My heroine's ancient home
After another compulsive bout of reading last night, I finally learned where my heroine's home in the first century B.C. was likely to have been located. Here's what it looks like today:
Via Google Maps, a view from the south shore of Hunjiang about 10km (6.25 miles) northeast of Huanren
Here's a view of the reservoir from the air:
Via Google Maps
The series of valleys along the Hunjiang River to the east of Huanren were flooded between 1958 and 1972 as far as I can tell (keeping in mind that my Chinese sucks), with a break in the construction between 1962 and 1965. So the place where my heroine was likely born and was her main abode for the first 47 years of her life is now entirely underwater, together with a large number of sites left behind by these early Koreanic people along the Hunjiang.
I'm fine with that. Living people come before the dead, and it's not like the government shut down excavation and study of the area prior to the flooding; the exploration of the sites along this river valley form a valuable basis for our understanding of this ancient society. So this is not a "@#$! Chinese destroyed my forebears' resting site" sort of post. I've come across enough mindless jingoism from all sides in my research, I don't need to add to it myself.
I can feel sad, though, without pointing fingers or spouting ridiculous conspiracies. I'll never visit the places where Soseono lived for most of her life, or see the mountains and valleys of her home as she saw them. More immediately for the purpose of my novel, I won't get to see the lay of the land for myself, feel its earth under my feet, breathe the air. I'm sure I'll be able to find maps of the area prior to the flooding, and I'll do that now that I know what I'm looking for. It's not the same, but that's a reality I'll have to live with.
That said, despite my disappointment I'm excited that I finally have a solid, if not 100% certain (nothing's that certain after 2,000 years), idea of where my heroine's and her contemporaries' lives took place. I finally have a firm map in my head, not to mention on Google Maps, of the spatial relationships and strategies that the plot revolves around. Plus, since it must never be said I can't turn loss into gain, an evil part of me is secretly happy that no one can fact-check the really nitpicky geographical details of my story because much of the relevant area is now inaccessible.
My heroine's ancient home is now underwater, which is a bummer but not a huge one. I still look forward to visiting Huanren and the dam; in addition to research it's going to be like a pilgrimage to a woman whom I consider a spiritual ancestor, and the people and way of life she was a part of until she found the courage to leave it all behind at nearly fifty years of age. Two thousand years later she still fills me with awe, something no amount of water can touch.
Dreamwidth entry URL: http://ljlee.dreamwidth.org/53498.html
Via Google Maps, a view from the south shore of Hunjiang about 10km (6.25 miles) northeast of Huanren
Here's a view of the reservoir from the air:
Via Google Maps
The series of valleys along the Hunjiang River to the east of Huanren were flooded between 1958 and 1972 as far as I can tell (keeping in mind that my Chinese sucks), with a break in the construction between 1962 and 1965. So the place where my heroine was likely born and was her main abode for the first 47 years of her life is now entirely underwater, together with a large number of sites left behind by these early Koreanic people along the Hunjiang.
I'm fine with that. Living people come before the dead, and it's not like the government shut down excavation and study of the area prior to the flooding; the exploration of the sites along this river valley form a valuable basis for our understanding of this ancient society. So this is not a "@#$! Chinese destroyed my forebears' resting site" sort of post. I've come across enough mindless jingoism from all sides in my research, I don't need to add to it myself.
I can feel sad, though, without pointing fingers or spouting ridiculous conspiracies. I'll never visit the places where Soseono lived for most of her life, or see the mountains and valleys of her home as she saw them. More immediately for the purpose of my novel, I won't get to see the lay of the land for myself, feel its earth under my feet, breathe the air. I'm sure I'll be able to find maps of the area prior to the flooding, and I'll do that now that I know what I'm looking for. It's not the same, but that's a reality I'll have to live with.
That said, despite my disappointment I'm excited that I finally have a solid, if not 100% certain (nothing's that certain after 2,000 years), idea of where my heroine's and her contemporaries' lives took place. I finally have a firm map in my head, not to mention on Google Maps, of the spatial relationships and strategies that the plot revolves around. Plus, since it must never be said I can't turn loss into gain, an evil part of me is secretly happy that no one can fact-check the really nitpicky geographical details of my story because much of the relevant area is now inaccessible.
My heroine's ancient home is now underwater, which is a bummer but not a huge one. I still look forward to visiting Huanren and the dam; in addition to research it's going to be like a pilgrimage to a woman whom I consider a spiritual ancestor, and the people and way of life she was a part of until she found the courage to leave it all behind at nearly fifty years of age. Two thousand years later she still fills me with awe, something no amount of water can touch.
Dreamwidth entry URL: http://ljlee.dreamwidth.org/53498.html