Byeokgol-Jae Reservoir of The Early Baekje Dynasty in Kimhae City.
Taking a trip is always giving me some strong feeing of the excitement.
Thinking on traveling around makes me happy. In this travel, I prepared for several days of journey on the southwest area of Korea.
The first destiny was Byeokgol-jae reservoir which was made in early age of Baekje Dynasty about 1800 years ago.
This Byeokgol-jae was believed as an one of the oldest reservoir in Korean peninsular.
It was recoded that the reservoir Byeokgol-jae was build in 330 AD.
The reservoir was very important in ancient kingdom, because the rice cultivation was a economic basis of the ancient kingdom.
At that time, King must’ve guaranteed the circumstances of the agriculture for charging a tax.
So managing the water was the key task for all Kings.
If he failed to managing the water, king could be a sacrifice of the ceremony for the Heaven.
Unbelievable ? But it was true.
The reason why I tried to visit this area was that my ancestors in Goryeo dynasty had lived in this area for several hundred years. I found out this in my family history book. So I’d like to look at this area with my own eyes. But there was no record of the exact location where my ancestors had lived on.
Even though it was impossible to find out exact place, it was nice for me just to look around there.
In my guess, my ancestors must’ve some close relationships with the reservoir of Byeokgol-jae.
When I got there, there were nothing special reminding me of the reservoir.
There was no reservoir anymore. The only things remained were the bank and the old water gate.
The reservoir was filled up and turned into the field.
I took some photos thinking of the disappeared reservoir and the life of that time.
It was so curious how they had lived at that era.
The old watergate was the only preserved trace of the reservoir.
But now I could see only the reeds swaying in the wind, the trace of the bank and the old water gate.
Fascinating nature views!
Some lovely photos of reeds swaying in the wind, @slowwalker.
You may not know it, but the phrase is Biblical. Jesus asked his followers about John the Baptist - "Who did you go out into the desert to see--a reed blowing in the wind?" The image is one of instability and impermanence and goes to the heart of today's post.
You can't seek yourself in your ancestors or your past, because they're past.
As Heraclitus once wisely observed, "You can't step into the same river twice."
All we see when we look at history is vestiges of who we once were and where we've been - but you are a thoughtful man, my friend. You also know you can't seek yourself outside yourself, so you travel about learning about the past to help you understand the present.
And that my friend is the real purpose of history - that we not suffer amnesia about our origins but we not forget past mistakes lest we repeat them again.
Have a good night, @slowwalker
Thank you so much
Our life seems but a reed in the midst of the storm
@slowwalker,
Like you said, this area seems to be a good agriculture based area! I think food supply to the kingdom always act a critical role! It's great you decided to see where your ancestors lived and sometimes you might looking at what they did at those days!
Cheers~
Great Korea history post once again @slowwalker.
There is something about the outward structure of Korean landscaping and installment that brings out the inner peace of mind from within the individual. I feel very at peace and in the midst of a silent meditation, even from the middle of a busy cafe. Great catch!
It shows that they were specific places for the harvest of some items, or at least that's what I think to see those big green fields that are still very fertile after so many years, in any way the photos look great :)
Reminds me of my home in Pakistan . So peaceful 🤗
오.. 이렇게 물을 관리했었군요. 서양인이 보면 단두대인줄 알겠어요.ㅎㅎㅎ
공감~ㅋㅋㅋ
Agree, people who travel are the happy people.
수문이 이렇게 만들었다니
참지혜롭다는 생각이 듭니다.
저수지가 들판이 되었다니 세월이...
Wow green photography is my feverrat
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