Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
Walking in the footsteps of the past: Bukhansan in 1884 - part two
Daesomun (Great West Gate) of the past. Courtesy of Hyunuk Park
By Robert Neff
At the foot of Jeungheungsa Temple, November 2014. Robert Neff Collection
In September 1884, George C. Foulk, an U.S. Navy ensign temporarily assigned to the American legation in Seoul, visited the mountain fortification of Bukhan ― just outside Seoul.
Foulk wrote of the experience: “Passing through the gate, I was amazed at the view before me. This was a great mountain walled ravine with abrupt perpendicular sides, a full thousand feet deep. The whole ravine seemed [to be] encircled by the mountain ring of 2,000 feet high on which ran the heavy wall through which I had passed; at points on the lofty wall in front which would have to be broken through in escaping by them.” In his letter to his parents, he declared it to be “a circular nature-made fortress.”
As he made his way into the interior of the fortification, he noted in his report that there were great stone gates with enormous iron-bound doors, barracks for troops, as well as the storehouses of Jung-heung-sa and Sang-chang-ji, where “matchlocks and small guns of obsolete patterns” and munitions were kept.
An engraving of Jeungheungsa Temple, circa 1889. Robert Neff Collection
To his parents, however, his prose is almost poetic:
“In the bottom of the ravine runs a wild stream over white rocks, worked by it into fantastic shapes. By the streams hidden by old moss and vine covered walls were a few scattered houses, some storehouses for food and other houses of peasants whose forefathers have lived here before them nearly 900 years.”
Ancient memorial tablet stones of cut granite lined the mountain stream and scattered along it were “little ancient pavilions in which ancient nobles sat to enjoy the wild scenery.”
He also spied, in a secluded nook, “an old palace, small, crumbling with age, yet gay in well-preserved colors and carvings.” This was Haeng-gung-ji ― the emergency palace ― which will be discussed next week.
Whimsical cuteness at the foot of Jeungheungsa Temple, November 2014. Robert Neff Collection
Foulk was clearly moved by all that he saw and proudly gushed in his report:
“This remarkable fortress is the Bukhan, the secret hiding place of the King, the existence of which would never be suspected in all but a most critical examination of the Seoul vicinity. It is entirely unknown to foreigners and ordinarily unvisited by natives who seem averse to speaking of it. I was the first person not a Korean to whom it was exhibited ― and this with a view to obtain my advice as to the erection of modern batteries along its approaches.”
What advice he offered ― if any ― is unknown, but to his parents he admitted: “I was deeply impressed with the great idea of establishing so long ago such a grand stronghold and the receding hermit-like spirit of the nation an inspection of it suggested.”
He was then led to the Buddhist temple Jungheongsa ― which he declared to be a fortified temple. As a military man, he was not impressed with the “shaven priests [who] all wore soldiers clothes” but seemed lacking in discipline.
Hyunuk Park explains an engraving near Jeungheungsa Temple, November 2014. Robert Neff Collection
Foulk explained: “When Confucianism came into Korea many hundreds of years ago, Buddhism in spirit went out and the priests, a strong, rich body, were formed into guardians of these mountain recesses where the king might hide in time of war. The temple contains yet its three gilded Buddhas, its bells and incense vessels, but no worshippers come, and the priests are a noisy, rascally pack of soldiers only, who draw their food from the government.”
Foulk claimed there were “thirteen temples built in nooks of the ravine” but according to Hyunuk Park, a senior researcher, there were only 11: Jeungheungsa Temple (重興寺), Yongamsa Temple (龍巖寺), Boguksa Temple (輔國寺), Bogwangsa Temple (普光寺), Buwangsa Temple (扶旺寺), Wongaksa Temple (元覺寺), Gungnyeongsa Temple (國寧寺), Sangwunsa Temple (祥雲寺), Seoamsa Temple (西巖寺), Taegosa Temple (太古寺), and Jinguksa Temple (鎭國寺).
Concerned about the hour, Foulk and his party finished their tour and left the fortress through Daesomun (the Great West Gate). They then traveled for another five kilometers and stopped for the night at another temple.
Foulk's photograph of Sannyeongnu Pavillion ― named for the “elegant shape of Bukhan Mountain reflected in the water.” Circa 1884. The original image can be found in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries. This copy was provided by Hyunuk Park
Within the temple he had “a meal in Buddhist style ― without meat ― of rice, oiled seaweed, salted vegetables, a strong bean liquor called “chang,” all served on a little stool placed on the floor.”
After he had eaten, he was shown his quarters where “under a shelf of Buddhas, in a room smelling faintly of incense and with all the other evidences of a decaying Oriental religion about [him]” he slept.
He slept well in this temple that was “a hotel practically.” It would be his last comfortable sleep for the rest of the trip.
My appreciation to Hyunuk Park, Senior Researcher, Cultural Heritage Team of Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation, for his invaluable assistance.
Sannyeongnu Pavilion was destroyed by a flood in 1925. It was restored shortly before this photograph was taken in November 2014. Robert Neff Collection
Jung-seong-mun. There is a small secret gate hidden in the bedrock near this gate. It did not have a name but was known as “Si-gu-mun” because corpses were transported through it, instead of Jung-seong-mun. November 2014. Robert Neff Collection
Jung-seong-mun partially hidden by the colors of autumn. There was once a water gate next to Jung-seong-mun. November 2014. Robert Neff Collection
Part of the fortress wall along Jung-seong-mun. November 2014. Robert Neff Collection
The present Daesomun (Great West Gate). Courtesy of Hyunuk Park