Saturday (12 June, 2010) not only marked the date of Korea's first match in the 2010 World Cup but also the transition between the fourth and fifth months of the East Asian lunisolar calendar (태음력 in Korea, 太陰曆 in Chinese characters). While the fifth solar month is packed full of special days covering a variety of occasions the same cannot be said ( Read more... )

Uireung: Part One | Part Two

In my previous entry I wrote about the Joseon dynasty royal tombs located at Uireung and mentioned my desire to include information about the life of King Gyeongjong and his second lawful wife, Queen Seonhui. The main reason that kept me from doing this at the time is that so much of what happened during Gyeongjong's ( Read more... )

The end of October saw a reenactment of King Gojong's enthronement as head of the Korean Empire at Unhyeongung in Jongno-gu, Seoul that was an interesting experience to attend. Admission fees were waived on account of the special event, though the light rain that afternoon seemed to keep many people from attending. It was also a little ( Read more... )

As mentioned in my last entry, this Saturday will see a reenactment ceremony showcasing the Enthronement of King Gojong to the throne of the Joseon Dynasty. I didn't realize it at the time, but while uploading a few things to Flickr I noticed that just last weekend I took photos of a landmark devoted to the memory of King Gojong's reign. Located ( Read more... )

While on a trip to the Korean Museum of Buddhist Art last weekend I came across a sign in Anguk Station advertising a reenactment of Emperor Gojong's Enthronement, which originally took place on 13 December 1863.


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Continued from Part One ...


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Spent part of last weekend visiting Seooneung (서오릉), a collection of five royal tombs from the Joseon Dynasty located in nearby Goyang City. The name translates comes out to "Five Western Tombs" in English, but between leaving home a little late and taking lots of pictures - plus a brief walkabout in the wooded undergrowth - I only saw four of the ( Read more... )

We're halfway through 초복, the first stage of the summer 'dog days' in Korea, and while looking through articles earlier today I came across something that bridges the division between that and my entry on the addition of forty Joseon royal tombs to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Funny how that worked out. Digging around a little bit ( Read more... )