I emailed Mike about setting up a forum here for Culture and Tourism threads. Below, I'm going to post the kind of thing I have in mind for such a section.

Last year, in vain yet again, I posted an article here about a 4 day cultural festival a stone's throw from Seoul up at Paju and just north of Paju, and I asked if anyone went to the festival to please take pictures and possibly video they could add to the site or upload for me to use. As far as I know, nobody went - which is a shame. Soldiers or other expats who are just going to be in country for a year or two should try to check out some of the events that are windows into Korea's (and East Asia's) past.



The festival is held every year near the end of Sep. This site says it is the last week.

If you are interested at all in traditional Korean society, this would be a good event to check out - especially the parade and the activities at the final resting place of one of the most famous Koreans: Yi I or Yulgok. He is the guy on the 5,000 won bill.

Here is a site with biographical information.

He is one of the greatest philosopher statesmen of the Chosun Dynasty which lasted from 1392 to 1910. Just north of Paju, there is a rather nice, spaceous park centered around Yulgok. His and his families tombs are there. There is also a traditional private school (seowon) set up by his disciples in his honor. There is also a museum. The best part about the park is the open space, greenery, and fresh air if you have grown tired of the normal congestion of Korean cities.



Here is a map of the tourist areas around Paju. The Yulgok place is listed as Jawwon Seowon with the icon right of center.

Here is a site introducing the park.

I've never been to the festival, but I'd love to have seen it.

The image above is at the seowon.

Before modern times, there were two types of schools in Korea: seowon and hyanggyo with the hyanggyo being public run and seowon private. These schools prepared mainly the elite youth in the area to pass civil service exams which were a key to power and prestige in the society. If you were an ambitious young man, you would study at one of these schools, pass certain tests, then attend the National Confucian University in the capital. I will try to write about that institution sometime in the near future. It is worth a visit if you are in Seoul. A contemporary university has grown up around the traditional one.

One of the impressive things about Korean society is that one of these hyanggyo were eventually established in every district throughout the nation. The effort to build them began roughly after the start of the Chosun Dynasty in 1392. You can still find these schools dotted all over the countryside. They aren't terribly interesting if you are not a history buff, but they do have a small festival ceremony twice a year in the spring and fall.

The seowon also became very important in Korean society as the Chosun Dynasty developed. The hyanggyo were state sponsored, and besides teaching Confucianism, they honored the Spirit Tablets of famous Korean and Chinese scholar/philsophers with Confucius himself being the main person worshiped in the shrine.

The seowon, however, were set up to honor specific Korean scholar/philosophy- officials: like Yulgok. Eventually, they became the center for political cliches who struggled for power with others.

In the last image above, you can see the kind of ceremony they held at least twice a year to honor the Spirit Tablets. Like many traditional complex areas, the middle main gate entering the grounds and at the shrine are always closed - except on the days of the ceremony. The idea was that these doors were reserved only for the spirits. On ceremony days, the spirit of Yulgok, and any others who have their tablet honored in the shrine, are believed to enter into the tablet to accept the offering of food and drink set up before them.

Here is a larger image showing the traditional gate with the middle door closed. This is the gate to the school and shrine set up to honor Yulgok at the park near Paju.

Music and ritual movement/dance are also part of the ceremonies.

I think they are worth checking out.

Here is another link to info about the park and school.

I'll add more to this post on specific events and times for them as I can located them.