Ruminations in Korea

Today was a goreous day.  Warm and sunny.  You couldn’t ask for a better spring day.

I decided to enjoy the day by getting out of Pusan.  I went North to Miryang.  Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s I went to Miryang quite often.  It was a quaint little town back then.  Although it has grown much larger, Miryang still retains a lot of that quaint small-town feeling.

One of my favorite places to go has always been the Arang Pavillion and Youngnamru.

The Arang Pavillion sits on the edge of the Miryang River.  Back in the day, it was in the middle of a bamboo grove, but the grove has largely been cleared away to allow greater access.

Arang is the heroine of the Legend of Arang.  During the reign of King Myeongjong (1545-1567), Arang’s father was a deputy delegate of the Miryang region.  One night, she went to Youngnamru Pavilion to look at the moon with her nurse.  However, the nurse had conspired with one of the governor’s servants.  While Arang viewed the moon, the nurse left the pavillion and and the servant approached and attempted to rape Arang .

She chose to die rather than lose her virginity.  After his unsuccessful attempt at raping Arang, the servant murdered her and disposed of her body into the bamboo forest.

The nurse claimed that Arang had been kidnapped.  Arang’s father expended a great deal of effort to find his daughter, but was unsuccessful.  Heartbroken, he resigned his post and returned to Seoul, his hometown.

The deputy delegate sent to replace Arang’s father died immediately after he took office in Miryang.  Each subsequent replacement also died within a day of taking office.  Eventually, the deputy delegate’s position was left unfilled.

One day, a civil servant took a nap at Youngnamru. While sleeping he dreamed of a beautiful woman dressed in white.  “At long last,” the woman said, “I have met an adult who can avenge me of my enemy.”

Surprise and shaken, yet able to control himself, the civil servant said, “Tell me. Are you a ghost or a living person?”

The woman replied, “I am the daughter of the the former deputy delegate of this area.  I was lured to this place by my nurse and was murdered by one of the governor’s servants.  He hid my body in the bamboo.  In order to capture my murder and punish him, I appeared before each new deputy delegate to tell my tale.  However, each one of them died of fright upon seeing me.  Today, I have meet a good man.  Please help me.”

“Who is your murderer,” demanded the civil servant.

Arang did not answer. She stepped backward, waving a red flag in her hand and vanished.

The civil servant concluded that he must become the deputy delegate of that area.  As the position was empty and no one wanted to take the job, it was easy for the civil servant to be appointed deputy delegate.

He arrived at his post and spent the first night there.  When he awoke the next morning, he was surpised to see that the staff was preparing for his funeral.  They had assumed that he had died that first night just as all the other deputy delegates before him.

Being very much alive, his first order was that he should be given a list of the names of everyone on the staff, including the servants.  As he reviewed the list of names, he came across the name Ju Ki (주기- 朱旗). The name Ju Ki means “red flag”. Remembering the red flag waved by Arang, he demanded that the nurse and the servant, Ju Ki, be brought before him.

The nurse and the servant eventually confessed.  The servant led the new deputy delegate into the bamboo grove to where he had hid Arang’s body.  Arang’s body lay with the knife still in her breast. They were startled to see that the body had not decayed and was still in perfect condition.  The deputy delegate removed the knife and the body immediately decomposed until only the bones were left.  The bones were then taken and given a proper burial.

The Arang Pavilion (Arangkak) was erected on the site as a shrine to Arang and her sacrifice to protect her virtue.  Every year on the 16th day of the 4th month of the lunar calendar, a young girl chosen for her example and chastity is selected to perform the rituals at the Arang Pavilion to honoring Arang.

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Here are a few of the pictures I took at Youngnamru.  Click here to see more pictures of the area.

Sunset at Youngnamru

A Building at Youngnamru

Springtime at Youngnamru