DIARY OF A
TRIP TO SUL-AK SAN
(Via the
Diamond Mountains.)
June
4th-20th, 1923 From: Transactions of the Royal Asiatic
Society Volume xxiv 1935 A precedent has already been created
for publishing such a diary in the
Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society in that
Dr. Gale published his
interesting diary of a trip to the Diamond Mountains in
Vol. XIII, 1922. The chief interest in this diary now
presented is that to most foreigners
in Corea the Sul-Ak Mountains are unknown. As far as I
am aware, the late
Bishop Trollope and I were the first foreigners to visit
these mountains, and
by the publication of this diary many will perhaps be
moved to visit the places
recorded. The Sul-Ak Mountains (雪岳山 셜악산) (The Mountains of Snow) are in
In-Jay District (麟蹄郡인제군) in the Pro-vince of Kang-Won.
This range is said to be covered with snow later into
the year than any other
mountains in Kang-Won Province. The mountains are now
listed by the Government
as a National Reserve. They can be approached by road
from Seoul via Su-Won, Yo-Ju,
Won-Ju and Hong-Chun or, as we approached them, down the
East Coast from
Wonsan, The object of our journey was first to
visit Kyen-Pong-Sa, a temple on the
spur of the Diamond Mountains near Kan-Song; then to
pass over Sul-Ak-San,
eventually walking down the coast to Kang-Neung, and
inland to O-Tai-San (五
臺山오대산). We were, however, prevented
from getting to O-Tai-San since after sixteen days’
walking and sight-seeing
our purses were reduced and our shoe leather worn out,
so that on reaching
Chu-Mul-Li, a port on the East Coast, we took ship to
Po-Haing and returned
from there by train via Taikyu to Seoul (After Bishop
Trollope’s death I visited
O-Tai San with Bishop Cecil in 1930 and a diary of the
journey was kept and may
be published at a later date). [page 2] This diary is really a combination of
two accounts of the journey, one kept
by Bishop Trollope and the other by myself. In the
published account whenever
the first person singular is mentioned it refers to the
editor of these notes,
but the larger part of the diary is taken from Bishop
Trollope’s account, and
my account only supplements the Bishop’s diary. The chief points of interest in this
diary are:— (a) The
Reliquary said to contain the teeth of the historic
Buddha at Ken-Pong-Sa. As
far as I know this is the only Reliquary in Corea which
professes to have any
relics of the real Buddha; this links us, at least in
thought, to the “Temple
of Buddha’s Tooth” at Kandy in Ceylon.
(b) The
outstanding beauty of the scenery of Sul-Ak-San,
especially that in the
immediate neighbourhood of O-Sai-Am. (c) The
link which we have with Tibet and the Dalai Lama at
Nak-San-Sa on the East
Coast of Corea. It was my privilege to lecture on this
tour at an annual meeting of the
Society held in Seoul 4th June, 1934. CHARLES HUNT.
[page 3] On
Monday, 4th June, 1923, we left
Seoul by the 8:15 a. m. train, taking with us our Corean
servant, who went with
our heavy luggage to Won-San and then by boat to
Chang-Ch’un (長
箭쟝젼) with orders to join us later at
Ko-Song (固城고셩),whilst we left the train at
Pyeng-Kang (平康평강) We arrived at
Pyeng-Kang at 12:30 p. m. (our
barometer registered 1,000 feet) and we left immediately
for Chang-An Sa (長
安寺쟝안사), our motor bill being Yen 11.30.
The road was rough in places, but all the bridges were
in repair, except the one
over the gorge river which the motor crossed in a boat We noticed again that the few villages
through which we passed looked clean
and prosperous. A cold sea mist shrouded the pass
between Sin-An and Wha-Chon
and again between Wha-Chon and Mal-Hoi-Ri. The village
of Mal-Hoi-Ri had just
been rebuilt after a fire of a year or two before when
the village had been
destroyed. Reached Chang-An-Sa, in the Diamond
Mountains, (barometer, 1,700
feet) at 7:30 p. m., and stayed the night in the hotel
which was still housed
in the old monastery buildings. On Tuesday, June 5th,
after breakfast, we
purchased straw shoes and sticks from the little shop
outside the temple and
set off at 9:30 a.m. with two carriers (each costing Yen
2.00 a day for going
and Yen 1.00 a day for returning empty) and made for
Yu-Chom-Sa. We reached
Mahya-Am at 11:30 a. m. where we found the monks were
holding a three months’
retreat. They looked very picturesque in their robes and
hoods as they stood or
knelt in the temple. At 1:00 p.m. we reached An-Moo-Choi (內務在
嶺뇌무죄령) Pass (barometer registering
4,000 feet) and just over the crest we stopped for
lunch. The season seemed dry
and rather backward. However, we noticed plenty of
purple and white lilac,
weigelia and columbine, but the magnolias were only in
bud. The pink azaleas
(already faded lower down) were a wonderful sight for
the last 1,500 feet,
where the ground was almost carpeted with pink primulas
and marsh marigolds.
Bird cherry was in flower and very nume-[page 4] rous
near the top of the pass.
Some little way down the pass we plucked wild white
peony. Stopped for a bathe
just before we reached Yu-Chom-Sa (barometer, 2,100
feet) at 7:00 p. m. We
stayed the night at an inn run by the monks. Early the next morning, Wednesday, June
6th, I viewed the temple and saw
the reredos in the main shrine—the reredos containing
figures of the famous Buddhas—originally
fifty-three in number but now only forty-two. I saw,
also, the well which was
supposed to have sprung up owing to a magpie pecking the
rock for the historic
fifty-three Buddhas to drink from. We left at 8:30 a.m.
on Wednesday, June 6th,
and set out for Ko-Song. We went over Kai-Chan-Yong (開
殘嶺개잔령) “Deer Neck Pass” (barometer,
2,350 feet) and walked to Po-Hyen-Tong, where we stopped
for lunch at about
1.00 p. m. The vegetation was more advanced on the
east slope of Kai-Chan-Yong, the
magnolia and styrax being especially beautiful and in
flower. Among the trees
hornbeam was very plentiful. The country is thickly
wooded. There were also
masses of white and red dog-roses, “rugosa roses’’,
purple lilacs and syringa. We reached the village of Paik-Chun at
12:00 noon, but pressed on to the
village of Po-Hyen-Tong. It was very hot in the plain at
the foot of the
mountain. We reached Ko-Song-Eup (固城邑
고셩읍) and met our servant at about
6:00 p. m. We stayed for the night at Tong-Il Inn (“The
First Hotel in the
East).” Ko-Song-Eup is a picturesque little town with
rocky hillocks and a
pretty stream close by. We spent the next day, June 7th, at
Hai-Kum-Kang A beautiful, clear sea—we bathed and
spent a perfect day by the shore. At
lunch-time we noticed a bird with a light-blue head,
dark-blue wings and a
crimson breast This bird was obviously a rock-thrush.
Later we saw many more of
the same kind. In the evening I went to Sam-Il-Po (三日浦
삼일포) (“Three Inland Lakes”), which in
the evening looked cold, eerie and forbidding. PLATE 1. A Fourteenth Century Bridge between
Kan-Song (杆
城) and Ken-Pong-Sa (乾
鳳寺) PLATE 2. Entrance to Ken-Pong-Sa (乾鳳寺) [page 5] On Friday, June 8th, having arranged
for a private motor (a very shaky
vehicle) to take us over the 100 li down the coast to
Kan-Song (杆
城간셩), we left a little after 8.00 a.
m. A picturesque road down the coast, and good except
for one or two sundry
spots and one or two questionable bridges. Just outside Ko-Song we passed the
Hyeng-Chong-Am (懸
鍾器현종암) “bell rock” on which the
fifty-three Buddhas are said to have hung their bell.
The road keeps pretty
near the coast for the first 60 li or
so, passing Myeng-P’a-Ri (明波里명파리), and turns inland, around the
beautiful lagoon two or three miles long at Wha-Chin-P’o
(花
津浦화진포). At Cha-San-Ri (慈山里자산리) (about 20 li short of Kan- Song and close to the sea
front of Kan-Chin-Ri
where Gen-zan steamers stop) we might as well have left
the car and gone
straight up the valley direct to Ken-Pong-Sa (乾鳳寺
건봉사) (about 20 li direct); but we went
on to Kan-Song and dismissed the car there, stopping for
lunch and leaving our
heavy baggage in a Corean inn. Kan-Song is a picturesque little town
enclosed in the remnants of old
earth-works measuring about 1/4 mile each way. In the
afternoon (very clear) we
walked with two coolies and our servant up the hill to
Ken-Pong-Sa (乾
鳳寺건봉사), crossing a good arched stone
bridge about two-thirds of the way. Ken-Pong-Sa, “The Heavenly Phoenix
Temple”, is a large monastery about 800 kan,
beautifully situated in a wooded
valley about 1,000 feet above sea level. There was
nothing remarkable in the
mountains or vegetation. The abbot was a very polite and
charming man (李
太逮리태련), and kindly caused us to be
housed in his sarang.
After a night’s
rest we awoke to find the place shrouded in a sea- mist
The abbot took us all over the temple
(never visited before by foreigners
except by the Hon. Mrs. Gordon about ten years earlier),
which according to one
account was founded in the reign of Pop-Hung-Wang (法
典王법흥왕), A.D. 514-540, [page 6] by
Pal-Jing-Pop-Sa (發徵法師발징법사). (The abbot said that one monk
Man-Il-Whai having associated thirty other men in this
place with himself for
thirty years’ prayer, he disappeared in Kung-Nak-Say,
and there has been a
tradition of continuous prayer ever since). Another account says that the monastery
was founded about A.D. 520, and
that a Chinese named A-Do-Wha-Saing (阿道和
尙아도화샹) first came to this site; but
tradition is stronger in favour of Pal-Jing Pop-Sa, who
founded the temple with
thirty monks. They meditated for thirty years in this
spot, and at last Amida
came and took them away; but Pal-Jing-Pop-Sa refused to
go, saying he must
first save others. Amida came several times for him and
at last persuaded him
to leave. A third account says that the original
name of the temple was Won-Kak Sa. In A.D. 758 in the first year of
Tang-Suk-Chong (唐
肅宗당숙종), Pal-Jing-Pop-Sa founded his
Mi-T’ha-Man-Il-Whai (彌陀萬日會미타만
일회) “The Society for Meditating ten
thousand days” and after twenty-one years his thirty
companions were suddenly
translated to paradise, and the name of his monastery
changed to Soh-Pong-Sa,
then to Ken-Pong-Sa. In A.D. 1465 King Syei-Cho (世祖세
조) paid a famous visit here, giving
the monastery great privileges which were confirmed by
later kings. The relics
were stolen by the Japanese in A. D. 1592. In 1846 a
great forest fire
destroyed many of the buildings. In 1878 a terrible fire practically
wiped out the monastery, 3,183 kan of
buildings being destroyed. After this only two-thirds of
the buildings were
repaired. The monastery is a collection of at
least four great monasteries, each
complete in itself with a Great Chamber and also—which
is uncommon—separate
studies for each monk, from twenty to forty in each
building. There is a large
burying-ground full of Poo-Tau (cone-shaped tombstones)
about 1/4 mile before
reaching the main buildings. PLATE 3. “Pinus densiflora” on the East Coast
Road between Kan-Song (秆
城) and Hang-To-Won (杏
桃源) PLATE 4. The Temple of O-Sei-Am (五法鬼) in the Mountains of Sul-Ak (雪
岳山) [page 7] In approaching the buildings the deep
gully is seen to be crossed by an
arched bridge on the right, leading to a large group
which formed the original
monastery composed of a large quadrangle with the
Tai-Oung-Chun (大
雄殿대웅뎐) on the far side, and a handsome
Numaru (누마루) on the other
side. Right and left are two Great
Chambers, of which that on the left is now used as a
boys’ hostel for the
seventy students in the temple school, and that on the
right is called the
Man-Il-Whoi-Chun (萬曰會殿만일회뎐) (in memory of the founder’s
devotions). Opening out of this is a special Hall of
Meditation, besides the
special studies for the monks. East of the Tah-Oung-Chun
is the Myeng-Poo-Chun
(溪府殿명부뎐) with the ten
kings, and behind, the Kwan-Eun-Chun
with pictures and images of Kwannon (觀昔관
음). To the west is the Sa-Sung-Chun
(四聖殿사승뎐) with the sixteen
Nahan. Returning to the bridge and
proceeding up the stream one finds the Keuk-Nak-Chun (極
樂殿극탁뎐), with the Great Chamber and
separate studies. Farther up the stream is the
Nak-Soh-Am (樂
西庵락셔암), with a similar complement of
buildings, in one of which the abbot lives. The Great
Chamber is fifteen kan with a
kitchen almost as large and a
quadrangle of separate studies. Farther still, up the stream, is the
Pal-Sang-Chun (八
相殿팔상뎐), with a temple containing the
Pal-Sang (八相팔상) and standing in
front of the pagoda beneath which
are buried twelve of Buddha’s teeth. This reliquary is
seen through a little
window when opened, which is behind the altar where
generally the Buddha
stands. A table gives a history of these and
other relics which were brought from
China by Cha-Chang-Pop-Sa (慈藏法師자장법사) in A. D. 638, the twelfth year
of Chong-Kwan (貞觀졍관). They were taken
by the Japanese.in Im-Jin-Wah Ran (壬
辰倭亂임진왜란), the teeth alone being recovered
by Sa-Myeng-Tah Sa (四漠大師사명대사), who was sent to Japan as an
envoy by the king. Adjoining this is a hall with
forty-three portraits of famous
abbots of this temple, the
[page 8] most
important being that of the founder, Pal-Jing-Pop-Sa,
painted by Soh-San-Tah-Sa
and Soh-Myeng-Tah-Sa. On Saturday, June 9th, we climbed up to
Po-Rim-Am (普
林庵보림암) behind Ken-Pong-Sa—a most
romantic climb up the valley to a monastery situated on
a precipice. Here we
were wrapped in a mist but we were able to see the
beautiful waterfall below
us. There were two monks in this small temple but
generally only one resides
there. In the evening, after returning to
Ken-Pong-Sa, the abbot brought out his
books for us to see and gave us the history of the
monastery. Sunday, June
10th: still very misty. We left Ken-Pong-Sa at about 9.00 a.m.
and reached Kan-Song-Eup at about
11:00 a. m. Left Kan-Song-Eup at about 11:30 a. m. and
walked 20 li by the sea,
paddling all the way, to a place called O-Ho-Ri (五湖里
오호리), where we lunched, and left
again at 3.00 p.m. and walked 20 li to a village called
Hang-To-Won (杏
桃源행도원) at the foot of the Sai-Ryeng (大
間嶺대간령). Here we slept. Heavy mist and
clouds all night
We left at 7:00 a. m. on Monday, June
11th; a steep climb up Sai-Ryeng
(barometer, 2,600 feet) through dripping clouds;
beautiful vegetation,
flowering magnolias, styrax and syringa, and reached the
top of the pass at
about 10:00 a. m. The weather was quite clear on the
other side of the pass. A gradual descent by Ch’ang-Whai and
Yong-Tay-Ri to Ka-P’yek on the Seoul
road. We lunched at Ka-P’yek, then turned on the left,
up the romantic Paik-Tam
(百潭백담) Valley (“The
Valley of one hundred pools”) for 200
yards the road pegged on the cliff, then up 25 li to
Paik-Tam-Sa (“The temple
of one hundred pools”). The evening clouded again, with thunder
and lightning at night The
monastery and surroundings (about 2,000 feet)
uninteresting. Recently rebuilt On Tuesday, June 12th, we left
Paik-Tam-Sa at 9:30 a. m. A lovely day.
Passed up a romantic gorge full of pools as far as
Yong-Si Am “The Temple of
the Long Arrow” PLATE 5. Buddhist Monks at the Temple of
O-Sai-Am (五歲庵) PLATE 6. Mirror Rock in the precincts of
Shin-Hung-Sa(神典寺) [page 9] (永
矢庵영시암), a fine building. One old monk
over eighty years of age living there alone. Climbed up the hillside, leaving the
stream, passed Won-Myeng-Am (圓
明庵원명암) (where in the valley we found
quantities of the flower called Coeur-de-Notre-Dame) and
reached O-Sai-Am (五
歲庵오계암) “The Shrine of the five year old
child” about 1:00 p.m. This monastery is situated at 3,200
feet in a magnificent amphitheatre—a
charming monastery with eight to ten monks, including
some cheery old ones. A
two-storeyed monastery, the upper storey containing a
good collection of
Buddhist classics and a complete set of the works of the
Chinese poet, Tu Fu. From the monastery could be seen range
after range of mountains and
precipitous cliffs with razor-like edged rocks. The
view, if not better than,
is equal to that seen at Mahayam in the Diamond
Mountains. The origin of O-Sai-Am is that ages ago
a child aged about five years was
left in the small temple whilst the monk who lived there
went on a jonrney.
Heavy snow prevented the monk’s return. The child was
nourished by Kwannon,
who, on the return of the old monk, vanished—flying away
in the form of a blue
bird. The monastery was rebuilt in 1878. On Wednesday, June 13th, we left
O-Sai-Am at 8:30 a. m. We struggled 1,500
feet up the precipice at the back of the temple to the
Mal-Tung-Ryong (馬
等嶺마등령) (Many Horse Pass) which is 4,700
feet, where is a glorious panorama down through
precipices and gorges to the
eastern sea. A very strenuous walk took us three
hours, and I found eidelweiss on the
rocks—the first time I have seen it in Corea. We reached
the bottom of the
valley at 1:00 p.m. (about 1,500 feet) where we lunched
and rested by a pool
before going on the 5 li to
Shin-Hung-Sa (神興寺신흥사) (The Temple of
Spiritual Delight), and arrived at
about 6:00 p.m., very tired. We bathed in a glorious
pool in which was reflected
a great, mirror-like rock.
[page 10] Shin-Hung-Sa,
a fine monastery with ten or twelve monks, dates back to
Silla days, but was
rebuilt on its present-site 280 years ago. The site of
the old temple is marked
by a pagoda 5 li
down the road; a
romantic situation with a view up the valley to
Oul-San-Pong (蔚
山峯울산봉) which should be visited for its
Am-Ja. At Shin-Hung-Sa the Pop-Tang called
Keuk-Nak-Po-Chun;極
樂普殿극락보뎐) is a handsome old building with three
fine Buddhas and some interesting frescos on the walls,
old book-plates, and
the usual furniture; also a marble candlestick and
marble incense-burner. A
fine, large Great Chamber with offices at the back
facing a fine hall (very
neglected) of portraits of former abbots; a very fine,
handsome maru 60’ x 30’
completes the quad. There is also a Temple of the Kings
and a fine Ch’un-Wang-Mun
(天王門천왕문) This temple and
its neighbourhood would repay
another visit and more study. We left at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday,
June 15th, and walked down the valley
to the sea at Mul-Chi (about 30 li),
passing a fine group of Poo-Tau, and then 10 li to
Nak-San- Sa (洛
山寺낙산사)
which
we reached at 6:00 p. m., and slept there. The temple
stands on a wooded
undulation known as O-Pong-San (五峯山
오봉산) about 700 feet above the sea, on
which it looks down. It was formerly enclosed in a
fortified wall about 1/4 of
a mile each way, with gates. The temple consists of an
enclosure surrounded by
a high tiled wall, all of flat red bricks, containing
three chief houses —all
rebuilt about A. D. 1890:— (a)
The
Won-T’ong-Po-Chun (圓通資
殿원통보뎐) (Shrine of Kwannon). This
contains two large figures of considerable dignity, well
carved and coloured,
seated side by side; Kwan-Syen-Posol, white with
coloured clothes, and
Yeng-Chun-Posol, all gilt with the usual embroidery; and
there are the usual
pictures on the walls. (b)
TheYong-Sam-Chun (靈山殿
령산뎐) (The Spiritual Hill Shrine)
contains the usual Syek-Ka-Yau-Rai The Pagoda at Nak-San Sa (洛
山寺) [page 11] (釋迦如來석가여래) with Ananda and
Kayap and the sixteen Aahans. (c) The Yong-Syen-Chun (龍
船殿용선뎐) (Dragon Boat Shrine) contains
the tablets to King Syei-Cho. In front of the court is
another hall called ‘‘The
Hall of Preaching,” Sul-Syen-Tong (說禪堂
설선당), with a large maru built by King
Syei-Cho. There is also a large bell-tower with a
bell of a splendid tone, the gift
of King Yei-Chong, A.D. 1469. Still nearer to the sea is
the great gate (大
門대문), and nearer still the Koo-C’hun-Wang-Mun
(九天王門구천왕문) (The Gate of the
Nine Kings), containing four large
figures. On the maru where we slept there are two boards
with writings by King
Song-Chong (成宗성종) and a poem by
King Seuk-Chong (肅
宗숙종). I give below the poem, the Chinese only
being on the board, but I think
that it may be useful to write the Corean eun-mun at the
side of the Chinese
characters. Rendered into Western verse, the poem
would run somewhat as follows:- Merry of heart the high hill I ascend, Near the village, south, by the
sea: Long the walls stood, the temple to
defend, Ere now, they give shelter to me. High up above the moon rides at night, Pale shines her light on every
tree; Clouds by the soft winds rolled out of
sight, Heaven
and earth are set free. [page 12] Sive me the Buddha’s mind, pierce me
with light, Let me think on doctrine and
decree: Turn the wheel of time; purify my
sight; Shave my head, and mark my rosary. Goddess of Mercy, why with this flower Flies
the Blue Bird from tree to tree? Would’st thou I lay aside all kingly
power, And, is this thy call to follow
thee ? The other board records the gifts of
King Song-Chong. The reason why the
temple is called Nak-San-Sa is because of its
resemblance to the place where
the Dalai Lama dwells in Tibet, where also is the house
of Kwannon, the Dalai
Lama being a manifestation of Kwannon. About 1/2 a mile to the north is a
little promontory on which the founder,
Oui-Sang-Pop-Sa (義相法師의상법사) had his vision of Kwannon, and
perched on the rocks 50 feet above the sea, over the
cave mouth in and out of
which the sea washes, is a little shrine with a very
sacred image of the Posol,
and a small monastery attached, with two or three monks
in constant residence. The legend is that the cave, containing
a sacred image of Kwannon, runs
inland to a spot underneath that on which the main
temple is now built, and to
which Oui-Sang (義相 의상) was directed by
the presence of Kwannon to two
bamboos, which he was told to look for there. Bamboos
are still cultivated in
the temple grounds. The temple history, a printed book,
says Oui-Sang-Pop-sa was born in the
eighth year of the Emperor Ko-Cho-Moo-Tok (高祖武
德고조무덕) of the Tang dynasty, A. D. 625,
in the forty-seventh year of King Chin-P’yeng (眞平진
평) of Silla. In A. D. 661 he went to China and
studied under Chi-Om- Syen-Sa (智
嚴禪師지엄선사)연In. A. D. 671 he returned to Silla
in the eleventh year of Mun-Moo-Wang (文武王
문무 왕), and in A. D. 702 he died, then
in the seventy-eighth year The Path to the Shrine of Kwannon (教普
底) near Nak-San-Sa (洛山寺) The Shrine of Kwannon (觀昔庵) “on the rocks over the cave
mouth in and out of which the sea washes” [page 13] Oui-Sang (義
相의상) is said to be the reincarnation
of Hoo-Sin-Keum-San-Po-Chi-Ray (後身金
山寶知來후신금산보지래). When Oui-Sang first visited
this place he had a vision of Kwannon in the grotto. She
presented him with a
crystal rosary (水晶念珠수정념주) which had been
given her by the “East Sea Dragon
King” (東海龍王동해용왕). Acting on Kwannon’s directions he then
built a shrine to Kwannon on the
site indicated by the bamboos and by the outcrop of red
earth of which he made
an image. Later when the monk Kang-Yu-Chai-Ryang (公
庾才良공유재량) came from Kang-Neung (江
陵강능), prostrating at every pace,
guidance was given by Kwannon who appeared in the form
of a blue bird and led
him to the cave where he did obeisance. Another version of the founding of this
Kwannon shrine is that according to
the vision of Won-Hyo (元曉원효) born A. D. 623, a woman was seen
plucking corn and afterwards washing a cloth in a
stream, and with her he
conversed. She afterwards changed into a blue bird; and
said that Hu-Chai-Ho (休
醍醐휴제호) was spiritually blind. He then
found a single shoe on the ground under the tree from
which the blue bird
spoke, and when he got to the temple he found the image
of Kwannon with only
one shoe. About A. D. 830 Kul-San-Cho-Sa-Pom-Il (堀山祖
師梵日굴산조사범일) went to China and at
Myeng-T’chun-Kai-Kuk-Sa
(明川開國寺명천개국사) met Sa Mi (沙彌사
미) who had his left ear missing,
and who claimed to be a fellow-countryman and urged His
Reverence to build him
a temple on his return. In A. D. 847 he returned and
first built Kul-San-Sa and
preached there. In A. D. 858 he had a dream in which Sa
Mi appeared and rebuked
him for his tardiness in fulfilling his promise. Going
to the village indicated
he found a bridge upon which sat a boy dressed in gold,
Kum-Sak-Tong-Cha (金
色童子금색동자). The monk went to look and found
under the bridge a stone Buddha with his left ear
missing.[page 14] He decided this was Chung-T’choi-Po-Sal
(正趣菩
薩정취보살) and built a temple to him. In a great fire a hundred years later
everything was destroyed except these
two temples. In the time of the Japanese invasion,
1613-1614, the two sacred
images and the rosaries were removed to Yang-Yang (襄
陽양양) and recovered many years after
by a monk named Cho-Shin (調信조 신). The temple was visited by King
Sai-Cho (世祖세조) on his eastern
progress in A. D 1468. On Friday, June 15th, we left
Nak-San-Sa about 2:30 p.m. and went on to
Yang-Yang, a quaint old town a little inland from the
sea, and reached there at
4:00 p. m. We slept there and paid off the coolies for
250 li. The next day we set out for a small
port called Chu- Mul-Li (主
文里주문리), having decided to give up our
trip to O-Tai-San. The first 10 to 20 li was through
typical inland country and the walk was very trying and
hot, but about noon we
again reached the coast and walked for 60 li
by the side of the sea, passing on our right some very
pretty inland lakes or
lagoons. We reached the port of Chul-Mul-li at 6:00 p.
m. Here the sea is very
clear and very blue, though we could find no decent spot
for a bathe—Japanese
houses were all along the sea front. On Sunday we walked
to another bay where
was good bathing. On Monday evening, June 18th, we left
by steamer for Po-Haing and sailed at
midnight. On Tuesday, June 19th, at daybreak the vessel
stopped at Sam-C’hok (三
涉삼척) then later at Pyeng-Hai (平
海평해) and Yong-Hai, and at sunset we
arrived at Yong-Tok (盈德영덕). We sailed again at midnight and reached
Po-Haing (浦
項 포향) on Wednesday the 20th at 5:00 a.m.,
and boarding a light railway we reached Taikyu at 4:30
p.m., and changing there
took the night train to Seoul. |