Cheomseongdae and Bulguksa Temple

Korean culture is obsessed with the idea of kibun, often translated "dignity" or "face". This is true for individuals, but especially with the Country as a whole. Koreans are determined to be seen by the rest of the world as the greates, oldest, most advanced, or otherwise best civilization on the planet. Notice that they are not actually interested in being the greatest civilization; they are primarily interested in being seen thusly. Part of this is reflected in their near propagandizing of national features, works of art, or even native traditions. We were treated yesterday to a presentation by a Korean cultural organization about how marvelous Korea is. Of course, they are right to be proud of such things as the Sokkuram grotto, and other marvelous feats of the Silla empire. They go overboard, however. We watched a very slick, professional, ten-minute video, detailed how every stone of the grotto was placed, and how great an achievement this was: making a not-so-subtle point of how superior it is to similar grottos in India or China. It was prefectly convincing, and everyone was left awestruck. After the fifth such video, though, it began to feel a bit too earnest, almost like advertising. The zenith of their hubris came with a video about how Samsung electronics are the best in the world. This was laughable, because each of us was given a Samsung laptop to use, and they are the shittiest shit that ever shat shit.

In the same spirit of Kibun, the Korean government has compiled a list of National Treasures, architectural or artistic wonders that make Korea the best ever at everything. At first I felt like this was hugely convenient to the tourist. I could simply look at the list and start working my way through it. What I didn't realize was that, in the Korean mind, every pebble in Korea is the best pebble in the world.


So the wonders that I crossed off my list are not as impressive as I thought they would be. To begin with, I went to Choemseongdae, a 7th century observatory from the Silla empireand Korean National Treasure #31.




What is impressive about Cheomseongdae is not it's appearance or architectual majesty. It looks rather like an inflated kiln, and is not beautiful. Rather, what is most impressive about the ancient observatory is the stories behind it. Queen Seondeok, the first Korean Queen and the force behind the observatory, is a fascinating figure. She is the Solomon of Korean history, scientifically minded, analytical, and naturally curious. There is a story about her discerning from a picture of Peonies that it was a pity they had no smell. When the seeds were planted and the flowers indeed had no smell, she was asked by her advisors how she knew. She answered that there were no butterflies in the picture. A flawed answer, to be sure, but a marvelous story.


After Cheosongdae, I went to Bulguksa temple. Here the aroma of Kibun was even stronger. There are at least eight here, including these four:

That's right, there are four National Treasures in this picture, not counting me. The beautiful pagodas? No the pagodas are not even authentic. They were rebuilt on the foundation of the old temple in 1966 in an obvious act of Kibun. No, the steps are the National Treasure. Each flight of stairs is a separate entity: The two in the background are Cheongungyo and Baegungyo (national treasure #23), and those in the foreground are Yeonhwagyo and Chilbogyo (#24). What makes these staircases so special? I have no idea. They are unremarkable, but clearly quite old and symbolic. If the United States had designated some old stone steps a National Treasure, Americans would go into fits of laughter.

That said, there is one treasure at Bulgoksa that I found interesting:

This is Dabotap Pagoda (#20). What is interesting about this pagoda is not only that it is made out of granite, a notoriously uncarveable stone, especially this intricately. Rather, its interest lies in the fact that it is utterly unlike any other pagoda in Korea (That I know of, at least). The flatness and angularity of it seemingly lack the grace of other pagodas, and the four stone pillars especially seem to detract from the overall effect, but this is beautifully reflective of a story in the Lotus Sutra, of two different Buddhas facing each other: daeboyeorae and seokgayeorae. Dabotap faces Seoktap (of which I did not get a good picture due to lighting, but is KNT #21), to reflect the story, and nothing could be clearer. Dabotap is as different from the more traditional Seoktap as could be. Yet they face each other silently and without arguing for eternity.

Of the other two National Treasures I saw on this trip it was not permitted to take pictures, but it is just as well. They are two seated Buddhas, Vairocana and Amitabha, KNT #26 and 27, but as the temple was only recently reconstructed, the statues could not possible be very old, and are probably duplicates. There is no mention of it, even on the internet, but I find it difficult to believe that the statues are actually the original ones from the 9th century, since the entire thing was burned down in the 16th century. By way of contrast, I find it easy to believe that the Korean government created replicas and simply does not mention their inauthenticity. Who builds a statue and immediately declares it a national treasure, of great cultural import? Who does that? A little fellow named Kibun.