The Adventures of ChrisMichRob in Korea: February 2015

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Seollal at Jongmyo Shrine

Happy New Year!

The Lunar New Year was celebrated on February 19th; it's also called Seollal here in Korea. 2015 is the Year of the Sheep (or Goat), and is actually considered to be the year of bad luck! Fear not! To ward off the bad, you can wear red or purple, wear a piece of jade, or have carnations about.

Seollal is a time for honoring ancestors and enjoying time with family. It was also a perfect day for some more great sightseeing in Seoul, since much of the city vacates to outlying areas for the holiday. We chose to visit Jongmyo Shrine.

Entrance was free for the holiday, so we walked right in and had to be careful to stay off of the spirit's center walk-way.

Jongmyo is a shrine where memorial ceremonies are held for deceased royalty and the stone tablets for each are contained in small rooms within the larger building.

The grounds are beautiful and very peaceful, even with this spooky looking tree.

The first area is named Jaegung and is where the royalty would prepare themselves for the ceremonies to honor their ancestors.

There were some great pieces on display: decorative folding screens, a portable throne, and an example of ceremony attire.

You'll notice that the roof and beam decor is little more sedate here, lacking all of the intricate patterns and colors of the royal palaces.

There was also an example of a simple palanquin, used to carry the king around the shrine.

We walked along the path (careful to not disturb the spirits, despite the spring mud) and found ourselves at the main hall, Jeongjeon.

Here there was a bit of color on the outer gate's decor:

The building inside the courtyard wall is very long, with 19 small rooms that house the sacred tablets.

We did find some interesting rooftop guardians here:

Right next door was another large building, similar in style and purpose, but with only 16 rooms: Yeongnyeongjeon.

We headed back towards the entrance and visited a building which housed items used during the memorial ceremonies.

Here is a snap shot of what the actual ceremony would look like, in full dress and with musicians.

Here is an example of the royal ritual tables (called jesang and junsang) used during the rites.

The spirit chamber and artifacts:

Replicas of the spirit tablets, housed in the shrine for each deceased royal.

We really enjoyed our short tour of the area, and it was wonderful that there were displays and captions for everything, so that we could get a real sense of what the shrine was used for.

Our day of sightseeing ended with a quick bite to eat at a nearby Mr. Pizza, where we opted to try something new. Here's our yummy Potato Pizza, with potatoes, corn, onions,

bacon, mushrooms, and some mayo dressing. :)

Visitors can find the Jongmyo Shrine at:

Jongno-3(sam)-ga Station (Subway Lines 1, 3, or 5), Exit 11
It's a 10-min walk from the station - follow signs.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Wandering and Music in Myeongdong

Rob and I had a date day just before our trip to Japan, so we headed to the Myeongdong neighborhood to do some exploring. First stop was lunch at Koogane, a chicken galbi restaurant.

We ordered a chicken and rice meal, with a variety of dokboki (flavored rice cakes).

Mmmmmmm...cooked right at our table, and served with rice and a bunch of sides.

Then we headed toward the M-Plaza building, to visit the Seoul Global Cultural Center.

There were some interesting items in the area:

Had to stop in at this sock shop:

I LOVE that there are sooooo many different designs at cheap prices here.

But until we passed this store mannequin, I did NOT know there were soooo many different mask treatments available for one's body! ;)

We eventually headed into the center and waited for a traditional music performance to start.

The performance space is called Haechi Hall and I snuck a few pictures of the instruments:

Ajaeng - base sounding zither played with a small stick

Janggu - two-handed drum

Gayageum - plucked string instrument

And the music...

The group performing that day was the Gugak Broadcasting Group, on traditional string, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The announcer also sang some pansori music at the end of the session.

Here is a short clip of the entire ensemble performing an upbeat Korean song:

Each member of the orchestra played a short piece to showcase its unique style and sound. Here is an example of the Piri (a small double reed, like the oboe) and then the Haegeum (a fiddle-like instrument with only two strings).

After the orchestra, the center had two of its Jjangu students come out to perform. I am hoping to take the next class this spring, so I can have some percussive fun as well!

For anyone in Seoul who would like to visit the center - for information, a performance, or a hanbok wearing experience:

Exit 8 from Myeongdong Subway Station(Sky Blue line No.4) and then turn left at Olive young store. Walk straight about 150 meters (3 minuntes on foot) to the M Plaza building on your LEFT. The center is on the 5^th Floor.