Jeollabuk-do - Gochang•Buan•Gimje 1. Seonunsa Temple, Gochang 2. Gochang Eupseong Fortress 3.Buan Naesosa Temple 4. Chaeseokgang and Jeokbyeokgang, Buan 5. Byeokgolje in Gimje 6. GimjeGeumsansa Temple Seonunsa Temple, Gochang 1. Dosolcheon, the Road that Cleanses Your Soul Title The Road that Cleanses Your Soul Narration: Welcome to Seonunsa Temple in Gochang. The distance between Seonunsa Temple entrance and Dosoram Hermitage is 3.2 kilometers. Follow the trail along Dosolcheon Ravine, if you want to climb Seonunsan Mountain. The name 'Seonunsan' means “a mountain to meditate in the clouds”. It's also called Dosolsan Mountain. It’s a Buddhist name, meaning, “learn the teachings of Buddha”. As its name suggests, it’s a special mountain for those wishing to attain enlightenment and live by the Buddhist doctrines. If you’re here in the summer, the stream in the ravine makes a great place to rest in the shades. After the heat of the summer, you’ll see red spider lilies all around you as you walk on the lower trail of the mountain, making your walk more pleasant. Some people think it's sad that the flowers bloom only after all the leaves have fallen. More people come to this place in the early autumn to see the red tinged leaves. In your walk on the trail, listen to the clear sound of the water flowing. It may relax your mind. 2. A Cup of Tea at Manseru Pavilion Title A Cup of Tea for You Narration: Take a short walk along the trail flanked by maple and zelkova trees, and you’ll reach Cheonwangmun Gate before you know it. Just inside the gate, you’ll see statues of Buddhist guardian deities whose primary role is to protect the world of Buddhism and defeat evil. It’s common to see statues or paintings of these deities at other Buddhist temples in Korea, since they’re believed to uphold the Buddhist doctrine and protect the temple. The first thing you’ll see after passing through the gate is a pavilion called Manseru. Manseru Pavilion is the last building to be built on the temple ground, but it’s the first building to greet visitors. (Sound of wind, Monk’s voice) Manseru Pavilion is primarily used as a lecture hall where Buddhist priests give lectures and Buddhists pray. The building also has a tea room open to all the visitors. All the columns of Manseru Pavilion are shaped differently and bent in the middle. It’s because only natural tree trunks are used to make these columns. The corner columns in particular are made of a whole tree, with only its bark removed. Some of them had to be repaired every once in a while, but there are still those that are over 700 years old. 3. Daeungbojeon, and Foundation Stories Title Daeungbojeon, and Foundation Stories Narration: Just in front of Manseru Pavilion and surrounded by camellia shrubs, is Daeungbojeon. It houses a seated Vairocana and a mural behind. The ceiling is painted with four dragons in different colors. Many visitors to this place find themselves overwhelmed by the imposing statue of Buddha and the dragons, which seem as though they’re soaring up to the sky. There are two different stories about the foundation of this temple. According to a legend, this place used to be a pond with a dragon living there. A Buddhist priest came to this one day and drove the dragon away. But when he was filling up the pond by throwing stones into it, a very contagious eye disease spread in the village around the pond. The villagers soon learned that they can be cured of the disease if they pour a sack of hardwood charcoal into the pond. So every villager brought a sack full of hardwood charcoal and stones to fill up the pond. And when the large pond was soon filled with charcoal and stones, people built a temple on top of the reclaimed land. There is another story about how the temple was built. According to the story, there was a poor village right under Seonunsan Mountain. A Buddhist priest came to the village one day, and taught the villagers how to take salt out of seawater as well as how to make hardwood charcoal and paper. In other words, the Buddhist priest taught them the means to survive. The villagers were so grateful for him, that they built him a temple. The village prospered, and the villagers donated salt to the temple every year in return for his service. During the time, salt was a very valuable commodity. The villagers still observe the tradition, even after 1,500 years. 4.Camellia Forest Title Camellia Forest Narration: The Camellia Forest at the temple has always been a famous place in the country, and that’s why many poets wrote about it. In Asia, camellia represents “the devotion of lovers”. It blooms in the spring, and when it falls, the whole bud falls and not just the leaves like most of other flowers. Poets related the bud falling to pure love, and that’s why they wrote about the flower. You’ll find about three thousand camellia trees right behind Seonunsa Temple. The monks at the temple have been growing camellia trees for hundreds of years to protect the temple against mountain fire, and use it as a lamp oil substitute. Camellia trees that are over five hundred years old are dark blue in color, and they have a sacred air about them. Camellia flowers at the temple bloom in March, which is much later than those in other regions. So March is the perfect month to visit the temple if you want to see the spring flowers. 5. Ksitigarbha, the Protector of the Heavens, Land, and People Ksitigarbha, the Protector of the Heavens, Land, and Title People Narration: Seonunsa Temple also has three seated statues of Ksitigarbha, as the protectors and saviors of every living creature in the world, namely “All Heavenly Beings”, “All Earthly Beings”, and “All Aquatic Beings”. In Buddhism, calling out his name can end all the suffering and help you attain Nirvana. So most temples in Korea have a portrait of Ksitigarbha enshrined in the altar. But Seonunsa Temple is different from the rest, because it has a statue of Ksitigarbha enshrined instead of a portrait. Since 1472, Seonunsa Temple has been receiving special support from the Joseon Dynasty, and many Buddhists came to this place to pray to Ksitigarbha. There are many strange stories about the seated statue of Ksitigarbha. One of the most well-known stories goes something like this: The statue was stolen and smuggled into Japan in 1936, only to be returned in just two years. The reason being is that the holder of the statue dreamed about Ksitigarbha one night, and the bodhisattva told him, “I was originally in Korea, so have me returned to the country right now." He didn’t like the dream, so he gave the statue to someone else. But the new holder also saw the bodhisattva in his dream, and gave it to another person. This went on and on, and the last person to have possession of the statue reported to the Gochang Police Station. After the report came in, a priest from Seonunsa Temple and a number of police officers went to Japan and brought back the seated bodhisattva. After the incident, the seated statue was designated as a National Treasure and placed in the Seongbo Museum at Seonunsa Temple. 6.Jangsasong and Jinheunggul Cave, the Places of Enlightenment and Caring Title The Places of Enlightenment and Caring Narration: The stream in Dosolcheon changes color every years. (Sound of Birds, water, trees) Can you see the pine tree with several branches pointing toward the sky? The branches start splitting about three to four meters from the bottom of the trunk, and they split even more at the top. When looking up from the bottom of the tree, the pine tree named “Jangsasong” looks like a blue umbrella. The tree has been there for the past 600 years. Over the centuries, people came up with a number of myths about the tree. One of them is the transformation of a woman into a pine tree. She was the wife of a soldier who was sent to a battlefield, and she died waiting for her husband. And the tree grew from her body. There is a cave right next to the pine tree. A story has it that in the 6th century, the King left his throne to meditate in this cave and attain enlightenment. It’s a natural cave, about 4 meters high and 10 meters long. There is a small Buddha statue and burning candles in the cave, because some people still come to this place to pray. The candles are always lit for this reason. It’s been more than a millennium since the first person came to this quiet cave to be immersed in a deep meditation to attain enlightenment, and yet people still continue their spiritual journey. 7. Maitreya Statue with Secrets Title Maitreya Statue with Secrets Narration: There is a rock-carved Maitreya on the rocky cliff to the west side of Dosoram Hermitage. The carving is 13 meters high and 3 meters wide. It has a square face, upward slanted eyes, sharp nose, and thick lips. The huge figure seems to be looking down from the sky. Although the skills of those who carved Maitreya into the cliff are far from being refined, it seems like they did their best.