is also seen as a tourist attraction, with cruises, leisure parks, bicycle paths etc all planned; these are some of the same motifs that we saw when the Grand Canal (Seoul to Pusan) was being promoted…

The museum borrowed a total of 214 relics from 12 foreign institutions for the exhibition. These are comprised of the following: Wang ocheonchukguk jeon kept by the National Library of France (Bibliotheque nationale de France) and those kept by ten institutions in China, which include the National Museum of China, the Uygur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, Kansu Province, and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China. 

This exhibition is arranged in a way that follows the path of Hyecho’s travel in the early 8th century. Hyecho, a Silla Buddhist priest, was the first Korean to travel and keep a record of the Silk Road. He arrived in an eastern region of India in a boat and made a pilgrimage to Buddhist eight holy sites. Then, he traveled to the west, Central Asia and returned to Changan 장안 (now Xian) in China through the Pamir Mountains 파미르 고원, Saiwik 서역, and Dunhuang 둔황. Saiwik, which corresponds to the present day Uygur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang 신장위구르자치구, used to be a crucial part of the Silk Road that linked Rome with Changan.

I suppose the exhibition will also use items from the Otani collection – the legacy of a Japanese baron who was one of those adventurers in the ‘great game’ for treasures of the Silk Road. After liberation, his collection was left behind in Korea and is now part of the National Museum. Oddly, this is one area where Korea could become the defendant in a case of cultural reconstitution: since most come from areas along the silk road now occupied by China, China could lay claim to most of these collections. Apparently it is holding back, but it is claiming something else: Koguryo murals that were looted from Ji’an between 1997-2000 (one of them pictured above). The tomb raiders were caught, and apparently executed, but according to their statements, the murals were sent to South Korea. Apparently this was the subject of a recent MBC program (MBC 수첩), and the Chinese must have seen the program, because they have now asked the Cultural Heritage Bureau to cooperate in returning the murals. So why these objects and not the Otani collection? According to the cynical interpretation of this commenter, because most of the Otani collection comes from Turfan in the Uighur region, and China is not keen in giving the Uighurs any incentive for cultural pride in these items. Not so sure about that; you could argue the same for the Korean minority living in Northeastern China… moreover, I am not sure if the Muslim Uighur would be interested  in this Buddhist heritage. It seems simply a case of following through a criminal investigation into the people who ordered the theft or received the stolen goods.

Buddhist media is less circumspect: The Pulgyo sinmun points to a 2006 revival meeting in Pusan where one of the presentations set as a target “bring down the 94 temples (including Pomosa) in Geumjeonggu district [of Pusan].” That meeting was attended by the current president, Lee Myung-bak… Coming so soon after the budget debacle, where a representative of Lee’s party “forgot” to honor an agreement to increase the budget for the templestay program, one can surmise that radical christians feel emboldened to take action against the “heathens.” So how is all that linked to the increasing tensions with the north? Conservative Christian groups are also among the strongest critics of the north, and the acceptance of the Yoido Full Gospell Church’s proposal to put Christmas lighting near the DMZ in full view of the North will certainly be seen as a provocation on the other side of the border.