An Epitaph and the Main building of the Temple Gwan Chock Sa
20171003
English is my second language, so it is difficult for me to express my feeling completely.
Posting in English is not only the challenge but also the opportunity to me, it excites me and makes my everyday life active.
I'm really thank you for fellow steemians.
I will go today's theme.
The day before yesterday,I posted concerning the gates in front of the temple in the name of Gwan Chock Sa.
https://steemit.com/culture/@slowwalker/the-gate-to-the-temple-gwan-chock-sa
Today I'd like to posting on the main building of the Temple.
As passing the Heaven Kings gate, there was a steep slope of the steps to get to the main temple. I went up slowly enjoying the scenes of the trees, there were unusual shapes of trees. It was good just looking at these trees.
In the middle of the steps, I saw an epitaph.
it was for the memory of the first president of Korea. Rhee Syng Man.
He had lived all his life for the independence of Korea against the Japanese Imperial occupation.
His life was a full of up and downs.
He was freedom fighter. He was sentenced to death for the activities of the independence by the Japanese ruler. He was set freed by the king of Korea.
He went to the United States and had studied for Politics in Princeton University.
President Wilson was his professor. After receiving Ph.D, he had dedicated his life for the diplomatic fight against the Japanese Imperialism.
He was designated as the first president of the Provisional Government of Korea.
He became the first president of Korea after liberation from the Japanese Occupation.
He strongly believed in the superiority of liberal democracy against the communism.
But the political situation in Korea was complicated.
After the Korean war, he was blamed for the dictatorship.
He thought he was the only man who could save the korea from the communism.
Finally he was ousted from the president and exiled to Hawaii.
He died in Hawaii
For a long time, it was forbidden to talk about when it comes to the President Rhee.
But strong anticommunist have adored him so much.
In here around the Non San city, there were so many victims by the communist in the era of the Korean War.
May be this sentiment was a motive to set up this epitaph.
It was a curse of history.
The steps to the temple was so beautiful, the trees near the steps were not touched. The trees have natural beauty.
Above is the final gate.
As passing the final gate, there was a main building of this temple.
The main building was amazing and so beautiful.
It must be not easy to build this building in the mountain for a long time ago.
Most of all the scale was great compare to other temples where I have ever visited.
So I took the photos of the main building from different directions
The name of the building is Dae Gwang Myeong Seong Jeon
Dae means Big or Great
Gwang means Light
Myeong means bright
Letters was written in the ancient style of calligraphy.
It was well balanced outstanding art.
In next posting, let's enter into the main building.
Lovely photos of trees today, @slowwalker. They're a symbol of the Korean people firmly planted in the land.
Against the background of Nature is the shelter of human society with its ornate temple and memorial to a past government leader.
Despite the changing seasons and times, the land endures along with the Korean people.
A common thread that runs through your posts is the juxtaposition of the traditional and the modern - although they seem disconnected, there is continuity.
Korea always had kings and strong rulers so it wasn't surprising that a man like Rhee Syng Man emerged at a pivotal time in Korean history.
In a country used to the reign of kings it was not unusual that a strong man should arise with autocratic tendencies.
Often the wrong decision is made for the right reasons, and although the opposition to communism was laudable, the removal of democratic rights was not.
It's necessary in assessing a leader's legacy to avoid simplistic labels such as hero or villain. Men have feet of clay and the passing of years will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of even the greatest leaders.
So let the epitaph stand as a symbol of the indomitable will of the South Korean people.
The photos of the temple building from various angles were beautiful and I look forward to seeing the interior, my friend.
I agree with you.
We need to deviate from the simplicity in the assessment of history.
But I know it is not easy job.
yes, it is difficult seeing the present though the lens of the past - hindsight is 20/20 :)
This is another beautiful post from you and your English is great...I enjoy all your posts hence why I always send you my upvotes.
The Temple Gwan Chock Sa loo k great and a good place to visit ...thanks for sharing
Thank you so much
You are welcome my dear one, always and thanks for supporting my posts-more success to you
I hope I can ask this question without insulting anyone, that would not be my intent, however when I see the ornate detail ( extreme detail ) in the architecture within your pictures, I become curious, is there any use of DHT or other type of stimulant in your country that this comes from, maybe used for Shamanic Journeys for example ?
Because what I see is people trying to manifest in the physical those patterns & or energies one experiences on DMT, or magic mushrooms for example.
Do you have any information on how, or why these designs manifested in to your culture so predominantly ? Such as What the background is ? Thanks
Definitely NO. lol
I hopefull someday i can to be there.
So beatiful place.
Love it
Beautiful pictures and a very good essay. I did not know about President Rhee Syng Man, later exiled to Hawaii. Sometimes it is hard to know who is good and who is bad. I am glad that they exiled him and they did not execute him. Many times, when a ruler is overthrown, the new rulers execute the old... as they did in the French Revolution, to King Louis XVI, he had his head separated from his shoulders.
You are right.
I agree with you
I want to make a suggestion that will help you with your English. USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE.
https://translate.google.com
For example, I do not know one word in Korean, I will write this in Korean:
나는 한국어로 한 단어를 모른다. 나는 이것을 한국어로 쓸 것이다.
And now, I translate the above back to English, to check if it is a good translation, and I get this:
"I do not know a word in Korean. I will write this in Korean."
In fact, I am going to write a whole original post, to help everybody who does not write English well, to be able to communicate better. In fact, I have posted comments in Chinese, on some posts in Chinese, and I do not speak a word of Chinese.
I will upvote your post.
Nice post @slowwalker Thank you very much @slowwalker have been willing to visit my blog again, with your help first, I was able to credit home
good luck
Wowww this building looks awesome! It has so many details..just amazing!!! A true work of art!!
Your post is splendid my friend. Your english is easy to read and understandable. The Korean history is always good to be learnt. The photos that you present give more power of how best the Korean people preserve the history. I would like to say thank you very much for sharing @slowwalker
A weak man is just by accident. A strong but non-violent man is unjust by accident.
- Mahatma Gandhi