A trip to two temples.

I figured since it was now spring, I should probably go back and post some of the pictures I took at the end of last summer.


Here is the main gate to Bongjeongsa (봉정사). This is actually down the hill from the temple itself.


The actual entrance to the temple compound.


Second angle showing the small door. This temple is famous because it has the oldest wooden temple building existing in Korea.


Some of the temple buildings. Note the TV antenna and the SkyLife TV dish. Not quite what I always believed about Buddhism, but who am I to judge.


Each stacked stone is supposed to represent a prayer or wish.


Old pagoda in front of the old temple hall.


Inside the hall.


Inside another hall.


This temple is also famous for having a lantern festival. This is one of the lanterns which they would light with candles.


More wishes.


Another building on the site that was actually used in a movie (?historical television drama?).


Inside.


Here is another old wooden building. It is actually pretty amazing that it has never been rebuilt considering the wars Korea has been through and the ever present danger of fire.

On to Dosan Seowon. 도산서원


On the way to Dosan Seowon.


Dosan Seowon is famous because it was a place of Confucian scholarship for several centuries starting in about 1557. Also, it is pictured on the back of Korea's 1000 Won bill.


A different view of the main entrance. Which do you like better?


Living quarters of students of the time.


Note how small the actual rooms are.


This is part of the caretaker's buildings. The stoves, one just in frame on the lower right, also provided under-floor heating to the rooms.


One of the two "library" buildings where the texts were stored.


This was the main lecture hall.


One of the two guest's quarters just in front of the lecture hall. (I got bored with all the red.)


Behind these gates is the family shrine and the memorial tablets for Toegye Lee Hwang, the main teacher/scholar and founder of the school. Us regular folk aren't allowed back there. By the way, the guy on the front of that bill is Lee(Yi) Hwang himself.


Just part of my door series.


Another.


The money shot, literally. What you see on the back of the 1000 Won bill.


Personally, I prefer this close up.


Technically not part of Dosan Seowon, but a shrine commemorating the location where everyone used to come to take the test after all the studying. It has been moved to this island since the building of the dam.


Picturesque. But notice the green water. That color is correct. It actually looked like thin pea soup, probably due to an algae bloom most likely from the warm weather and all the farm runoff in the area.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. Add a comment if you feel like it.