Bangudae Petroglyphs in modern Korean poems

By Yearn Hong Choi

Art on Bangudae Petroglyph

How many Koreans know of the Bangudae Petroglyphs?

How many Koreans know the reservoir constructed for the city water supply put the petroglyphs under water where they could be damaged?

How many know the value of petroglyphs that are 6,000 to 7,000 years old?

No monetary value can be ascribed to them because the art on the rock panels is among the oldest in human history. Whaling scenes in the rocks are still vividly beautiful sculptures. The first whaling people lived on the southeastern shore of the Korean Peninsula. We should protect the Bangudae Petroglyphs with all our efforts, but no serious actions have been made. The drinking water supply to the Ulsan people is the prime task over the protection of this prehistoric cultural heritage of humankind.

My friend and poet, Lee Geon-chong, organized a unique poetry-art show as a campaign to educate people for protection and preservation of the Bangudae Petroglyphs. I am honored to join 35 other poets he invited for the presentation of their new poems matchable to significant works of art on the rock panels, whales and animals in the petroglyphs.

The exhibit of this poetry-art ensemble is going to the public in the Bangudae Petroglyphs Education Center near Bangudae. Senior Korean poetess Kim Nam-jo participated with her poem about whales. My poem is “Wolf.”

The organizing committee assigned wolf to me. All poets who participated in this exhibit should make calligraphy with their poems with their own blushes with black ink on rice paper. I am the only poet outside of Korea due to my environmental policy advocacy role. As a matter of fact, I introduced Lee’s book of poetry, “In Front of Bangudae Petroglyphs,” to The Korea Times years ago. I have been warning of the danger to this prehistoric cultural heritage of humankind to the people in the United States, but so far in vain. I have been trying to reach the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society about the Bangudae Petroglyphs. We, as human beings, should protect our heritages beyond national boundaries.

I traveled to Peru and saw Nazca Lines and Petroglyphs. From the trip, I wrote a series of poems from Peru which included “Nazca Line” published in “Literature Consciousness” in its winter 2015 issue. “Nazca Line” was a mysterious work of art on the Peruvian desert. It could only be seen from the sky, so I flew in a Cessna to see it from above. It attracted tourists from all over the world. Archeologists and anthropologists estimated the Nazca Lines were drawn 2000 years ago as a possible religious service of the Nazca people to God. A hummingbird, a spider, a killer whale, flowers, trees and an astronaut-looking man were among the 12 petroglyph figures. One long line was 20 km. The total length of the lines and curves are more than 1,000 km. Why they were drawn in the desert can only be a guess _ disputable _ and it will remain so.

Bangudae works of art are known to be 6,000 to 7,000 years old. Some say they were done between 6,000 and 3,500 years ago. Unlike Nazca, there was no known civilization around Bangudae. However, I can imagine Bangudae was where a river met the sea where all kinds of wild animals flourished and later human beings settled. Whales were there long before human beings appeared on the Earth. The Bangudae works depict more than whales; all kinds of sea and land animals and fish are there. But whales and whale-hunting boats and tools attracted most of our attention.

There are 304 petroglyphs on a group of rocks on a branch of Taewha River flowing into the East Sea. The engravings of whales, deer and wolves were made in most cases by carving out the body, while those of land animals mostly consist of outlines and patterns drawn on the rock surface. The human figures are side views of the whole body with a somewhat exaggerated penis or front images of people with mask-like faces spreading their four limbs. There are engravings of people hunting animals with a bow, raising their hands, and playing a long rod like musical instrument, recalling hunting and religious acts.

Bangudae petroglyphs are a collection of stone-age images of life on the seacoast wilderness, but the images of their whaling are masterpieces. Whales must have been their major source of food, oil and other necessities.

My poetic imagination naturally extends to Namsan, Gyeongju, Mt. Nam of Gyeongju, where all kinds of Buddhas were engraved on the mountains by Silla people between the sixth century and ninth century. The mountain as a whole is a museum.

Who knows? Silla Kingdom have originated from Bangudae and advanced by whale hunters to Gyeongju. But I am sure Bangudae people were the first whale hunters of human history. Most probably, this site was the worship place of the prehistoric people for harvesting whales and other sea and land animals. We have to explore the lost civilization around Bangudae. Whales are common figures in the seaside Bangudae and desert Nazca Petroglyphs, strange to say, at the least.

,

Now, I am presenting my wolf, one of 36 poems about the petroglyphs in the exhibit in Bangudae Petroglyphs Educational Center. Later, the exhibit may be continuing in Seoul and major cities in Korea. I hope this exhibit will go to the USA with modern poetry juxtaposing the 7,000-year-old petroglyphs and will be powerful enough to initiate action to stop further ruin of this national and international treasury under the dam water.

Wolf

Wolf howling at the moon

and his golden eyes against possible intruders to the village

in the night

to protect the people who slept like logs

after whaling all day in the blue sea

in front of their village

the first people who danced with the wolf

Dr. Choi is a poet and writer based in the Washington area.